![2024-25 Gunn Scholars]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1745610231/gunneryorg/rshdctjr6mkkioz0tffa/IMG_0666.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1745610231/gunneryorg/rshdctjr6mkkioz0tffa/IMG_0666.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1745610231/gunneryorg/rshdctjr6mkkioz0tffa/IMG_0666.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1745610231/gunneryorg/rshdctjr6mkkioz0tffa/IMG_0666.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1745610231/gunneryorg/rshdctjr6mkkioz0tffa/IMG_0666.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1745610231/gunneryorg/rshdctjr6mkkioz0tffa/IMG_0666.jpg","width":2200}])
The Frederick Gunn School will host the 2025 Highlander Summit: Fostering Civic Change Through Rooted Research, a two-day conference where Gunn seniors will present their Civic Changemakers Projects and original, place-based Gunn Scholar research. Session I will be held on Friday, April 24, from 7-8 p.m., and Sessions II and III will be held on Saturday, April 25, from 10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., respectively. All sessions will be held in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center (TPACC). Students, faculty, and Gunn families are welcome to attend.
Students in the Class of 2026 will participate in additional workshops on April 25 in The Lizzie & Jonathan Tisch Center for Innovation & Active Citizenship and TPACC with students in the Original Civic Research and Action (ORCA) program at Mamaroneck High School. ORCA is a four-year civic action and engagement program that inspires students at Mamaroneck High School to identify opportunities to make change in their local communities. The Highlander Summit is coordinated by Bart McMann, Dean of Programmatic Innovation and Director of The Center for Citizenship and Just Democracy, and Moira Conlan P’26, Director of Library and Archives.
This year’s Gunn Scholar presentations include:
- “Student Voices: Publications at Gunn,” by Mairin Hoffman ’25
- “The Impact of Mary Brinsmade,” by Avery Clement ’25
- “A Brief History of the Wykeham Rise School,” by Brynn Cunningham ’25
- “Frederick Gunn's Literary Legacy: The Book Club that Inspired the Gunn Memorial Library,” by Gracielle Boucher ’25
- “The Arts at Gunn: Elizabeth Kempton H’52 Forges a Trail,” by Skyler Toffolo ’25
- “Stages of Growth: The History and Evolution of Gunn's Dramatics Program,” by Mabel Rude ’25
This year’s Civic Changemakers Presentations include:
- “Feeding the Need,” Braden O’Neill ’25
- “Cornell Lab Work,” Skyler Toffolo ’25
- “Reading a Way into a Community,” Collin Logan ’25
- “Volunteer Service at Bronxville School & Helen Keller School For The Deaf Blind,” Dylan Kur ’25
- “American Airlines Aerospace Engineering,” Brandon Shaffer ’25
- ““U.S. vs. Guatemala Health Care Systems,” Katherine Johnson ’25
- “Ataxia Connection: Charity Golf Tournament,” Gage Kloeber ’25
- “Remember When We Were Seniors?” Aryel Seeley ’25
About the Gunn Scholar Program
Established in 2002, the Gunn Scholar Program is an endowed program that offers selected students opportunities to pursue research topics of their own choosing in the Paula and George Krimsky Archives and Special Collections. Students may apply to the program at the end of the junior year and complete a yearlong research project in senior year. A generous gift from the Class of 1957 has assured the annual publication of Gunn Scholar research and each student’s illustrated paper is added to the archives, thereby enriching the school’s history and creating opportunities for further study.
About the Civic Changemakers Project
The Civic Changemakers Project (CCP) is a diploma requirement for all Gunn seniors that emphasizes civic action and acting on convictions. Students put into action what they have learned over the course of the four-year curriculum of the Center for Citizenship and Just Democracy, which is based on the mission of the school and encourages students at every level to engage in topics and projects of interest that foster self-awareness and responsibility. Through the CCP, students may engage in civic media-making, alliance building, participation strategy development, or a meaningful and intentional service project, with the goal of becoming active citizens and changing the world, in the spirit of school founder Frederick Gunn.
Above: The 2024-25 Gunn Scholars (left to right): Skyler Toffolo ’25, Mabel Rude ’25, Brynn Cunningham ’25, Mairin Hoffman ’25, Avery Clement ’25, and Gracielle Boucher ’25 Photo by: Ali Heck-Southworth
