Laconia's Top 10 boast school spirit, future ambitions

LACONIA — The Laconia High School class of 2025 Top 10 brought together students from varying backgrounds and experiences, united in their school spirit, ambition and love of their home town.

Kathryn Beane said she’s going to Endicott College in Massachusetts to pursue a nursing major and dance minor. She’s been dancing almost her entire life, and her dad owns a pharmacy, so she’s familiar with the health care setting, too.

“I was surrounded by outpatient health care my whole life,” Beane said. “I knew that I wanted to do something like that, so I got really interested in nursing due to the Huot, because I’m in the Huot health science program.”

She passed her medical assistant exam last week at the Huot Career and Technical Center, an experience which solidified her desire to pursue a nursing career.

“It’s the amount of work you put in is what you’re going to gain from the experience,” Beane said.

She also works at Irwin Marine's Mountain View Yacht Club location, which taught her valuable lessons about life and success.

“You can’t crash and burn in a fast-paced environment,” Beane said. “You’ve got to meet the requirements, take one thing at a time.”

Valedictorian Kendora Harper spent the last two years of high school dual-enrolled at Lakes Region Community College, where she’s recently earned an associate’s degree.

“I joke with people, 'I don’t like to wait around,'” Harper said. “Hop on the ball, if it’s there, I’ll go and run with it.”

Harper is headed to Boston, where she’s going to major in biology and pre-medicine at Fisher College. She said she’s interested in neurosurgery and anesthesiology, but for now she’s keeping her options open. Her favorite courses through high school were those pertaining to anatomy and physiology — she’s fascinated by learning in-depth how choices and action affect the body.

“That was sparking my brain,” Harper said. “I want to keep learning about this.”

She’s always been interested in the medical field and wants to help others.

“Every single person I’ve met,” Harper said. “Every single person I have an interaction with teaches me something different about my life and myself. I definitely keep an open mind to things.”

Molly Lemay said she’ll always appreciate growing up in Laconia.

“Our community is very strong, I see the teachers trying to make personal connections with students often, which is something that’s unique about Laconia, I feel,” Lemay said. “I really like that, because it helped me step out of my shell.”

After graduation, Lemay isn’t exactly sure what she’ll do. She’s passionate about art and the environment, and is increasingly interested in pursuing education in environmental engineering. Her current challenge: making a decision before next fall.

“Environmental engineering, specifically, is a great way to help the economy, and build important structures like dams — things that are necessary in our society while also benefitting the Earth,” Lemay said. “So we’re not causing further harm, plus we live here.”

“I’m really exploring a bit of everything,” Lemay said. “I want to travel a lot and experience everything that the world has to offer.”

Lemay was reserved at the beginning of high school and struggled with communication, she said. But teachers at LHS were helpful, and she grew as a person by the end of her time there.

Yuri Luis came to Laconia in May 2019, from Manilla, a city in the Philippines. He’s pursuing a commission in the U.S. Air Force while working toward a cybersecurity degree at the University of New Hampshire in the fall.

“The people in the Philippines, they’re really pursuing me to go here, because there’s so many opportunities to become successful,” Luis said. “My mom brought me and my brother here — she raised us here, helped us through the cultural differences.”

Navigating a new country at a young age wasn’t easy, and English wasn’t his native language. He said the people of Laconia helped him along the way.

“What you learn and what you’re immersed in are two completely different things,” Luis said.

In high school, Luis played basketball and lacrosse and participated in embroidery, homework and Interact clubs.

He thought about pursuing dentistry, but was inspired by family members to instead earn a commission in the USAF.

“A lot of my family members and close friends are in the military world,” Luis said.

“This country gave me a lot of opportunities to become successful,” Luis said, noting that motivates him to serve.

Gracie Lewis said she’s going to Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, where she’s pursuing a degree in biology in hopes of becoming a veterinarian. But first, she’s trying something different.

“I’ve never rowed before in my life, and they offered me a scholarship,” Lewis said. “I’m always open to trying new things.”

She’s a three-sport athlete in soccer, skiing and softball, and said she loves being outdoors.

“I enjoyed being active and being with my friends.”

During high school, Lewis spent a lot of her time with the music department. She plays percussion and went on department trips to places like Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and Hershey Park in Pennsylvania.

“They’re so amazing, it’s like a family,” Lewis said.

“I got the chance to be part of the choir, as well, because they didn’t have enough students,” Lewis said. “I’ve never sung, it was really cool seeing how they did that.”

A program at Franklin Pierce which will take her from a bachelor's degree through a veterinary residency includes time at a graduate school in Granada, Spain.

“They have a partnership with a school in Granada,” Lewis said. “I think that would be a super cool opportunity to travel and see that.”

“I’ve always had a drive to help animals, I think,” Lewis said. “Just to help others and animals are usually the focus of that, I’ve found.”

Morgan Mitchell said some of her favorite memories came outside of school: last year, she went on a snowmobiling trip to northern New Hampshire and Quebec. That trip got her out of her comfort zone, doing something she never thought she’d do.

“I was so scared to rev it and cross traffic,” Mitchell said. “I’m glad that I pushed myself.”

She’s excited for new experiences and challenges she’ll face in college, too. In the fall, Mitchell will attend Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, where she intends to major in psychology. She wants to eventually work as a therapist or otherwise in the mental health field, noting the profession is understaffed and impactful. Her parents, Army veterans, have benefitted from that type of work, which inspired her in turn.

“There’s the opportunity to do so much good that’s really needed,” Mitchell said.

“You get to meet people every day, and it’s not just the same boring thing,” Mitchell said. “You’re always meeting new people, conquering new problems.”

Kali Muzzey loved the environment of school spirit at Laconia High.

A varsity lacrosse player, Muzzey also took a teacher preparation course at the Huot last year, and learned that’s not a profession she’s interested in pursuing.

“I thought that I wanted to be a teacher, so that class was good for me to learn that I actually didn’t want to go into that field,” Muzzey said. “That was a huge help for me.”

Instead, Muzzey is going to pursue a career in health care administration. She’ll be headed to UNH to study health care management and policy, aiming to one day become the chief executive officer of a hospital.

“I’ve always been interested in health, not nursing and all of that, because I don’t do well in front of blood, but I want to help people,” Muzzey said. “Knowing myself, I’m a really organized person.”

But playing lacrosse — she’s done so since she was 7 — taught her a lot.

“How important it is to build a strong bond with teammates and I’ve learned a lot of maturity through Lacrosse,” Muzzey said. “What you do on the field is for your team, not anyone individually.”

Kardin Nguyen is also headed to UNH to pursue cybersecurity. His parents are from Vietnam, and he’ll be a first-generation college student.

“I have my own traditions, and then it’s normal things that Americans have,” Nguyen said. “It wasn’t hard to adjust, it’s just I have my own traditions I also follow.”

Nguyen said meeting students in Laconia and getting involved with things like football — which he started his second year at LHS — helped him get out of his shell.

“It was my first ever sport — I knew absolutely nothing about football,” Nguyen said, noting his brother also played and helped him learn the ropes, and  Coach Nick Ford was his elementary school physical education teacher.

“That marked something new in my life, it’s a new lifestyle,” Nguyen said.

Football gave Nguyen some of his best memories at high school.

“Especially those games that were won, it felt amazing,” Nguyen said. “Not trying to throw any shade, especially the one against Gilford.”

“What made me successful was having motivation to do my work,” Nguyen said. “What motivated me were my parents, because I didn’t want to let them down. They did so much for me.”

Paxten Perley said she’s going to Gordon College in Massachusetts where she intends to double–major in psychology and kinesiology. A former athlete, Perley said her experiences managing sports teams after suffering an injury inspired her to pursue sports psychology.

“I used to be an athlete, and then I tore my labrum in my shoulder. It was really hard on me and I went through a lot of physical therapy to try and heal it,” Perley said. “I was a basketball manager — I tried to focus on being a manager more than an athlete.”

It’s the culture of athletics and student-athletes' work ethic that draws her to the field, she said.

“I loved seeing the aspect of how athletes train day by day,” Perley said. “My sophomore year, when I first started being a manager, I saw how hard the athletes were pushing themselves.”

At Laconia High, Perley was a member of Key Club and National Honor Society. She also works at Winnisquam Marina. But her favorite memories from high school don’t have a lot to do with academics at all.

“During Spirit Week, you can see that everyone can come together despite differences in opinions or the way that they act. Everybody becomes their own community, and they’re all working together to try and beat the other grades,” Perley said. “I’ve always loved that.”

Luke Stafford said he’s headed to UNH to major in business administration, inspired by things he learned at the Huot under Peter Riendeau.

“The whole fundamentals of business,” Stafford said. “I took some classes at the Huot Technical Center and the teacher there really helped me get into business.”

Stafford was part of the school’s soccer and ski teams, and spent a lot of time racing students from other schools at Gunstock Mountain Resort. In his second year, the junior varsity soccer team was invited to a tournament in Plymouth.

“Our team came up on top in the end,” Stafford said, noting he’d never forget that experience.

He also threw javelin, discus and shot put on the track and field team, which taught him valuable lessons.

“In track and field, I noticed that I was able to push myself to the limit, trying to throw as far as possible,” Stafford said. “In skiing and soccer, I learned that I was able to meet and talk to people that I would never really talk with before.”

“I was able to push hard and work to my limits,” Stafford said. “If you feel like you’re not going to succeed, just keep going — you’ll get there someday.”