THE RIVERS EDGE Vol. LV, Number 4
The Rivers School, Weston, MA
May 22, 2025
CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2025
Seniors showcase creative journeys BY SARAH DUBARD ‘25 CO-EDITOR
On Thursday, May 15, the Revers Center came alive with art, music, and celebration as the Class of 2025 presented their Senior Arts Night. A long-standing tradition at Rivers, this year’s event showcased the diverse talents of graduating seniors across the visual and performing arts programs. From vibrant musical theatre numbers to moving classical and jazz performances—and a culminating gallery walk of student-curated visual art—the evening offered a heartfelt, all-encompassing farewell to senior artists. Guests were welcomed at the entrance to the Baldwin Family Art Commons with a light din-
ner and dessert, catching up with friends and families beneath the glow of gallery lights and the hum of final rehearsal notes. The space, transformed into a concert hall and gallery, set the stage for a dynamic evening honoring artistic collaboration and growth. The evening began with a burst of Broadway as the senior musical theatre performers took center stage. Jordan Felice ‘25, Ceci Giebutowski ‘25, and Ally Giebutowski ‘25 kicked things off with “Opening Up” from Waitress, a fitting trio to open the night and set the tone with charm and precision. As she concludes her sixth and final year at Rivers, Felice shared her excitement “to see how the Rivers musical theatre programs continue
to expand and how these programs help shape young artists.” Their performance was followed by “Seventeen” from Heathers, a revival from the Fall 2024 Musical Theatre Conservatory Program that reflected on the bittersweet beauty of youth. The song carried even more sentiment as the graduating students sang the lyric, “Can’t we be seventeen?” one last time as a group. “Singing this song one final time is our way of saying goodbye,” explained Bridget Minogue ‘25. “It represents our acceptance that we are getting older, leaving Rivers, and passing the torch to the next group of artists.” The entire musical theatre
world experiences,” Goldsmith explained. “The French students spend two weeks here, living with Rivers’ host families, attending classes with their ‘correspondents,’ and taking day-trips into Boston. We then travel to Aix-en-Provence in June, and the Rivers students stay with their French ‘correspondents,’ spending time with the family and taking group excursions in the surrounding area.” This year, seventeen French students and sixteen Rivers students took part. The French students are in Seconde, which corresponds to sophomore year in the U.S., and are part of a bilingual program at their school where half of their day is taught in English while the other half is in French. As a result, they are almost completely fluent in English. While at Rivers, the French students took trips into Boston every other day, see-
ing sights like the State House, Fenway Park, and the Freedom Trail. To give the French students a more personal look into Boston, Rivers hosts took their visiting students to places not on the official itinerary during the weekends. Lily Soares ‘27 said, “My favorite thing I’ve done with [my exchange student] so far was spending the weekend exploring Boston together. On Saturday, we headed into the city and visited the ViewBoston observatory at the top of the Prudential Center, and we loved it! We got an excellent overhead view of the whole city, and it felt so special to point out all the different landmarks to her from up above, such as the Zakim Bridge, Fenway Park, and TD Garden.” On the weekdays at Rivers, the exchange students attended
Continued on page 9
French students immerse at Rivers BY CHARLIE TANDON ‘28 CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Over the past few weeks, students may have seen unfamiliar faces around campus, sitting in classes, eating lunch in Kraft, or playing basketball in Benson. These newcomers were French exchange students from Le Lycée Georges-Duby, just outside Aix-en-Provence in southern France. They were participating in the French exchange program between their school and Rivers. This program was founded in 2013 by Rivers French teacher and language department chair Elisa Goldsmith, who believes the program is an excellent way for students learning French to apply what they’ve learned in hands-on situations and environments. “[T]his program offers students the chance to use their classroom learning in real-
Continued on page 2
Prize Day 2025
The Faculty Prize Cailyn Kim The Dudley Willis Trustee Prize Edward Foley, Andrew Ho The Jeremiah J. Sheehan Memorial Prize Grace O’Sullivan The Hooper Lawrence Memorial Prize Leah Jin The F. Ervin Prince Prize Danique O’Mensah The Priscilla Wallace Strauss Athletic Prize Lindsay Morin The James A. Navoni ‘70 Athletic Prize Ryan Altman The ISL Award of Excellence Serafina Applegate, Charles Holmes Senior Award for Exceptional Dedication to Athletics: Serafina Applegate, Morgan Boyce, Gavin Hill, Lindsay Morin, Isabel O’Brien, Reagan Whitaker, Alexander Young The Nonesuch Players Prize Sarah DuBard, Cecilia Giebutowski The David Killam Instrumental Music Prize Jacob Decker, Judson Hally, Dylan Herlihy, Jason Richardson-Miles The Classical Music Prize Adalia Wen, Jacob Winneg The Two-Dimensional Arts Prize Cailyn Kim, Alexander Kyner The Three-Dimensional Arts Prize Lily Liebhoff The Austin A. Chute Memorial Prize Daniel Connelly, Adalia Wen The Modern Language Prize for Mandarin Chinese Jacob Decker, Dylan Herlihy The Otto Alcaide Language Prize for French Alexandra Correia, William Irving The Otto Alcaide Language Prize for Spanish Lily Shah, Jackson Vignati The George Woodbridge ‘24 History Prize Alexandra Correia The Science Prize Taylor Hauff, Matthew Papas, Chelsea Yan The Mathematics Prize Mairin Anderson The Robert W. Rivers Prize for English Joyce Do The Interdisciplinary Prize Chelsea Yan The Community Engagement Prize Joyce Do, Kayla Thugi The Kenneth F. Benjamin ‘50 Citizenship Award Joy Robinson, Charlie Tandon The John Hopkins University Alumni Faculty Prize Audrey Wang The Brown University Alumni Book Prize Katherine Shaw The Thomas Olverson Prize Esme Asaad The Harvard Club Prize Henry Goldstein Senior Members of the Cum Laude Society: Mairin Anderson, Serafina Applegate, Alexandra Correia, Jacob Decker, Joyce Do, Sarah DuBard, Spencer Gary, Taylor Hauff, Andrew Ho, Leah Jin, Cailyn Kim, Elizabeth Lapides, Pepper Taylor, Adalia Wen, Chelsea Yan, Alexander Young, Mulan Zhang