Reston Theatre Student Works Backstage In Emerson College's 'Paris'

RESTON, VA — To shine a light on the accomplishments of college students from Reston, Patch shares information provided by the students' families and Merit News.

Reston's Matthew Guerber was the assistant company manager of Emerson Stage's production of the play "Paris," which was presented Jan. 26-29, at the Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theater at Emerson College in Boston. Guerber is a theatre major and a member of Emerson's class of 2025.

Touching on the themes of isolation and invisibility, "Paris" focuses on Emma, one of the only Black people living in Paris, Vermont.

Written by Eboni Booth, the play was directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo. Baron E. Pugh provided the scenic designs and Ryan Bates designed the props. Ariana Dookhran was the costume designer and Joe Morales was the lighting designer.

The following students were named to Emerson College's dean's list for the spring 2022 semester:

• Matthew Guerber of Reston is majoring in theatre and is a member of the class of 2025.
• Marine Savoure of Reston is majoring in media arts production and is a member of the class of 2025.
• Katya Shakula of Reston is majoring in media arts production and is a member of the class of 2024.

The requirement for Emerson College's dean's list is a grade point average of 3.7 or higher for that semester.

In September, James Madison University welcomed the following students from the class of 2026 to its Harrisonburg, Virginia campus:

• Sean Barron of Reston whose selected major is finance.
• Kylie Bezdek-Hughes of Reston whose selected major is sport and recreation management.
• Ryan Blackerby of Reston whose selected major is general psychology.
• Lauren Borror of Reston whose selected major is business management.
• Brian Boyce of Reston whose selected major is marketing.
• Conor Brennan of Reston whose selected major is sport and recreation management.
• Claire Callaway of Reston whose selected major is general psychology.
• Caitlin Connelly of Reston whose selected major is undeclared/exploratory.
• Nina Cralle of Reston whose selected major is undeclared/exploratory.
• Elodie Decker of Reston whose selected major is intelligence analysis.
• Carter Diamond of Reston whose selected major is business management.
• Megan Eden of Reston whose selected major is nursing.
• Mathias Fay of Reston whose selected major is undeclared/exploratory.
• Sophia Feldman of Reston whose selected major is undeclared/exploratory.
• Patrick Fletcher of Reston whose selected major is marketing.
• Jack Flynn of Reston whose selected major is sport and recreation management.
• James Grinnan of Reston whose selected major is undeclared/exploratory.
• Ella Handerahan of Reston whose selected major is elementary education.
• Katherine Harris of Reston whose selected major is kinesiology.
• Brennan Hartigan of Reston whose selected major is kinesiology.
• Juana Hernandez of Reston whose selected major is international affairs.
• Mari Huff of Reston whose selected major is media arts and design.
• Zain Istarabadi of Reston whose selected major is biology.
• Mischa Khanna of Reston whose selected major is business management.
• Scott Little of Reston whose selected major is computer science.
• Yasmeen Megahed of Reston whose selected major is communication studies.
• David Nardi of Reston whose selected major is business management.
• Hill Naski of Reston whose selected major is undeclared/exploratory.
• Karis Pak of Reston whose selected major is undeclared/exploratory.
• John Park of Reston whose selected major is music.
• Alexa Perez of Reston whose selected major is general psychology.
• Aidan Radtke of Reston whose selected major is computer science.
• Christopher Rae of Reston whose selected major is international business.
• Erik Smith of Reston whose selected major is biology.
• Lillian Tebbe of Reston whose selected major is kinesiology.
• Madison Tesnow of Reston whose selected major is biology.
• Annika Thompson of Reston whose selected major is biotechnology.
• Alysa Van Vranken of Reston whose selected major is international business.
• Finnian Wilson of Reston whose selected major is finance.

Natalie McCrea of Reston was named to Southern New Hampshire University's summer 2022 president's List. Full-time undergraduate students must earn a minimum grade-point average of 3.700 for the reporting term to be named to the president's list.

Jesse Davis of Reston received a bachelor of arts from Berea College in Berea, Kentucky on Aug. 15, 2022.

Louisa Margaret Mattozzi of Reston was named to the dean's list at James Madison University for the summer 2022 semester. Students who earn dean's list honors must carry at least 12 graded credit hours and earn a GPA of between 3.5 and 3.899. Mattozzi is majoring in media arts and design.

James Lyon of Reston, who is majoring in supply chain operations management, transferred to York College of Pennsylvania for the opening of the fall 2022 semester last September.

Reston residents Leland Howe and Kerrie Schwartz enrolled at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania as part of the class of 2026.

Olivia Fournier, a music major from Reston, was named to Biola University's dean's list for academic excellence for the spring 2022 semester. Biola students are placed on the dean's list to honor those with a GPA of 3.6 or higher while enrolled in 12 or more credits and whose cumulative GPA is at least 3.2.

Jered Smith of Reston was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Smith was initiated at National Intelligence University.

The following students were awarded degrees at the conclusion of summer 2022 semester at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia:

• Jerrie Gu of Reston
• Wen Tang of Reston
• Bennie Tignor of Reston

Sanskruthi Sreepangi of Reston was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Sreepangi was initiated at George Mason University.

Severin Harrington of Reston, who is a member of the class of 2025, was named to the fall 2022 honors list at Pomfret School in Pomfret, Connecticut. To achieve this level of distinction, Severin earned a grade point average of at least 3.330 and received no grade lower than a B.

James O'Grady of Reston was named to the fall 2022 dean's list at Elmira College in Elmira, New York. Full-time undergraduate students registered for at least 12 computable credit hours and earning a term grade point average of 3.6 or higher at the end of Term I or Term II are placed on the dean's list at Elmira.

Alex Moran of Reston received a scholarship from the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, a top-5 ranked program at the University of Utah, for 2022-23. In total, the institute awarded $394,500 in scholarships to 125 students for the 2022-23 academic year as of today. The scholarships come with the opportunity to gain leadership skills and experience while managing many activities for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Candice Benvenuti of Reston was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Benvenuti was initiated at George Mason University.

Emerson College student Katya Shakula curated a new exhibition "Perspectives: Micro to Macro," alongside classmates as part of a Visual Media Arts course, "Curating Contemporary Art," taught by Dr. Leonie Bradbury. Shakula is majoring in media arts production and is a member of the class of 2024. The exhibit was ran from Nov. 30-Dec. 16, 2022 at Emerson's Media Art Gallery located at 25 Avery St., in Boston, Massachusetts.

Elizabeth Shaw, a member of the Colgate University class of 2022, received the spring 2022 dean's award with distinction. Shaw is a anthropology major and a graduate of South Lakes High School. To earn the dean's award with distinction, Shaw earned a grade point average of 3.6 or higher while completing at least three courses during the spring 2022 semester.

Don't see your award-winning scholar among those appearing in this academic honors list? Send the details to Patch editor Michael O'Connell at michael.occonnell@patch.com and Patch will include them in a future post.