Sarah Whitehouse has earned the honor of Valedictorian of the Class of 2022. Sarah is Vice President of the National Honor Society and a member of the Spanish Honor Society. She has been a peer tutor and orientation leader for our Wildcat Advisory Group. Sarah is on Suffield High School’s Debate Team and a member of the Class of 2022 Class Council. Within Class Council, Sarah has been the Historian for four years and was Chairman of the Prom Committee. She was chosen as co-captain of the Varsity Field Hockey team and was also co-captain of our Varsity Softball Team. She was chosen All Conference and All State for the field hockey team in 2020 and 2021. She is a leader both on and off the field. She challenges herself with online courses such as a course through Columbia University regarding Globalization and a class on Global Leadership Adventures. Sarah was an intern for the First Selectman’s Office, where she researched aspects of governance and presented reports to the Board of Selectmen. Sarah has volunteered for the Suffield Little League as an assistant coach and pitching clinic instructor and was also the founder and leader of Youth Activity at Kent Memorial Library. She led 20 youth in monthly “escape room” activities to alleviate the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on social-emotional health.
Sarah earned recognition as a National Merit Scholar Semi-finalist and was recently selected as a Finalist. She was the winner of CT Valley Debate League in 2020 and received the College Board Rural and Small Town Recognition Award in 2021. She has attained the status of AP Scholar with Distinction. She was also awarded the University of Rochester George Eastman Young Leaders Award, as well as the Bausch Science Award. In addition, she has won countless awards for her many AP and Honors classes she has taken through the years at Suffield High School.
Emily Brydges has earned the honor of Salutatorian of the Class of 2022. Emily has been very active throughout her years at Suffield High School. Emily was chosen as the CIAC Student Equity Advisory Board Member this year. She was Co-Chair of the Student Athlete Representation Committee of the Student Athlete Advisory Council from her sophomore year through her senior year. In 2021, Emily co-coordinated a virtual “Run for Girls” 5K and raised over $400 for the Malala fund to support women’s education during Women’s History Month.
Emily was a member of our Giraffe Club freshman year and has been part of our SHS Wildcat Advisory Group (WAG), where students volunteer to help incoming 9th-graders have a smooth transition into high school. She is a member and recording secretary of the National Honor Society and a member of our World Language Honor Society. She has been a peer tutor and a member of Class Council for all four years.
Emily has been a member of the cross country team for four years and was captain her Junior and Senior year. She was also a four-year Indoor/Outdoor Track and Field team member and was chosen as the senior captain this year. She has attended the Northeast Kingdom Running Camp for six years and was selected to be the female senior speaker in 2021.
Emily took a ten-week online course called, “Girls with Impact,” where she learned about entrepreneurship and leadership. In addition, in 2021 Emily spent a week at SMU learning micro and macroeconomics and developing leadership skills. She is active in her church, where she took part in “Cathedral in the Night,” where she helped to package and serve hot meals to the homeless in Northampton. She has also participated in “Rise Against Hunger” where she helped to package and send meals to third world countries in Africa. In her spare time, she managed to find time to work as a server at Suffield by the River.
Congratulations to Sarah and Emily on these exceptional and well-deserved honors.