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Merrimack High School’s top 10 seniors for 2017

No. 1 – Tiffany Knowles

Tiffany Knowles lives in Merrimack with her parents, Bob and Julie Knowles and brother, Cameron Knowles, who is a member of Merrimack High School’s Class of 2013. She is excited to further her education next fall in the Honors Program at Bentley University located in Waltham, Mass., studying accounting and finance. She will be sad to leave MHS as there are many friends and classmates that she will miss from the different activities she was involved in. She has had the honor of being the Treasurer for the Class of 2017 for the last four years. In her senior year, Tiffany was a captain of the girls’ varsity soccer team and the FinLit300 team (a financial literacy competition team) that won the state championship the last two years. She has also participated in swim and basketball during her high school career along with being a member of the Academy of Finance, DECA and Student Council. Tiffany gives back to the community through her involvement in the National Honor Society over the past two years, helping out her church, Our Lady of Mercy and walking in the Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk in Nashua the last four years.

No. 2 – Anna Correia

In her four years at Merrimack High School, Anna spent her time exploring her academic interests by joining many extracurricular activities, as well as taking part in community service activities. She focused on STEM by being involved with Science Olympiad and managing an elementary level Destination Imagination team. Strongly influenced by music, Anna joined the high school chorus as a student accompanist and was highly involved in the New Hampshire All State choirs for three years. She had the privilege of being accepted into the All Eastern mixed choir this year to represent New Hampshire and MHS. Anna has been involved in many other activities in and out of school, including MHS color guard as captain and involvement in the Independent Karate School as an instructor and volunteer. Next year, Anna will be attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute to study architectural engineering and continue her vocal and piano training, as well as her community service involvement.

No. 3 – Carissa Yim

Carissa is ranked third in the class. She played school soccer for the past four years, was honored to be captain of both the JV and varsity teams and loved playing club soccer with the Stingrays since she was tiny. As secretary of the National Honor Society, she had a great time with the other officers this past year and was involved in Student Council and Science Olympiad throughout high school. Carissa owes a thank you to her best friends, parents and brother for always being supportive. Next year, she is excited to pursue a career in bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh.

No. 4 – Pooja Agrawal

Pooja Agrawal has been a diligent student at Merrimack High School and challenged herself by taking several honors and AP level classes. Her early mentors at MHS encouraged her to participate in Science Olympiad, where she had the opportunity to represent the school at state and national level competitions. Her most memorable experiences however, have been the time she spent practicing trivia for Quiz Bowl. Twice, she was part of the school team that qualified for the Granite State Challenge, reaching the final round of the competition during her junior year. Based on her academic credentials she was also inducted into the National Honor Society and participated in volunteer activities within the community. Inspired particularly by her math and statistics classes, Pooja is going to pursue a major in actuarial science. This fall she will attend the University of Connecticut, where she will be part of the honors program.

No. 5 – Zev Sernik

Zev was president first of the Nashua chapter, then of the entire New England region for United Synagogue Youth. He attended the American Legion’s Boys State and was chosen to represent New Hampshire at Boys Nation in Washington, D.C. Zev was part of Merrimack’s Science Olympiad team that represented New Hampshire at the national competition. He was also captain of the Math Team, and of the Quiz Bowl team, competed in the Granite State Challenge, was in the MHS Student Congress, was treasurer of Merrimack’s National Honor Society chapter, played clarinet in the band, ran track and was the MHS student representative to the school board. Zev has a particular interest in history, economics and politics. He will be spending next year in Israel volunteering, traveling and studying, then attend Vanderbilt University.

No. 6 – Galen Terranova

Galen Terranova is ranked sixth in the Class of 2017. As a dedicated member of the National Honor Society and Students Against Destructive Decisions, she was eventually elected to officer positions in both. Through the actions of NHS, Galen was able to express her commitment to scholarship, community service and volunteerism. As the vice president of SADD, she took pride in advocating for a life free of drug and alcohol abuse. Galen also spends her time after school dancing at Broadway Bound Performing Arts Center, which she has attended since kindergarten. In the fall, Galen will study at Gettysburg College, majoring in psychology with hopes to earn a PhD and work closely with law enforcement.

7. Daniel McKillop

Danny McKillop did not only excel in academics, but in athletics and extracurricular activities as well. Having played football since the fifth grade, Danny won numerous honors on the field, including the Joe Yukica Scholar Athlete award and a spot on the CHaD West roster. He also did his part on the basketball court. Contributing to a championship appearance his junior year, his senior year he won the Jack Ford award and was named a local “Hometown Hero” on WMUR news. He volunteered in the YMCA Reading Buddies program last summer, where he helped develop the reading skills of elementary school students. He was co-president of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), a member of National Honors Society and was even a member of the math team. Danny McKillop will attend Virginia Tech in the fall of 2017 on an AFROTC scholarship to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering.

8. Justin Calautti

During his time at Merrimack High School, Justin’s academic work was complemented by a wide and deep array of extracurricular activities both within the school and the larger community. Justin has been playing alto saxophone since fifth grade. In high school, he served as the band’s vice president his senior year and as a drum major of the marching band his junior and senior years. He has been involved in Boy Scouts since first grade and completed his Eagle Project the summer between his sophomore and junior years, earning the Eagle award a few months later. Justin joined the MHS FIRST Robotics Team, Chop Shop, his freshman year and had the opportunity to travel with the team to the World Championships in St. Louis his junior year. The robotics team elected him to be co-captain for his senior year. His academic and extracurricular achievements afforded Justin the opportunity to join the National Honor Society. He was also one of four students from MHS to be accepted to the Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School, which he attended the summer between his junior and senior years. Justin Calautti will attend Northeastern University as a student in the school’s honors program, where he will study political science and economics with plans to enroll in law school after his undergraduate studies.

9. Brennan Maser

Through many years of hard work, dedication and a consistent work ethic, I’m very honored to be named to the Top 10 of my graduating class. I’m still in disbelief to be in this position as many of my classmates have more than enough potential to be in my spot. My two older brothers, Travis and Keegan, consistently inspired me to work at my greatest and helped guide me in the right direction. Both my parents, Cindy and Scott, supported me through each year, giving me hope and motivation even in the dullest of times. Over the past four years, I was able to watch myself grow as an individual and experience different perspectives of life. I’m quite thankful in many respects that I was able to donate my time to the Nashua Soup Kitchen, allowing me to give back to the community, which in turn has shaped me into the person that I am today. Despite an injury that prevented me from playing my last two years of soccer, I still took an active role in supporting the team. In looking ahead, I’m absolutely thrilled to be following in the footsteps of my older brother as I plan to study chemical engineering at the University of New Hampshire starting this fall.

10. Aiden Guerette

Filling the 10th and final space of 2017’s top scholars, Aiden Guerette is grateful to have placed at all, and gives her condolences to whoever she edged out of the ranking in 11th. Aiden was never a particularly outspoken student, and believes her placement is due more to a lot of diligence and a bit of luck. Although she began her high school career rather unremarkably, she has made leaps and bounds towards improving herself both as a person and member of the community. Aiden left as a proud member of the Merrimack High School Theatre Department, Color Guard, FIRST Robotics team, Chop Shop 166, and GSA, as well as an officer of the National Art Honors Society and an instructor for the Archery Club. Her only regret, looking back, is not doing more with her first three years in high school. Aiden dreams of pursuing a career in the arts, and will be attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the fall.

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