ILHS top 10 grads sprint across the finish line

MEREDITH — The legacy of the Inter-Lakes class of 2022 top ten graduates was born from just one pre-pandemic year. 

As the last class to experience a full ILHS calendar untouched by COVID-19, this group of student leaders became the keepers of institutional memory for their peers, responsible not just for preserving but for passing on school traditions. They leave ILHS not just with academic excellence but also with the gratification of having served their Laker family and with a genuine faith in the brightness of their futures. 

As pandemic restrictions began to lift, and school traditions were able to proceed as they had before, students and administrators alike – three different principals in four years – looked to the class of 2022 for guidance. 

Principal Amanda Downing called the leaders of the class of 2022, above all, dauntless. 

“They were instrumental in introducing their younger peers – and myself – to the traditions of the school,” Downing said. “And in doing so they were inclusive and kind.”

“It was easy for our grade to be the ones to boost the school back up after COVID,” said Gabe Staples, who serves as class vice president, president of the National Honor Society at ILHS, co-president of the school band and co-captain of the math team. He will attend Providence College to study psychology and forensic science, a passion he discovered at the summer Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School.  

Inter-Lakes does not notify anyone of the ranking within the top ten and there is no valedictorian or salutatorian. Though some said they wanted to know where they stood, the group agreed that the policy promoted unity and collectivity. 

“I’m a really competitive person,” said Cecily Marietta to her peers. “But I don’t feel a need to compete with you all.” Marietta said she felt the system encouraged her to explore, and exceed in, her interests rather than just pursue a GPA. Marietta is president of the school chorus and of the international club and has a background in dance and gymnastics. She aims to study exercise science on a pre-med track at George Washington University. She is also co-class president with Janney Halperin. 

The leading graduates had very similar academic schedules and participated in many of the same clubs, Marietta said, and there being less competition meant that “we had an ability to appreciate others’ successes as group successes.”

That sense of collective among the group helped them, as vessels of institutional memory, to chart the path to normalcy for their school. 

Within student clubs it was particularly difficult, Halperin said, to carry steam across the chasm of COVID-restricted years. In addition to being co-president of the class, Halperin is co-captain of the math team and co-president of band with Staples. She is active in Interact, a Meredith Rotary-sponsored service club, school theater productions and dance. She will attend Bates College with interests in history and education studies. 

“It was a lot of pressure to teach everyone,” said Alexa Lazazzera. “And then you put that on top of our own busyness and things going on in our lives.” Lazazzera is vice president of NHS, a member of Interact and of the Future Business Leaders of America group at ILHS, does dance and lacrosse and has for several years worked at the Squam Lake Inn. She will attend Fairfield University to become a nurse, inspired by her grandmother. 

Answering questions about everything from how events were planned and run to what things students get excited about and why, Halperin said, was a challenge. 

“How do you convey enthusiasm to people for traditions that they don’t even know?” Halperin said. 

Riley Towle, president of the student council, commended the administration for their support of the council’s community building, and re-building, initiatives. Towle said such programming was his favorite part of his role. He is also the drum major in the school marching band, involved in Interact and NHS and a tutor for his peers at the academic center, something that confirmed his passion for teaching. Towle, inspired by his parents – both teachers – will attend Lakes Region Community College with intent to transfer to a larger school to complete his degree in education. 

As club leaders, the group also played a role in the formation of new traditions. Ellie Hornkohl spearheaded the effort to resurrect the school’s student news show, writing, filming and editing a weekly broadcast. Hornkohl said it was gratifying to see students engage with the show’s content and that the broadcast, through repeating segments and bits, helped give students a new form of common culture. 

In addition to being class treasurer, president of FBLA, secretary of NHS, a lacrosse player and a longtime employee at Lee’s Candy Kitchen, Hornkohl’s passion for media blossomed during her stint at ASP in a mass-media course. She will study business administration with a focus on marketing at UNH. 

The group thanked ILHS teachers for their encouragement, despite facing significant pandemic-related challenges themselves. 

“We have to give credit to teachers too for their work in the revival of traditions, both from supporting student initiatives to helping hype people up.” Hornkohl said, noting that the teachers were the only other group on campus who had experience in the “before times.”  

“As much as we were struggling, ten times that load was put on teachers and… You couldn’t tell. I never saw it,” said Halperin. 

During remote learning, “the teachers caught every student who fell through the cracks,” Staples said. “They were good to talk to because they listened to you from a place of going through the same things.”

This group emphasized that enduring the hardest periods of the pandemic, on top of support from teachers and parents, required healthy doses of both grit and hope. 

“Patience and perseverance were everything,” said Harrison Hicks. Hicks, an accomplished basketball player, also participated in FBLA. Emulating his father’s business career, Hicks will pursue a business degree at Bryant University.  

“I knew it would be worth it to keep pushing,” agreed Towle. 

“As a first-generation college student, having brightness on the horizon made it possible to push through the dark times,” Staples said. 

Haven Lopez, who like Hicks said sports are a big part of her life, already began working towards that future by taking college courses online at Brigham Young University–Idaho towards her degree in exercise science. 

Hunter White – an avid alpine and nordic skier, soccer and tennis player, member of NHS and interact – also is excited by the promise of the future. He chose to study computer science at UNH because of the rapid growth and evolution of the field, and looks forward to where that momentum takes his career. 

Kyleigh Folsom will also attend UNH, majoring in finance and accounting. A member of the cheer club, NHS and FBLA, Folsom nurtured her passion for finance through coursework and being active in the investment club. 

For the tight-knit group who can “finish each other’s sentences,” according to Marietta, making it to the finish line together is sweet. 

“If high school is like running a mile, freshman year was just the first lap,” said Hornkohl. “Now we’re sprinting the last few inches.”