Tri-Town Democrats award two scholarships

For seven years, the Tri-Town Democrats of Barnstead, Gilmanton, and Alton have been offering a scholarship to a senior from one of those three towns who is graduating from Prospect Mountain or Gilford High School. The award is given based on essays written in response to a different essay question each year. This year, the question was: “If you witnessed or heard about an incident of racism or bigotry (including jokes) in your community, what would you do about it?”

The response this year was impressive, with good essays that a decision was made to award scholarships to two students. The winners were Rhiannon Reinholz and Brooke Duchesne, both from Gilmanton and attending Gilford High School.

Reinholz grew up in Gilmanton with biracial siblings, so questions of race and fair treatment of all have been central to her life.

“I don’t find discriminatory jokes funny, whether they are intentionally hurtful or not, and I do not tolerate exclusion based on differences,” she wrote

Her approach toward others is to combine a message of love and acceptance of all, including marginalized groups, with another message that bigotry in any form, including casual comments, is simply wrong. As her next step, Reinholz will be attending Plymouth State University, where she is creating her own major in interdisciplinary studies, combining political science and social work.

Duchesne, who grew up in Nashua until her family moved to Gilmanton right out of COVID.

As she states, “Growing up with a great deal of diversity, and then moving into a predominantly white community, I’ve often felt conflicted and confused.”

Dealing with this change, Duchesne has found that she is able to speak up rather than turn a blind eye to bigotry. It is her hope that she has been able to help others take a step back and think about the issue a little more seriously, and “to promote understanding and empathy, especially when it comes to racism.”

Duchesne will be attending the University of New Hampshire this fall. Her major is yet undecided, but she knows she will be focusing on health and human services in a field where she can help others.