KINGSTON, RI (06/05/2025)– The University of Rhode Island, in Kingston, Rhode Island, announces that several area students have been named to its Spring 2025 dean’s list. Among them are:
photo credit: Hamilton College
Hamilton College’s annual Class & Charter Day took place on May 13, in Clinton, New York. Established in 1950, the event combines the traditional Class Day celebrating the end of classes with a commemoration of the granting of the College’s charter on May 26, 1812.
The following local residents were among the award winners:
Charles Haberstock, of Waterville, was named the recipient of The Senior Prize in Economics. Haberstock, a senior majoring in economics and geosciences, is a graduate of Waterville High School.
Maia Macek, of Madison, was named the recipient of The William Gillespie Prize in Art. Macek, a senior majoring in art and Hispanic studies, is a graduate of The American School in Japan.
Plymouth State University, in Plymouth, New Hampshire, recognizes students who made the dean’s list for the Spring 2025 semester. They include Colby Corson, Exercise and Sport Physiology major, and Sidney Hatch, Social Work major, both of Oakland.
photo credit: Hamilton College
The following local residents received Bachelor of Arts degrees from Hamilton College, in Clinton, New York, on Sunday, May 25, in a commencement ceremony:
Area students at Cedarville University, in Cedarville, Ohio, have been named to the dean’s list for the Spring 2025 semester. They include Catherine Estes, of Sidney, and Josette Gilman, of China.
Sadie Williams
Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce announces the 2025 Bill and Joan Alfond Family Scholarship Award winner.
Sadie Williams of Waterville was selected as the scholarship recipient from a field of applicants.
Williams graduated this spring from Waterville Senior High School Class of 2025.
Williams carried an unweighted GPA of 97.4, served as the vice president of Key Club, was inducted into National Honor Society, a varsity soccer captain, varsity track, junior classical league, and a class officer. Sadie has earned numerous honors, including the Margaret Chase Smith Library Maine Exhibition Award, the National History Day in Maine Labor History Award, the Princeton Alumni Book Award, the RIT Women in STEM Award, and a Renaissance Award. Outside school, Sadie works as a WYSA youth soccer referee and holds two jobs locally.
Williams plans to continue her post-secondary education at Brandeis University majoring in STEM for pre-med/pre-physical therapy.
The scholarship selection committee convenes annually to award the prize to a local graduating senior with an exemplary record of citizenship and community service. Applicants are required to submit an essay on their community involvement, and finalists are interviewed by the Bill and Joan Alfond Family Scholarship Award Committee.
“ We are very pleased to award the 2025 Bill and Joan Alfond Family Scholarship Award to Sadie Williams,” said Kimberly N. Lindlof, executive director of the Central Maine Community Betterment Collaborative and coordinator of the scholarship selection committee. “It chose Sadie from an impressive group of accomplished applicants, because her dedication to service and leadership truly reflect Bill and Joan’s interest in citizenship, community service, and exemplify their spirit and vitality.”
The scholarship is awarded by Central Maine Community Betterment Collaborative on behalf of the Bill and Joan Alfond Family Foundation. Recipients must be graduating from Messalonskee, Good Will-Hinckley, Waterville, Winslow or Lawrence high schools and attending post-secondary school in New England. Awardees receive a $750 scholarship after successfully completing one semester with a grade point average of 2.0 or higher. This amount will be awarded for up to four years, for a total of $3,000.
by Mary GrowLast academic year, a Vassalboro Community School graduate named Judson Smith was a freshman at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone. Smith is glad he was able to attend the specialized residential high school (see the Jan. 9, 2025, issue of The Town Line, p. 2, for an interview with Smith midway through the year).
This spring, VCS eighth-graders Savannah Judkins and Agatha Meyer were accepted to enter MSSM’s freshman class in September 2025.
Having three students qualify for the prestigious school brought pride and pleasure to VCS personnel, and to many Vassalboro residents not directly connected with VCS.
One of the latter is John Reuthe. To express his feelings in a practical way, he is organizing, and donating to, a fund-raiser to help pay Vassalboro students’ costs.
As Vassalboro School Board members explained at their April 8 meeting, the state pays students’ tuition at MSSM, but not room and board, which they said cost around $11,000 a year. School board members researched records and found a policy under which they voted to give each family $5,303 in aid for the coming school year.
Reuthe pointed out that in addition to the remaining room and board costs, high-school students have other expenses. He and some of his neighbors have therefore organized the Vassalboro Community Scholarship Fund at MSSM.
The Vassalboro fund is a subdivision of the school’s MSSM Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Donations to the Vassalboro fund by credit card may be made via the school’s website. Checks should be made payable to the Maine School of Science and Mathematics Foundation and mailed to the school at 95 High Street, Limestone, ME 0750.
For more information on the local project, Reuthe’s email address is john@ereuthe.com.
Reuthe is particularly pleased that two more girls will be attending MSSM. He comes from a family in which many women, despite being born poor in rural areas, managed to get a science education that led to a successful career.
Before the Covid epidemic, Reuthe said, he and his late wife Elizabeth provided summer camperships at MSSM for female students. His wife’s illness and death distracted him from resuming the program.
But when the grandmother of one of the new MSSM students mentioned that the family might have trouble paying room and board, Reuthe’s instant reaction was, “I’ll find a way to help.”
After discussions with MSSM executive director Rob Constantine and dean of enrollment management Santiago Durango, Reuthe and his group organized the Vassalboro fund. His long-term goal is to establish an ongoing source of money to help support future VCS graduates, boys and girls, who gain admission to MSSM.
As of June 22, Reuthe estimated donations totaled about $6,000. The initial payment to MSSM for next year is due in mid-July, he said.
Reuthe was impressed by MSSM students he met during the family’s earlier involvement with the school. “The kids are serious,” he said. “They work all day long and love it.”
Many go on to technical colleges and careers in science, engineering and other technical fields.
Constantine said MSSM’s 2025-26 enrollment is about 112 students – some applications remain to be finalized. Of the total, he said, 52, or close to 46.5 percent, are girls.
Springfield College, in Springfield, Massachusetts, has named William Banks, from Jefferson, to the dean’s list for academic excellence for the 2025 spring semester. Banks has a primary major of physical education.
Kyle Ingraham, from Unity, Springfield College was named to the dean’s list for academic excellence for the 2025 spring semester. Ingraham has a primary major of Sport Management.
Springfield College Kaitlin Morrison, from Winslow, was named to the dean’s list for academic excellence for the 2025 spring semester. Morrison has a primary major of Communication Sci & Disorders.
The following locaql students were named to the dean’s list at Worcester Polytechnical Institute, in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Kaitlyn Henry, from Augusta, class of 2027, majoring in Computer Science.
Lily Ker, from Waterville, class of 2027, majoring in Interactive Media and Game Development.
Emiko Peck, from Waterville, class of 2028, majoring in Mathematical Sciences.
Jessica Fisher, class of 2027, of China, received The Close Family Scholarship during the College’s Honors Convocation held on April 30, at Hartwick. College, in Oneonta, New York.
Established by Mrs. Gertrude Close, this award goes to a student with high scholastic ability and demonstrated financial need.