Belmont High School - The Top 10 graduating seniors for 2011

BELMONT — When the 94 members of Belmont High School's Class of 2011 leave their alma mater, 66 will attend a two- or four-year post-graduate program, four will join the armed services, two will enter an apprenticeship and 22 will join the work force.

The academic top 10 graduating seniors will be leaving Belmont to follow interests that include engineering, business, teaching, athletics and journalism.

The valedictorian of the class, Courtney Clary, is a Belmont resident who will attend Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. in the fall. "I want to be some sort of engineer," Clary said, explaining that she picked Vanderbilt because of its strong engineering program as well as its location, in a city that was recently beseiged by flooding and as such presents an interesting case study. "Engineers fix problems... There's probably some way you can prevent that in the future."

Dan Powell, the class's salutatorian, is also interested in engineering and will matriculate to the University of New Hampshire, where he'll join the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps. His ultimate goal is to join the Air Force and fly planes, the big ones, specifically, such as the C-5 Galaxy. "I've always wanted to do it since I was a little peon, watching planes flying over my house – it's the coolest job," he said.

Jacob Bryant will be off to Cazenovia College in New York to study sports management. He'd like to have a career as an athletic director or a coach. "My whole family's been involved in sports, it's fun," Bryant said. "If you can have a career where it's fun to be working, it's a good career to have."

When Chris Brace was a sophomore, he took a math course "that I wasn't so hot in." This year, though, he took a course with teacher Scott Currier, who "helped me get into the subject." Inspired by the difference a teacher can make, Brace has chosen to enroll in Keene State College, where he'll study secondary-level mathematics education. He wants to help students who struggle with math. "I don't want to see anybody give up on the subject because they feel they can't get help."

Nicholas Clements will also study education at Keene State College. He's considering a career as either an English or math teacher. "I've had a lot of teachers here I really liked, I like the idea of helping others." Clements also likes the idea of coaching as well as teaching. "I've been involved in sports, I don't want to give that up."

Olivia Doucette will be studying finance and economics next year at Southern New Hampshire University. With that degree, she plans to go into business with her father, buying failing businesses to turn them around and sell them. "I've always liked business," Doucette said, "it's something that comes easy to me."

Peter Chynoweth, the one Canterbury resident among the top 10, will attend the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, where he'll study mechanical engineering. Chynoweth enjoys the engineer's challenge and has re-wired his X-box controller and built a piece of mounting hardware for a friends' drum kit. "I like solving problems, I like having a quantitative outcome at the end," he said. "I love doing stuff like that."

Jennifer Ortakales will study journalism at Emerson College in Boston. "I'm fascinated by other people's stories, I love learning about other cultures," she said. Specifically, Ortakales would like to work as a fashion journalist and, through that capacity, see the world. "I love Boston, I think I would also like to move to New York City, but I also hope that going into journalism will help me travel all over the world. I would like to see as many places as I can in my life."

"I like pushing what we know," said Tyler Dami, who will study physics at the University of New Hampshire in the fall. "I like physics because it's all about theory," he said. Dami hasn't waited for university to test his theories; as a high school student he built used salad bowls and spark plugs to create an inefficient though functioning fusion reactor. He hopes to be involved in energy research, "hopefully looking at producing a working fusion reactor."

Danielle Bilodeau, who was not present for the interview, is also among the top 10 graduating seniors. She will matriculate to Lakes Region Community College in Laconia.

CAPTION with BELMONT TOP TEN in AA:

The top 10 graduating seniors of Belmont High School, left to right, are: Tyler Dami, Olivia Doucette, Jennifer Ortakales, Daniel Powell, Courtney Clary, Jacob Bryant, Peter Chynoweth, Christopher Brace and Nicholas Clements. Not pictured is Danielle Bilodeau.