WHS Salutes Student Leaders

Serving as president of Westborough High School's National Honor Society chapter this past year "has given me the chance to see the members of this group in a different light than in years past," senior Anna Johnson says.

"The students in the society are passionate about sports, music, theater, environment, school spirit, community service and countless other activities. But where their passion really shines through is the moment they volunteer to help others feel the same enjoyment they do about something," she said during Wednesday night’s induction ceremony of the chapter’s newest members.

The membership ranges from club presidents and team captains to those who "lead by example, and while they are not necessarily up on a podium, are noticed more often than they think they are," Johnson noted.

"Every person in this membership is a leader to the students at Westborough High School, and I am so proud to be among them," she said.

Johnson was among four chapter members, all seniors, who addressed the gathering.

Kelsie Gould discussed scholarship, Allison Thibault discussed service, Guhan Krishnan discussed character, and Johnson discussed leadership.

“In taking the initiative in class and school activities, the real leader strives to train and aid others to attain the same objective.,” Johnson said.

“The price of leadership is sacrifice: the willingness to yield one's personal interests for the interests of others. A leader should possess self-confidence, and will go forward when others hesitate.”

Principal John Smith, the guest speaker, called the National Honor Society "an organization that symbolizes the core values of our school. All of you have proven your abilities as strong students in the classroom, leaders among your peers, and willing volunteers to make our community and our world a better place to live."

He said he and chapter adviser Karen Apuzzo Langton "call upon the National Honor Society to unite with the new membership and to charge forward on a path of personal and collective responsibility for making this chapter a model for all schools."

"This evening's ceremony is both a celebration, and it is also a call to action,” Smith said.

Inducted were:

Seniors: Hannah Chen, Marissa Kashmanian, Leah Marcus, Mark McCauley, Anna Skidmore, Jennifer Steurer, Sean Vaccaro and John White.

Juniors: Sarah Anderson, Julia Arsenault, Cara Berg, Michael Gallo, Maria Hession, Abhi Jain, Yae Eun Ji, Julia Kalinowski, Yustina Kang, Samantha Kehoe, Frederick Lu, Elizabeth Makris, Ethan Peterson, Kishore Rao, Emily Reilly, Carter Reynolds, Nicolas Ross, Mark Schoen, Margaret Tragakis and Amy Wilichowski.

Sophomores: Sidhant Athilat, Margaret Baldwin, Melanie Barbini, Wilhelmina Bogoian-Mullen, Ashley Butler, Hannah Cayem, Michelle Cheng, Brenna Collins, Brandon Damiano, Shreedhar Deshpande, Anwesha Gangopadhyay, Anuraag Gopaluni, Kevin Lai, David Lehman, Jennifer Litchfield, Scott McCullough, Brandon Mignini, Mitin Nachu, Katherine Nikopoulous, Rebecca Piscia, Vishnu Prasad, Joel Reske, Lindsay Ross, Nicholas Schur, Gerad Sockol, Susannah Speed, Molly Stone, Robert Stout, Vivek Subramaniam, Morgan Thibault, Bradley Whitehall, Meredith Wolpert, Dongpeng Xia and Mason Ziedonis.

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