Meet Exeter High School's top 10 students in the Class of 2022
EXETER — Exeter High School has announced the top 10 students in its Class of 2022. There will be a graduation ceremony on Saturday, June 11 at 10 a.m. at the high school. In alphabetical order, the top 10 students are:
Gavin Bond
Gavin Bond is the son of Timothy Bond and June Little of Brentwood. He is a member of the National Honor Society, the Latin National Honor Society and an AP Scholar. He is a recipient of the NHIAA and NADHA Scholar Athlete Award for excellence in athletics and academics, and was nominated for this year’s National Football Foundation Yukica Chapter Scholar-Athlete Award.
Bond played four years of football and was awarded the Carl Robertson Scholarship for outstanding academic achievement as a student athlete. In addition to football, Bond participated in both winter and spring track, and Ski Club throughout high school. He enjoys traveling, spending time with his family and friends, and working at the beach during the summer. Bond will begin his college experience with Northeastern University by attending the University of Glasgow for his first semester, pursuing a degree in finance.
Jayden Brand
Jayden Brand is the daughter of Amy Pennington and Brian Brand of Exeter. She has played tennis for Exeter High School for four years and been a member of the varsity team for her junior and senior years. In addition, she played on the JV soccer team for two years.
Jayden has been a three-year member of the Science National Honor Society on the Volunteering Committee. She is also a member of the Social Studies, Math and National Honor Societies. Brand was the secretary of Interact Club with Rotary during her senior year and a coach for Special Olympics bowling in the fall. Brand also has worked at Riverwoods Exeter as a dietary aide for the past year. Brand will attend Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., this coming fall, majoring in psychology.
Sean Cheng, Valedictorian
Sean Cheng is the Valedictorian of the Class of 2022. He is the son of Suling Huang and Weibin Cheng of Exeter. He is a National Merit Finalist, the recipient of the Harvard Book Award, and the Rensselaer Medal for Math and Science.
Cheng is a three-year varsity member and one-year JV member of the EHS Boys soccer team. He is also a three-year member of the school’s robotics team, where he is a lead programmer. During his freshman year, Cheng co-founded GeoGenius, an organization to promote geographic literacy which placed second in the 2020 NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge. He was one of 12 speakers at the 2022 TEDxPortsmouth event, where he spoke about the importance of geographic education in the 21st century. In the summer before senior year, Cheng interned at the Parkson Corporation as a Research Specialist studying PFAS, a group of harmful and persistent chemicals in wastewater. Outside of school, Cheng has conducted research with various professors in subjects ranging from theoretical physics to Earth science. His research focuses on satellite acquired data, which he has used to monitor glacier recession as well as sulfur dioxide emissions from volcanic eruptions. He placed second in the 2021 New Hampshire Science and Engineering Exposition for Physics, where he submitted his research on the Topological Hall Effect. Cheng has also competed in various divisions of the USA Computing Olympiad, was named an AP Scholar with Distinction as a sophomore, and was a U.S. Presidential Scholar Nominee. He is ranked top five in the state for competitive speedcubing, and can solve a Rubik’s cube in under 10 seconds.
Cheng was one of 170 chosen out of 25,000 applicants to be a Stamps semifinalist at Georgia Tech. He was also admitted to the Northeastern Honors Program, the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt, Caltech, Duke, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Yale. Cheng will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall where he plans on majoring in computer science and minoring in Earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences.
Sienna Daley
Sienna Daley is the daughter of Laura and Larry Daley of Stratham. At EHS, Sienna founded the Beach Cleanup Initiative aimed at ridding the NH coastline of trash. Through the work of student volunteers, she has helped to organize 300 hours of community service and collected over 250 pounds of trash. Last fall, Daley published her debut novel, “Sticky,” a middle grade chapter book about the importance of species conservation. This book is now available online and in select stores along the Seacoast. Through UNH, Daley has been involved in researching glass eel populations in the Lamprey River, helping to collect data on growth, color, and life stage, along with formulating causes for the decrease in their population size.
Outside of her interest in the sciences, Daley has worked during high school as an architectural landscape concept artist. Her primary role was to produce artwork for clients to showcase what design projects would look like on their property. Daley has played the cello and performed with the UNH Youth Orchestra since eighth grade. At EHS, Daley is also the co-president of the French Honor Society and a member of the National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, and Rho Khappa. In the coming months, Daley will be taking a gap year to travel to Ireland, the Bahamas, and intern in Southern France. In the fall of 2023, she will be attending Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
Nathan Gregoire
Nathan Gregoire is the son of Steve and Kendra Gregoire of Exeter. He is a two-year member of both the National Honor Society and the Math Honor Society, where he has served as a math peer tutor. Basketball has been an important part of Gregoire’s life. He has spent four years in the Exeter High School boys basketball program, and played for the varsity team this past winter.
After the season, he was recognized as a member of the NHBCO All-Academic Team and an EHS Scholar Athlete. He also played multiple seasons at Journeyman Basketball, a local youth program. Gregoire is an active parishioner at St. Michael Parish in Exeter, where he has been an altar server and volunteer for over six years. This summer, he will work at Arjay Ace Hardware in Exeter. In the fall, Gregoire will attend Florida State University where he plans to study statistics.
Madelyn Kady
Kady is the daughter of Kimberly and David Kady of Exeter. Kady is a student leader of Exeter High School’s Math National Honors Society, through which she has completed over 75 hours of peer tutoring, and is a member of National Honors Society, Rho Kappa Honors Society, and Spanish Honors Society, along with Hawk Crew and Debate Club. She figure skates with the Ice Skating Club of Exeter, is a junior coach for the Rinks at Exeter Learn to Skate program, and the team captain for the NH Seacoast High School figure skating team, who recently placed 3rd out of 11 teams in the NEICC High School Series.
Kady is a National Merit Commended Student, AP Scholar with Distinction, NH Scholar, and recipient of the CollegeBoard Rural and Small Town Recognition Award. She is also part of the CATS program at the University of New Hampshire, which allowed her to take Calculus 2, Differential Equations, and Linear Algebra as a high school student. In the community, Kady is a Chief Petty Officer in the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps, a program that she joined in 2017. She became the first female Chief of the Dan Healy Division in 2020, was Command Chief of Advanced Training Command - New England this past December, and was recently awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars medal.
Kady was a healthcare server at Riverwoods Exeter for the past three and a half years, and will spend her summer working as a camp counselor for the town of Kittery, Maine. In the fall, Kady will attend Dartmouth College, where she plans to double major in mathematics and economics, and join the Dartmouth Figure Skating Club.
Ali McFarland
McFarland is the daughter of Kim and Paul McFarland of Brentwood. She is a two-year member of the National Honor Society, a two-year member of the Math Honor Society and a three-year member of the Latin Honor Society. McFarland is a NH Scholar with an emphasis in STEM.
She has been part of the math team the last two years, is a volunteer at Gather food pantry and was a member of the Outing Club.
McFarland has been a four-year member of the varsity cross country team, a captain and was named to the D1 All Division Team in her sophomore and senior seasons. She has been a nominee for girls cross country athlete of the year for the Seacoast High School Sports Awards in her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. McFarland has also been a member of the varsity indoor and spring track teams, contributing to D1 Girls State Championship wins in 2019 and 2020. McFarland was part of the winning 4x800 relay in the Meet of Champions in the spring of 2021. In addition, she has been a scholar-athlete each season for cross country, indoor and outdoor track.
McFarland will be attending the University of Vermont on a Presidential Scholarship and will be running on the UVM cross country and track teams.
Erin McIlroy, Salutatorian
Erin McIlroy is the Salutatorian for the Class of 2022. She is the daughter of James and Cheri McIlroy of Newfields, and sister to Rosemary, William, and Grace McIlroy. She played basketball and lacrosse for Exeter High School all four years, and was a captain for each team senior year. McIlroy was awarded USA Lacrosse Academic All-American and NH Lacrosse All State Honors her junior year, and played in the NH Basketball Senior All Star Game. She also received the NHIAA scholar-athlete award for basketball and lacrosse each season.
McIlroy achieved NH Scholars in STEM and was a two-year member of the National Honor Society, Math Honor Society, and Latin Honor Society. McIlroy was a peer tutor, Hawk Crew leader, and member of Student Senate her senior year, where she participated in various community service activities. She also gave back to her youth lacrosse program by volunteering to coach clinics and evaluate tryouts for EYLA. McIlroy played club lacrosse for NH Tomahawks, where she currently works coaching elite teams, clinics, and summer camps. She enjoys going to the beach, camping, and hiking. McIlroy has completed 42 of the 48 NH 4,000 footers with her family, and plans on hiking the remaining mountains this summer.
This fall, McIlroy will be attending Franklin Pierce University where she was awarded Presidential, Health Sciences, and Athletic Scholarships and was recruited to play Division II Lacrosse. She will be majoring in health sciences and minoring in healthcare administration. McIlroy has also been accepted into the Masters of Physician Assistant Studies direct admit program.
Jamison O’Keefe
Jamison O’Keefe is the son of Daniel O’Keefe and Laura O’Keefe of Stratham. He has served as class president for the past four years, working with other class officers to organize fundraisers and events. Jamie played on the Exeter High School varsity boys soccer team for two years, and was elected co-captain for his senior year. Following his senior season, O’Keefe was named to the NH D1 All-State First Team, nominated for Seacoast Boys High School Soccer Player of the Year, and given the team’s Blue Hawk Award.
O’Keefe is a recipient of the Xerox Award for Innovation and Information Technology, a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship competition, and a winner of the 2020 Congressional App Challenge, through which he met Congressman Pappas and presented his app at the House of Code. Outside of school, he likes to play piano and guitar, produce music, woodwork, and referee soccer games. In the fall, O’Keefe will be studying and playing soccer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lucy Perkins
Lucy Perkins is the daughter of Jennifer Ramsey and David Perkins of Kensington. She has played soccer for Exeter High School for the past four years and was elected co-captain of the varsity team her senior year. For four years, Perkins has served as an active member of the EHS student senate, helping with various fundraisers as well as working to create and promote student events. She is a member of the National, English, Spanish, and Social Studies honor societies.
For two years, she has been a writer and social media manager for Exeter High School’s student run newspaper, The Talon. Her senior year, she began working with the newly founded, EHS chapter of the New Hampshire High School Democrats, as their financial director. Next year, Perkins will be attending Northeastern University’s College of Arts, Media, and Design in Boston, Massachusetts, where she will be studying communication. Perkins will spend her first semester studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland at the University College Dublin.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter NH High School names top 10 students for Class of 2022
