Seacoast Students of the Week are accomplished, talented role models
A U.S. Senate page and dance team captain. A student ambassador who raises awareness about immigration by sharing her own personal story. An honors student focused on veterinary science. A football captain who also leads his school’s Mental Health Awareness Club. A student journalist and peer mentor who also holds down a job outside of school. A baseball and football captain who is a member of the National Honor Society. A talented artist with a passion for fashion design.
Meet the Seacoast Students of the Week for March 25.
Seacoast Students of the Week are nominated by local principals, teachers and guidance counselors and, as you’ll see below, they reflect a broad range of achievements. While their achievements are diverse, a common thread among all the nominees is their kindness, and the work they do helping others, serving as role models for other students in their schools. It is our pleasure to introduce you to these outstanding students and we look forward to sharing stories of so many more of our wonderful students in the weeks ahead.
This week’s students come from Oyster River, Marshwood, Exeter, Portsmouth, Dover, Spaulding and Newmarket high schools. All Seacoast-area public high schools have been invited to submit nominations.
In response to feedback from several schools, our Seacoast Student of the Week feature is evolving, from a competition to a celebration. Instead of asking readers to vote on the students we’ll just share their stories and readers will see it’s self-evident that all are winners in their fields of endeavor and deserving of recognition.
Here are the Seacoast Students of the Week for March 25, as described by the school leaders who nominated them:
Siena Schaier, Senior, Oyster River High School
Siena is a hard-working student! She has been on student government since her freshman year. In the summer of 2022, she served as a page in the United States Senate. Currently at ORHS, she wears a lot of hats: from being the founder our ORHS dance team (2022) and becoming the captain, yearbook committee, vice president to the Senior class this year, and, she helped create our student mental health group, who educate fellow students on suicide awareness. All of which she does with complete dedication while keeping up with all of her academic courses. She can self-advocate for herself in a respectful manner and shows a great level of maturity. She is one of the kindest souls and so inclusive of all students. She is incredibly conscientious and thoughtful about every decision she makes and communicates at an adult level! She was also selected to be a member of the Safe Schools of NH Leadership team, where she will be tasked with creating programming for our school to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. In orchestra, Siena works hard to better herself as a musician and is a member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society. She’s also an enthusiastic proponent of women’s empowerment. Recently, she challenged her friends and classmates to find recognition of Women’s History Month active in the school. We are proud to have Siena as a Bobcat and can’t wait to see what she does in the future.
Cris Clemar, Senior, Marshwood High School
Cris Clemar immigrated to the United States with her mother and brother when she was 11-years-old, speaking almost no English when she arrived. Since then, she has served her community as a member of the Civil Rights Committee as well as a student ambassador for students arriving from outside the U.S. This past month, Cris presented her experience as an immigrant to almost all of the sophomore English classes. Her moving story offered insights into the challenges immigrants face when integrating into a new culture.
Ella Dillman, Senior, Exeter High School/SST
Ella Dillman is an outstanding student at Exeter High School who has made an impact on the staff and her peers throughout the last few years. She also attends the Seacoast School of Technology, where she has thrived in the Animal and Plant Science program. At SST, she does well in so many areas from horse judging, to veterinary science and floral design. She is an active team member in the National FFA Chapter, where she serves as the chapter secretary. Additionally, Ella participated in the 2023 National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she and her team earned silver in the agricultural sales career development event. Ella’s hard work will pay off in April where she will be inducted into the National Technical Honors Society. In college, she plans on majoring in the field of Animal Science.
Alejandro Madera, senior, Spaulding High School
Spaulding High School nominates Alejandro Madera for the Student of the Week spotlight. Alejandro is the President of the Mental Health Awareness Club (MHAC) and is leading this club through its first year. Alejandro participated in a training to identify the signs of suicide and ways to help support individuals struggling with their mental health. He is a hardworking and caring leader who always has a smile on his face. In his classes, Alejandro is active in class discussions, asks insightful questions, and is diligent in his work. Sean Kenney, his computer networking instructor says, “If I have a time sensitive project I will assign it to Alejandro. I know it will be done on time.”
In addition to being the MHAC President, he was also a leader and captain of the football team. Kevin Hebert, Spaulding’s Athletic Administrator, says, “Ally Medera is one of the best young men in my football program. He is a leader and was a captain this year. He is a hard working student-athlete who fought through an ACL tear this season. He did not miss a practice even though he could not play. One of the most polite, selfless, and caring young people in our school.”
Carter Hancock, sophomore, Portsmouth High School
We would like to nominate Carter Hancock for Student of the Week from Portsmouth High School. Carter is a dedicated student excelling in demanding courses. He is also an active and contributing member of the Portsmouth High School Community through his dedicated involvement to the school newspaper, The PaperClip, as well as the Student to Student Mentorship program, peer leadership, journalism club, Global connect, Tennis as well as the district level team for the development of portrait of a graduate. In addition he works at the Seaside grill. As a person Carter is kind, helpful to others, motivated and determined and serves as an exceptional role model to others.
Ryder Aubin, Senior, Dover High School
Ryder is an outstanding student who is in the top twenty of a class of almost 400 students. His course load includes multiple Advanced Placement classes with his other classes all being at the honors level. Outside of the classroom he is a member of the National Honor Society and the Athletic Leadership Council, participating in many of their community services activities. He has been a four-year member of the varsity football and baseball teams, including serving as a captain for both sports. He coaches youth baseball and works at baseball clinics for younger players. Ryder serves as a youth mentor, working with students from Dover elementary schools to provide encouragement, support, and a positive role model.
Acadia Bloodlane, senior, Newmarket Jr/Sr High School
Acadia Bloodlane is a senior at Newmarket Jr/Sr High School. She is a talented artist and student who challenges herself academically and creatively. Acadia experiments with a variety of artistic mediums - pencil, pastel, charcoal, paint, watercolor, found objects, fabric - and she has a passion for fashion design. She crafted an extraordinary paper dress that is proudly displayed in the window of the school library for all to admire (the entire dress was made exclusively out of old homework and hot glue. When you look closely, you’ll find labs from Chemistry, notes from Algebra II, and tests from Civics and Economics. Hundreds of pieces of paper were used in the design for the base of the gown, the intricate flowers, and vines).
Last year, she took on the role of Lead Costume Designer in the school drama production. Acadia’s comedic timing and improvisation skills have also landed her spots in many improv productions at Newmarket High School. Acadia is a contributor to the school’s literary arts magazine, Counterclockwise, where she is able to showcase not only her artistic talent, but also her creativity as a writer. Last spring, Acadia assisted in photographing portraits of the Newmarket baseball team as they prepared for the championship playoffs. Acadia is headed to MassArt in the fall to continue pursuing her passion for fashion design.