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Congrats to Lily Barter!

by Erik Meerbach, Guidance Department Chair – Sandwich High School

A special congratulations is in order for Sandwich High School senior Lily Barter!   Lily has advanced to the Finalist standing in the National Merit Scholarship Program for 2015 based on her academic performance on the PSAT/NMSQT, SAT and her academic performance at Sandwich High School.   Currently Lily is one of the finalists under consideration for scholarship awards from the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Lily is known to be a self-motivated, passionate and considerate student at Sandwich High School. An athlete and scholar, Lily has achieved many accomplishments throughout her time at Sandwich High School which include; School Council member, 2015 class officer, Senior Mentor,  and Girls State representative.  Lily has devoted her time towards athletics through varsity lacrosse, cross country, winter track as well as community service through Habitat for Humanity, Key Club, Youth Street Reach, Cradles to Crayons and the Boston Food Pantry.  Lily is currently a member of the International Studies club and plans on majoring in International Studies while pursuing a future in politics, language or economics.  She has recently been accepted to Williams College, UMass Amherst and Macalester College.  However, she is waiting to hear back from some of her top choices: Middlebury College, Wesleyan University and Yale University as well as other colleges including American University, Connecticut College, Vassar College, Skidmore College, Carleton College and Reed College.

Many of the teachers and administrators have had great things to say about Lily.  Mr. Schermerhorn, who taught Lily as a junior in AP English Language Composition and Language said Miss Barter is one of those rare students who augments a love of learning with a personal desire to achieve at a high level. I have been acquainted with her for over two years, and when she first came to my attention, I was struck by her potential. Miss Barter is a vessel of learning and achievement. In academic areas, she excels due to focused effort and personal pride in her results. She demonstrates poise and confidence well beyond her verdant years and is the pacesetter for the student body, her peers, her teachers, and school staff as well.”

Ms. St. Pierre had Lily for Chemistry Honors in her sophomore year and again for AP Chemistry in her junior year.  Ms. St. Pierre stated “Lily immediately stood out the beginning of the semester as one of the strongest students in the class. Lily’s first priority, without a doubt, is doing well in school and challenging herself academically.  She possesses many of the necessary qualities of an ideal student: extremely well motivated, reliable and highly conscientious. What struck me most about Lily, though, was her high level of inquisitiveness and enthusiasm for learning. She was always willing to try more challenging problems and she eagerly answered and asked a lot of great questions during class. It became obvious to me that Lily was consistently striving to fully understand the concept at hand and piece all of the material together to see the interconnectedness of the subject matter.”

Mr. Franke, who currently teaches Lily in his AP Comparative Politics and Government class and also served as her advisor in model United Nations has the following to say:  “In my experience over 30 years, I have only been able to count a dozen students who perform at the academic level Lily has achieved. On a personal level, Lily has the extraordinary capacity to deal with everyone with a combination of passion and consideration that allows her to engage people on any subject, or in any situation, without being overbearing. Lily can certainly make her intellectual presence felt. As her model United Nations adviser, I have watched as Lily, during debate, has let everyone speak on a particular subject, and then use a particular moment to make a very profound statement that basically ends discussion. As impressive as her speechmaking is, Lily leaves a deeper impression when you see her successfully work with people trying to resolve the issues that are under debate during our model UN sessions. Lily opens people’s minds to her position simply by treating them with dignity and respect. When you deal with Lily you want to listen to her, because you learn quite quickly it is fair to contribute to a successful resolution of the problem that reaches beyond herself and her objectives.”

Dr. Booras, who has known Lily since her freshman  year at Sandwich High School, has many positive experiences with Lily over the past four years. “As Principal of Sandwich High School, one of my most important and most gratifying areas of focus is to identify, to develop, and to encourage student leaders. Lily has been an outstanding member of the SHS Leadership Team during her entire high school years. Her commitment to a variety of leadership projects has had a far reaching impact on our school. Lily’s interpersonal skills are exceptional as is her amazing work ethic. Our school has been recognized throughout the state and the country for its fine peer mediation program. Her level of maturity, diplomacy, and integrity makes her stand out among her peers. Lily continues to be one of the most admired and respected members of our school as faculty members recognize her elegance and excellence on a regular basis. Many of her teachers talk about the pride and satisfaction they have experienced during their interactions with Lily in and out of the classroom setting. Her reputation as a highly contributive member of many of our schools organizations is as universally revered as that earned by her exceptional commitment to scholarship.”

Lily should hear back from the National Merit Scholarship Program later this spring on any awards she may have won.  Regardless of the NMSP outcome, Lily is clearly an exceptional  young woman that will be missed upon her graduations from Sandwich High School and will surely flourish when she brings her  gifts, talents and aspirations to her future college.