Students Of The Month

Featured below are the GDRHS students of the month. They are being recognized and honored for their academic achievements along with other significant contributions to the school. All of them scored in the top 50,000 out of more than 1.5 million on the PSATs. Ben Navetta and Nick Freiter scored in the top 16,000. Furthermore, their biographies not only showcase their impressive talents and interests, but they also represent amazing potential. Congratulations to all!


Drew Cartier
My name is Andrew, or Drew, Cartier. I am a senior at Groton-Dunstable Regional High School. I am honored to be named student of the month and would like to thank all my teachers for helping me realize my potential. My plans for the future likely include attending college, which, while a financial burden, is essential for a productive career. I am debating what to study; chemical engineering sits atop a list that also includes macroeconomics, political science, and music theory and composition. Wherever my education and professional path leads, I aim to better society in some way through my actions. This is my goal. I would like to thank my parents for teaching me the value of hard work and determination, and my sister for teaching me how to take life less seriously at times.

Jacqulyn Cernak

I am Jacqulyn Cernak, a senior at GDRHS.  I am interested in art, biology, and psychology, and plan to pursue one of these in college.  One thing that has had an impact on my life is my work in community service and public art.  For a number of years, I have worked as the project manager for historical murals on the Nashua River Rail Trail.  This combines my passion with art along with local history.  I work on a design team with other students and have greatly enjoyed my time on this ongoing project.

Far Right: Jacqulyn Cernak 

Jen Fells

I am 17 and currently a senior in high school. I have lived in Groton my entire life. I live with my parents and my two brothers. My younger brother, Jared, is 11 and in sixth grade while my older brother, Craig, is 20 and an art student at Middlesex Community College. I am in the process of applying to colleges in the Northeast. As a person fascinated with numbers, I have an interest in the field mathematics. My plans are to obtain either a general mathematics degree or a statistics degree. Currently, I am considering pursuing a career in actuarial science, but nothing is set, and I know that there is a good possibility that I will change my mind after I go off to college.

Nick Freiter
I am not entirely sure what to say about myself. Sadly even students of the month can be boring. I wish I had some interesting story to share about how my life was changed by some influential figures. Realistically my parents are those influential figures, but unfortunately that doesn’t make for an interesting story in a Student of the Month short biography. I’ll just talk about my life and some plans for the future. If this gets dull, you can stop reading, I won’t be angry, and I’ll never know anyway. I’m not psychic (see, now you already know a little bit about me). Alright here we go. I live in Dunstable, and my name is Nick Freiter. I have an older sister in college, a younger sister attending the high school, and two parents. Pretty typical family stuff. I’m planning to study mathematics or biomedical engineering in college, I may eventually decide to go to medical school but we’ll just have to wait and see how that goes. Things that I enjoy include basketball, reading, naps, and breaking the fourth wall. This feels like a good place to sign off. If anyone is still reading, I would like to thank you for staying with me.

Fiona Henry
First, I would like to congratulate my peers on doing a stellar job on the PSATs.  I have enjoyed working with you guys immensely the past four years. Throughout high school, I have played for both the field hockey and lacrosse teams, and this year I was fortunate enough to be nominated as field hockey captain. Next year, I hope to go on and study biochemistry in college, an aspiration which would not have been possible without the amazing faculty at GD. Finally, I’d like to thank my parents and brother for their constant love and support.

Katherine Horrigan

I am a senior this year and I am planning on studying biology and Spanish in college next year with hopes of continuing on to medical school when I graduate. During the school year I am a member of the varsity field hockey team and the unified track and field team. I participate in many school activities including the biology club, Spanish club and math team. Outside of school I enjoy spending time outdoors camping, rock climbing and hiking. I spend my summers as a counselor at a resident camp.

Julia Martorano

I am a seventeen-year-old senior here at GD.  I've lived in Dunstable my whole life, and I have loved these past (almost) four years at the high school.  I enjoy coming in to school every day, taking classes that are fun and interesting, and seeing my friends, even if all that starts a bit too early in the morning.  Outside of school, I have studied martial arts at Neil Stone's Karate Academy for nine years and I am a second degree black belt.  I am also very interested in music; I play flute in the school's concert band, spend a lot of my free time transcribing music pieces, and enjoy singing (though I never got up the courage to sing in the chorus).  As for the future, I hope to study biology in college, focusing on genetics, hopefully getting a job in and contributing to that field.  I am honored to be named a student of the month.

Ben Navetta
I’m a senior here at Groton-Dunstable. I’ve been on the robotics team for the past four years, and we’re getting ready for a great season! I’m also on the Math Team and Latin Club. Next year I hope to major in computer science. I have two younger brothers, one at the middle school and one here at GDRHS. I’ve really enjoyed my years at GD and know that the school has prepared me well for the future.

Jack Phelps
I am Jack Phelps, a senior at Groton-Dunstable. I have been in the Drama Guild for all four of my years here, and the knowledge and experiences there will last me a lifetime. Comedy has always been very important to me, and the only thing that feels better than a good laugh is getting others to laugh harder. I also love games of all kinds, some of my earliest memories are of playing chess with my father and cards with my grandma. Games offer me a chance to improve myself and compete against others, in a structured and clear environment. I’d like to thank the American public school system for preparing me for this excellent fake standardized test, and Texas Instruments for making a machine that does the math for me. My dream is to wait tables or serve coffee in L.A.

Eric Yanchenko

Walking into calculus class with Mr. Asadoorian, you never know what to expect.  One second he might be jumping into class to wake us up (BOOM!), the next he might be yelling about some cool math concept (the derivative of e^x is e^x, WOW!).  It is this great experience, along with all the other teachers I have had for math in the high school that certainly led me to want to pursue math in college.  And I know that because of our excellent math program I will be set up for success at whatever school I eventually choose.