On the morning of May 30, town leaders and community members from all over southeastern Connecticut gathered at the Groton Inn and Suites to honor the most successful local high school senior and junior scholars of the 2007-2008 school year at the annual Education Breakfast.
Hundreds were in attendance for the event, including first selectmen and mayors from Stonington, Ledyard, Groton, New London, Waterford, and East Lyme as well as state Senator Andy Maynard. The event was sponsored by Groton Utilities, Perkins & Murphy, and People’s United Bank in association with the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut and the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce and saw each senior class scholar give a brief speech as to why they felt community interaction in schools is important.
The sentiment was summed up nicely by Ledyard High’s honored senior scholar, Britta Helen Kunkemoeller.
“Community interaction with educational institutions is an invaluable resource and service to the school and its students,” Kunkemoeller said. “Relations with community members educates students of all ages in traditional subjects as well as those not covered in the classroom and prepares those students to become successful members of society itself…I’m grateful to be graduating from Ledyard High School where I not only received an excellent education at the hands and minds of my teachers but one that was also enhanced by the involvement of community members and organizations.”
Seniors honored by the Chamber were:
• Hannah Boettcher of East Lyme High, the valedictorian of her class with a 4.16 GPA.
• Christopher Campbell of Ella T. Grasso Technical High School, National Honor Society member, and captain of the track and field team as well as one of Grasso Tech’s scholar-athlete of 2008.
• Eileen Semanick of Robert E. Fitch High School, ranked number one in her class of 337 students and captain of the girls’ lacrosse team.
• Britta Helen Kunkemoeller of Ledyard High School, ranked number one in her class of 250 students and recipient of many academic awards including the Harvard Book Award and the Pfizer Math and Science Award.
• Norman Harrison III of New London High School, valedictorian of his class and recipient of the Martin Luther King Scholarship and Dartmouth Book Award.
• Emma Lochiatto of Stonington High School, ranked number one in her class and a member of the National Honor Society as well as a nominee for the Governor’s Scholar Award and the Eugene Atwood Award.
• Tianchi Xu of Waterford High School, ranked number one in his class and accepted into Dartmouth College, as well as more than 200 hours of community service completed.
• Kalen Larsen of The Williams School, appointed to the United States Military Academy, West Point, captain of her lacrosse team, and volunteer instructor at the Therapeutic Riding Center for the last four years.
In addition to the senior scholars, juniors that were honored included Priya Ranade of East Lyme High, Jennifer Rogers of Grasso Tech, Jaya Batra of Fitch High, Kathryn McCarthy of Ledyard High, Simone Barner of New London High, Connor Toole of Stonington High, Michael Reisfeld of Waterford High, and Julian Sacca-Schaeffer of The Williams School.
Certificates were presented to all junior leaders and savings bonds were presented to all senior scholars by Tricia Cunningham, president of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce, and Tony Sheridan, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut.text