61 Rhode Island students honored with the 2025 Herbert and Claiborne Pell Medal for Excellence in U.S. History
NEWPORT, RI—Sixty-one students from across Rhode Island have been awarded the Herbert and Claiborne Pell Medal for U.S. History, a distinction that recognizes outstanding academic achievement in the study of American history at both the high school and collegiate levels.
The Pell Medal was established by the Pell family and is named for Representative Herbert C. Pell and his son, Senator Claiborne Pell. Herbert Pell served as a member of Congress and American Minister to Portugal and Hungary, while Claiborne Pell, who is responsible for the creation of the Pell Grants and the National Endowment for the Humanities, served in the Senate for 36 years and worked to strengthen American foreign policy.
The medal features a pelican and an anchor, symbols that represent both the Pell family and the state of Rhode Island. The Pell Center at Salve Regina University is proud to continue this tradition of honoring students who exhibit excellence in the field of American history in Rhode Island.
The 2025 recipients of the Herbert and Claiborne Pell Medal are:
Barrington Christian Academy: Boris Shyriy
Barrington High School: Sara Chang
Beacon Charter High School for the Arts: Grace Togher
Bishop Hendricken High School: Joshua Pezzullo
Blackstone Academy Charter School: Samuel Filomeno-Nason
Brown University: Sally Hirschwerk
Bryant University: Katelyn Howerton
Burrillville High School: Leo Picard
Central Falls High School: Taniaya Maria Kerns
Central High School: Jairo Jorge Ramirez
Chariho High School: Ella Alves
Charles E. Shea High School: Mikkha’la Anne Cambell
Classical High School: Sophie Baldwin
Coventry High School: Ethan Maccarone
Cranston High School East: Caleb Dorvilier
Cranston High School West: Aidan Paplauskas
East Greenwich High School: Katherine Creeden
East Providence High School: Dylan Flynn
Johnston Senior High School: Logan Martins
La Salle Academy: Rosemary Donovan
Lincoln High School: Donovan Conway
Lincoln School: Lucy Painter
Middletown High School: Lila Christy
Mount Saint Charles Academy: Caelen Hurley
Mt. Hope High School: Gavin Stegall
Narragansett High School: Alexander Greenberg
North Kingstown High School: Brenna Malloy
North Providence High School: Ava Sousa
North Smithfield High School: Olivia Lee
Paul Cuffee Upper School: Xiara Lix Gonzalez
Pilgrim High School: Tiffany Blanco
Ponaganset High School: Thomas Needham
Portsmouth Abbey High School: Ming (Billy) Jin
Providence Career and Technical Academy: Loreley De La Rosa Arias
Providence Country Day School: Cedric Ye
Rhode Island College: Marcus Holland
Rhode Island School of Design: Katherine Fu
Rocky Hill Country Day School: Aloniel Mora
Roger Williams University: Alec Lavallee, Thomas Ward
Rogers High School: Francis Ramsey
Saint Raphael Academy: Jules Costello
Salve Regina University: Riley Benjamin
School One: Ada Bradner
Scituate High School: Burgundy Johnson
Smithfield High School: Paul Grenon
St. Andrew’s School: Jackson Kelley
St. Mary Academy- Bay View: Madeline O’Hearn
St. Patrick Academy: Laureen Gleekia
The Prout School: Evan Reineke
The Wheeler School: Jane Kennedy
Tiverton High School: Brendan Sowa
Toll Gate High School: Alina Dorsey
Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts: Kathie Jorge
University of Rhode Island: Avi Celestial
West Warwick High School: Jordan Carollo
Westerly High School: Mackenzie Gabriele
William E. Tolman High School: Jovan Santos
William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical High School: Adam Cassidy
Woonsocket High School: Julian Rivera
