SHREWSBURY – Friends and family packed the room for the School Committee’s May 24 meeting, where the 10 members of the class of 2023 with the highest GPA were honored.
The first honoree, Nicole Aredes, became the vice president of the National Latin Honor Society and represented the school twice on WGBH Boston’s High School Quiz Show. Aredes will attend UMass Amherst’s Commonwealth Honors College.
Sohani Curtis will attend Williams College in the fall. Curtis is involved in Tri-M, French and National Honor societies, and she serves as an ambassador to the WooServes Program outside of the classroom.
Aditi Dosi is a national qualifier for speech and debate, the recipient of the Dartmouth Book Award and earned the Seal of Biliteracy with Distinction in Spanish. Aditi will study pre-medicine at Tufts University.
Alia Haytham will attend Northeastern University in the fall. Haytham enjoys helping people in need, volunteering her time at United Way of Central Massachusetts, and serving her community at Girls Inc. in Worcester.
Elena Li received the Cornell Book Award, earned the Seal of Biliteracy in Latin and serves as captain of the Math Team. Li will attend Carnegie Mellon University in the fall.
Jamie Li is an accomplished swimmer and serves as treasurer for both the National Latin Honor Society and Tri-M and the co-president of United Sound. Li will head to Boston University for classical studies, a major that was inspired by one of her teachers.
“I’d like to thank Mr. [Curtis] Bellemer, my Latin teacher who I’ve known since seventh grade,” Li said. “Mr. Bellemer was always there sharing his love of Latin, and thanks to him, I discovered my passion [for] classics… he really changed my life.”
After learning about food insecurity, Charles “Charlie” Prince started volunteering at the Worcester County Food Bank and other community food pantries. Prince also participates in cross country and track. In the fall, Prince will study cognitive science at Case Western Reserve University.
John Qiu will attend Brown University. He has been elected the class president since sophomore year. Qiu has been a member of Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra since 2017, and he was selected as a finalist in the 2022 Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition. Qiu is also the co-captain of the state champion esports team.
Carlos Reyes teaches children how to code, pursues independent computing projects and participates in the Research Science Network at Harvard Innovation Labs. He will attend Purdue University.
William Wu was the school’s valedictorian. Wu founded covidschooltracker.com, which has been visited by people from 108 countries. Wu made the Washington Post’s list of extraordinary people, and he won the 2021 Congressional App Challenge by developing Polynomo, an app that works to increase civic engagement. Wu is the president of the Student Council, coordinating events like the spirit rally, and he will attend Harvard University in the fall.
“There are so many people who have helped me throughout the years, and I just want to say thank you to all of them,” Wu said.
The School Committee was impressed by all of the seniors.
“It really is the most wonderful time of year for a School Committee member in Shrewsbury,” Jon Wensky said. “Congratulations to all of you; it’s really an honor to be your company.”
