Merrimack High School's Top 10: Clara Schaefer

MERRIMACK, NH — Merrimack High School's Top 10: Clara Schaefer.

Clara Schaefer is valedictorian of the Merrimack High School graduating class of 2021. Over the past four years, she has expanded upon her passion for music, specializing in modern flute works and extended techniques. Clara started playing flute in 5th grade and attended the UNH Summer Youth Music School her freshman year. She has participated in various New Hampshire All-State Chamber festivals all four years at MHS and has played in the Northeast Massachusetts Youth Orchestra's Select Flute Choir for the past three years. In school, she plays in the MHS concert and marching bands where she has served as flute section leader since sophomore year. She has also been elected as one of two band librarians during her junior and senior years. Recently, she was awarded the John Philip Sousa Band Award, and she plans to continue her musical journey in college.

In addition to playing flute, Clara is passionate about the environment. She has been a part of the MHS Garden Club and Envirothon Club for several years and was awarded #1 soil identifier in the state at the 2020 competition. Through the Garden Club, she helped organize a compost system for school lunch waste which operated until Covid-19 restrictions limited in-school days. This year, Clara has dedicated her time to a project that will provide trees to MHS's graduating seniors to plant in June as a way to help improve the environment.

Clara was also part of the Debate and Varsity Math Teams when they ran last year. She was awarded the Millicent O’Leary Excellence in Mathematics, Gateway Academic Excellence, and United States Marine Corps Scholastic Excellence Awards her senior year.

In the fall, she will be attending Dartmouth College with a focus on economics as a way to influence government action through economic policy.