September 2, 2004
Manchester, NH  David Wolowitz of the law firm of McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, recently presented seven area high school students with the coveted Harvard Prize Book Award on behalf of the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of New Hampshire.
Students in their junior year are nominated by their school’s administration for exhibiting excellence in academic, extra-curricular and community-focused achievements. This year’s winners are William J. Long of Oyster River High School; James Barnard of Dover High School; Marcelo Guindon and Elizabeth Meade of Exeter High School; Rachel Foley of Portsmouth High School; Patrick Jardin of Winnacunnet High School and Samuel Holmes of Nute High School. Each of the students received a copy of the book entitled, Making the Most of College.
About the Students
William J. Long of Oyster River High School in Madbury, is the son of Bill and Barbara Long. William is a New Hampshire Boy’s State participant. He plays Varsity Hockey and Lacrosse for his High School. Over the summer he attended the Invitational Academic Workshop at West Point.
James Barnard of Dover High School, son of Patrycia and Tilden Barnard has been awarded numerous Teachers’ Awards for Excellence at Dover High, including awards for excellence in English, math and science. James plays varsity football and lacrosse and has participated in the Toys for Tots Program.
Two students from Exeter High School received the award this year, Marcelo Guindon and Elizabeth Meade. Elizabeth (EB) Meade’s parents are Lanny Meade and Ann Yenchick. EB served as school editor of The Talon, Exeter High School’s student newspaper. She is very active in community service, serving as the President of Interact, as a Key Club member, and as a volunteer at the NHSPCA. EB spent this summer working at Camp Starfish, a camp for children with emotional, behavioral and learning problems.
Rachel L. Foley of Portsmouth High School, daughter of Deirdre & Mike Barrett of Portsmouth and Tony Foley of Manchester, recently completed the Medical Bioethics course at St. Paul’s Advanced Studies Program this summer; was awarded the Haven Award for Highest Ranking Sophomore and again for the Highest Ranking Junior; and participates in the Varsity Basketball and Varsity Track Teams at her school.
Patrick Jardin, of Winnacunnet High School, is the son of August and Donna Jardin of Hampton. At Winnacunnet High, Patrick has been a member of the math team, Amnesty International, the National Honor Society, the track team and the Winnachronicle. Throughout his high school career, Patrick has consistently made the High Honor Roll. He received a scholar athlete award for his participation in track. Patrick’s future interests lie in the fields of statistics and actuarial science. He is still considering choices for college, but his main focus is on the University of New Hampshire.
Samuel Holmes of Nute High School is the son of Mary and Sheldon Holmes Jr. of Milton. Samuel has participated in both the Nute Concert band and Jazz band for the past three years, playing in the percussion section of the Concert band and bass in the Jazz band. Samuel is a member of the National Honor Society and has received several local school awards for academic achievement, including student of the year for chemistry and biology. In his junior year, he participated in the American Legion Oratorical Contest at Nute, and made it to the district finals. He participated in Project Search at UNH. Samuel will be playing for Nute’s soccer team this fall. He also volunteers on a regular basis with the music program and with building & grounds maintenance at his church. Samuel plans on studying Music Education at college.
About the Award
The national Harvard Prize Book Award program encourages Harvard alumni to conduct outreach to their local schools, to give students who may consider applying to Harvard a local contact and role model.
David Wolowitz, a Director at the McLane Law Firm’s Portsmouth Office, was the first to introduce the program to Seacoast schools, where he has been honoring students for more than twenty years. In total, 62 New Hampshire schools have had students honored with the award.
Wolowitz said of the program, “Every student willing to work hard to excel in academics and to be a positive, contributing citizen in his or her community needs to realize that attending Harvard, however prestigious, is not an unattainable goal.”
Rolf Goodwin, a fellow Director at McLane’s Manchester office and Harvard alumnus added, “2004 saw many students admitted into Harvard who were the first ever from their school systems. You need not come from a privileged background to be considered. All kids who dream of one day attending a school like Harvard, whether they come from public, private or parochial schools, big or small, wealthy or not, should go for it.”
About the McLane Law Firm
McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, Professional Association, the largest law firm in New Hampshire, with offices in Manchester, Concord and Portsmouth, is committed to helping recognize outstanding abilities and achievements of young people in the community. For further information about the Harvard Prize Book Award, contact Attorney Wolowitz at (603) 436-2818 or david.wolowitz@mclane.com