MHS Announces Top 10 Scholars

Merrimack High School has announced its Top 10 Scholars. The Class of 2014 graduation is June 14.

Here are the top 10:

Gabriella Barham - #10
Gabriella Barham is the daughter of Dean and Virginia Barham who live in Merrimack. She is ranked 10th in the class. Consistent selection of Honors Level courses as well as her Rank and GPA distinguishes Gabriella as one of the top ten achievers in the Senior Class. Throughout her years at Merrimack High School Gabriella has completed most of her courses at Honors Level.

Gabriella has contributed to the community through her participation in the National Honor Society and actively serving in her church. She is also a musician and playing music is one of her passions. She has been learning to play the traditional Irish fiddle under the teaching of Laurel Martin for the past 7 years and plans to continue playing throughout college.

Gabriella has been accepted to and will be attending Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, California. After completing the 2-year Bible program in Murrieta she plans on attending California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo to study biomedical engineering, specifically in the areas of orthotics and prosthetics.

Michael Conlin - #9
Michael Conlin is the son of Eric and Brenda Conlin. Michael will be attending Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, where he is enrolled in the Fisher College of Business.

Matthew Jones #8
Matthew Jones, son of Rene Jones, will be attending Colorado University at Boulder studying Mechanical Engineering. He has a passion for science and community service, emerging as a leader as a Captain of the Science Olympiad Team and Vice President of the National Honor Society. Matthew has spent the last year participating in a research and development internship at Conductive Compounds Inc. in Hudson, NH. Matthew would like to thank Sean Muller for his guidance and dedication to helping him succeed in the Science Olympiad program as well as pursuing an education in engineering.

Paulina Klinger #7
Paulina Klinger is the daughter of Deena and Roland Klinger. Throughout her four years at Merrimack High School, Paulina has completed a rigorous course load, and has been an active student-athlete and member in her community.
With her hard work, she has been ranked at 7th in her high school class. Paulina will be attending Bryant University in the fall to pursue a major in Marketing and a minor in Communications. She has had many unforgettable experiences at Merrimack High School, and is looking forward to many experiences in the future.

Samantha Holder - #6
Samantha Holder is the daughter of Diana Holder and Michael Holder. Throughout Sammy's four years at MHS, she has challenged herself academically while being an active member of many activities and volunteer opportunities throughout the community. Sammy has enjoyed playing flute in the band for four years, participating in three years of JV/Varsity tennis, tutoring students at Dr. Crisp elementary school, and being an active member of Spanish Club for Service and Outreach. Sammy will be attending University of Connecticut in the fall as an Exploratory student, hoping to pursue a career in Elementary Education.

Allison Yelgin - #5
Allison Yelgin is the daughter of Sherry Nassauer and Lou Yelgin and the granddaughter of Flora Nassauer. Allison is planning on attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the Commonwealth Honors College. She intends to major in English and may pursue a career in education.

Rebecca Jackson #4
Rebecca Jackson is the daughter of Tom and Shelley Jackson who reside in Merrimack. She is ranked #4 in her senior class. She was accepted to and will be attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York in the fall. She plans to major in materials engineering with a minor in chemistry.

Taber Yim - #3
Taber Yim is the son of Wai and Caroline and older brother to Carissa. He is ranked third in the senior class of 2014. Hard work and achievement in rigorous courses throughout his four years at MHS has distinguished him as one of the top scholars.

Taber has been very involved in the MHS community, noticeably through his participation in Student Council, National Honor Society, Science Olympiad, varsity sports, and as the senior class Vice President.

Taber has helped organize school wide events as well as class events such as Sophomore Semi, Junior Prom, and Senior Week. He has placed well at the Science Olympiad state competition, received seven Varsity pins, and been selected as a NHIAA student athlete.

Taber was accepted to the following colleges: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Northeastern University, and the University of New Hampshire. He is looking forward to attending Northeastern University in the fall and has decided to major in chemical engineering.

Matthew Correia - #2
Matthew Correia has participated in many activities at Merrimack High School, including Science Olympiad, FIRST Robotics, National Honor Society, and the Alpine Ski Team. During his junior year, he became a captain of the Science Olympiad team, and has continued with that role into senior year. This past summer, Matthew started working as an intern at Conductive Compounds, where he runs experiments and tests on a variety of materials in addition to helping develop new materials. Next year, Matthew will attend the University of Chicago to pursue a major in mathematics.

Alyssa Hobbs - #1
Alyssa Hobbs, daughter of Nancy and Chuck Hobbs, will be graduating ranked number one from Merrimack High School this year. She is planning to attend the University of Delaware in the fall and study Chemical Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering.

(Top 10 photos: Alyssa Hobbs in center, with clock-wise from top right: Matthew Correia, Taber Yim, Rebecca Jackson, Allison Yelgin, Samantha Holder, Paulina Klinger, Matthew Jones, Mike Conlin, Gabriella Barham.)