Music students display talents, Presidents' awards: Education news

Oyster River High School music students display talents at Classical All-State Festival

DURHAM — Ten Oyster River High School students performed in the New Hampshire Music Educators Association Classical All-State Festival.

The students showcased their talents in the annual festival, held in Concord on March 30 and April 1. Students, under the guidance of Oyster River strings teacher Andrea von Oeyen and music teacher Marc LaForce were selected following statewide auditions in November.

Oyster River students who performed were:

Grade 12: Mary Jeong (violin), Shashu Srivatsan (viola), and Siddhu Srivatsan (viola)

Grade 11: Micah Bessette (tenor voice), Courtney Giroux (piccolo), Ella Higginson, (oboe), and Peter Wierda (double bass)

Grade 10: Cole Norris (violin), and Elena Pavlik (violin)

Grade 9: Issac Williams (viola)

Bessette performed in the mixed choir. Other students performed in the festival orchestra, directed by Ann Danis, Professor Emeritus of Music and the former Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Rhode Island.

Monarch School of New England hires Jeanette Souther as next executive director

ROCHESTER – The Monarch School of New England announced Jeanette Souther has been hired as the next executive director, effective July 1, 2023. Souther succeeds Diane Bessey, who will retire at the end of the current school year following 40 years of service in special education and 25 years with the Monarch School of New England.

Souther was selected by the school's board of directors after a year-long process. Board President Jean Parsons said, “Jeanette’s extensive special education and leadership experience impressed our hiring committee. She also demonstrated a strong alignment with the school’s philosophy that every student has potential, and every student can learn. We look forward to working with her when she joins the school community in July.”

Souther joins the Monarch School of New England from the Portsmouth School District, where she has served as the director of pupil support for eight years.

Great Bay Community College announces winners from 2023 Campus Compact Presidents’ Awards

PORTSMOUTH — Campus Compact for New Hampshire, a statewide consortium of college and university presidents and private sector partners, recently held an event in Concord to honor the 2023 CCNH Presidents’ Award recipients from colleges and universities from across the Granite State.

The Great Bay Community College honorees were:

Presidents’ Leadership Award: Timothy Warroka, business student, Class of 2023

According to GBCC, “since becoming a student in 2021, Timothy has become involved with the International Club and the Student Government Association. He also serves as the student representative on the President’s Cabinet where he effectively advocates for his peers and is the conduit of change. Through fostering a strong sense of belonging for students, he has helped to impact their persistence and completion of their academic programs."

Presidents’ Good Steward Award: Brittanie Mulkigian, director of student life

According to GBCC, “Brittanie has become a leader in the college’s partnership with Gather, the largest food provider to those experiencing hunger on the Seacoast. Focusing at first on a food pantry, the partnership has grown to include the development of an on-campus café as well as access to a food kitchen that Gather uses to provide food service for both GBCC students, the public and the Gather Community. Today, the Cooking 4 Community program uses the kitchen to feed over 5,000 individuals a month in the greater community and the Gather Café has fed over 2,700 students at a 50% discount and an additional 360-plus students for free."

Presidents’ Community Partner Award: Gather

According to GBCC, “Gather has significantly enhanced the quality of the lives of Great Bay Community College students since 2019, by providing supporting Great Bay’s Curbside Food Pickup program during the pandemic, and most recently, opening the Gather Café."

Newman Civic Fellowship: Louis Fowler, student

According to Campus Compact, “the Newman Civic Fellowship is a year-long program that recognizes and supports student public problem solvers at Campus Compact member institutions. For 2023, the group includes 154 students from 38 states and Mexico.

According to GBCC, “Louis is a founding member and president of Pride Alliance, a club to give LGBTQ+ students a space to foster queer friendship and promote education and representation at the college. He has led the charge on recruitment, and education about LGBTQ+ issues to the wider student body and is forging connections in the larger queer community, including working with Seacoast Outright to participate in Portsmouth Pride."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Music students display talents, Presidents' awards: Education news