CANTON -- Canton Central School recently named its Academic Top Ten students.

The class leaders are as follows:

• Emma Bentley-Hicks is the daughter of Ryan Hicks and Sarah Bentley-Garfinkel, Pink Schoolhouse Road, Canton. She has maintained her position on the high honor roll throughout high school. She has served as class president since her sophomore year and is a member of National Honor Society. She has taken many honors and advanced placement courses and is an AP scholar. She has also taken a St. Lawrence University class and several enrichment courses at both St. Lawrence and Clarkson universities, and assists in a St. Lawrence University biology lab.

She participated in the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference, the St. Lawrence University Women’s Academy for Leadership, and American Mathematical Competitions. Emma runs on the varsity cross country, indoor, and outdoor track teams and has received Academic All-Northern honors, First Team and Second Team All-Northern honors, and Most Valuable Runner and Outstanding Runner awards. She earned a Division II sixth place medal at the 2016 New York State Outdoor Track and Field Championship as part of the 4x800 meter relay team and was a member of the Class C second place team at the 2016 New York State Cross Country Championship. She has volunteered at the Campus Kitchens Project Free Will Dinner at the Unitarian Universalist Church for the past three summers and works as a lifeguard and babysitter. This fall, she plans to attend Lehigh University to study bioengineering.

• Mary Chisholm is the daughter of Scott and Martha Chisholm, county Route 32, Canton. Over the course of four years, she has been involved in a variety of activities. Since freshman year, she has been on the undefeated swim team where she received Academic All-Northern and First Team All-Northern, was a state qualifier, and was a member of two Section X record relays. During the winter, she has continued her swimming as a member of the TRIBS Club Swim team where she qualified for golds (equivalent to states). Following swimming, she participated on the spring track team, also receiving Academic All-Northern.

Aside from athletics, she has been involved in music and theater. She has performed a variety of NYSSMA solos, all-county and qualified for Area All-State as well as working behind the scenes for plays and musicals doing stage crew and box office. After school, she can be found at class meetings, or National Honor Society, as she is treasurer for both. She is also a member of the Thespian Society. During her sophomore year she attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Seminar and the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference for which she completed one hundred hours of community service in order to return the following two years. Mary volunteered at the Morristown Public Library in the summer and donated time at The Playhouse Daycare. She has received the Rotary Youth Exchange Scholarship and will be spending next year in Douai, France, where she will attend Lycee Saint-Jean school. Following her year abroad, Mary plans to attend Nazareth College to study speech pathology and continue her swimming career.

• Meghan Conklin is the daughter of John and Dawn Conklin, Eddy-Pyrites Road, Canton. Throughout high school, she has consistently been on the high honor roll. She has taken a wide range of rigorous courses such as chemistry, AP English, and pre-calculus and was accelerated in math and science. Moreover, she has served as public relations officer for the National Honor Society and as school coordinator of the last two Red Cross blood drives. In addition, she organized a supply drive for the Potsdam Humane Society and organized a food drive for the Canton Community Center. She helped organize and raise donations for a raffle to benefit the American Heart Association Go Red for Women campaign. She also participated in a holiday gift-wrapping fundraiser to benefit the school’s Bear Packs program. In terms of school-based extracurricular activities, she has served as a tutor for students in math, Spanish, and reading. She has also been a teacher’s assistant for a freshman Spanish class. In the fall, she will attend SUNY Potsdam where she plans to major in history and social etudies education.

• Eric Gagliardi is the son of Robin and Dan Gagliardi, Judson Street Road, Canton. He has been involved in music and theatre throughout his four years of high school. Along with school music ensembles, he has been selected for various elite groups including the New York State Band Director's Association (NYSBDA) Honor Jazz Ensemble, Area All-State Orchestra, and All-County Jazz Band. He plays music at local venues, and studies privately at the Crane School of Music. Eric is the president of Canton’s Chapter of the Thespian Society and has appeared onstage with leading roles in productions of “Anything Goes,” “Stardust,” “Once Upon a Mattress,” “Done to Death,” “The Matchmaker” and “You Can’t Take It With You.” On top of his artistic involvement and rigorous academic schedule, he works as a French tutor, has volunteered at Temple Beth El, and is a member of the National Honor Society. He will attend the University of Vermont this fall.

• Sarahanne Jackson is the daughter of Jeff and Kim Jackson, Sykes Road, Canton. At Hugh C. Williams, she participates in Student Council, has volunteered this past year doing hair and makeup for the musical, and helps with setting up events such as prom. Through BOCES, she takes the Allied Health New Visions course for substantial college credit, and is an active member of National Technical Honor Society.

Through this organization, she has completed some 30 hours of community service and raised about $100. As a task aide at the United Helpers nursing home Maplewood Campus, she donates $4 of her paycheck to the residents every pay period. There, she works with and cares for the elderly who have dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. She is a member of the Health Occupational Students of America in which she won a second place medal this past spring at a 2017 conference for competing in clinical specialty. She plans to attend SUNY Potsdam in the fall with a major in biology and chemistry. Once she completes all her prerequisites, she plans on applying to the Physician Assistant Program at Clarkson, SUNY Upstate, SUNY Downstate and Le Moyne. She plans on working as a physician assistant in her future in either New York City, Seattle, or Syracuse with a specialty in trauma. Sarahanne is very interested in medicine, fitness, learning new languages, hiking, spending time with friends and family and traveling.

• Jayden Ladison is the daughter of Bucky Ladison and Jaime Brown Ladison, Jingleville Road, Canton. She has been on the high honor roll for her entire high school career, with a 4.0 overall average. She is a member of the National Honor Society since her junior year. She was on the JV and varsity softball teams, and has been on the varsity swim team for four years where she received two Academic All-Northern honors. She has gone to states for swimming in Ithaca the past two years as a part of the 200 yard medley relay team. She received First Team All-Northern twice for the 200 yard medley relay and Second Team All-Northern twice for the 100 yard breaststroke.

Her senior year, she was a co-captain on her swim team and received the Lisa Lane Memorial Award for Commitment and Dedication to the Sport of Swimming. She has taken five advanced placement courses throughout her high school career, and has been awarded the AP Scholar with Honor Award by the College Board as a result. She has volunteered as a tutor and reading buddy for middle schoolers since December 2015. She has volunteered for Red Cross blood drives, and also donates as frequently as she can.

She has helped run a bake sale and holiday gift-wrapping event for the community. She has volunteered at Corning as an admissions clerk and aided families touring the facility on Corning Family Day. She has also volunteered to help with resident activities at Maplewood, the local nursing home. More recently, she has made and helped distribute emergency blankets to children in local hospitals who are in need of comfort. This fall, she plans to attend St. Lawrence University, with physics as her anticipated major. She plans to further her education and become a collegiate professor.

• Emma Rosser is the daughter of Keith and Laurey Rosser, Judson Street Road, Canton. She has taken rigorous AP courses throughout her high school career as well as taken classes at St. Lawrence University. Emma has participated in several enrichment courses at both St. Lawrence and Clarkson Universities.

For the past four years, she has been a member of the varsity swim and track teams where she received Academic All- Northern. She also participated in the TRIBS club swim team. She has also been a member of National Honor Society where she volunteered with Red Cross blood drives, fun nights, and tutoring. S

he is a member of the Thespian Society and vice-president of Student Council. She has participated in all of the high school musicals and plays in the past four years through stage crew. She has been playing the piano for the past 10 years and enjoys playing in her free time. She has been a lifeguard and babysits during the summer months. This fall, she will attend Hobart and William Smith Colleges with an undecided major.

• Katja Schmid-Doyle is the daughter of Viola Schmid-Doyle and Brian Doyle of Pink School Road, Canton. She is a National Honor Society member and AP scholar, and participates on her school’s Whiz Quiz Team and in Model UN. She has also been a member of the music department, playing clarinet in the Concert Band, piano in the Jazz Band, and singing in Select Choir, Vocal Jazz, All-State Choir, and NYSSMA solos.

She also enjoys theatre, having participated in her school’s musicals since freshman year and performing in the fall plays since sophomore year, which has culminated in her playing the leading ingénue Hope Harcourt in this year’s production of “Anything Goes.” She takes her piano lessons with Betsy Kepes and voice lessons with Samantha Stinson. This spring, she competed in Classical Singers Vocal Competition (High School Musical Theatre Division), and as a first round winner, will advance to the next round in Chicago. This fall, she plans on attending Bryn Mawr College to study music, theatre, Hebrew and Arabic in a typical liberal arts fashion.

• Olivia Schreurs is the daughter of Peter and Marlita Schreurs, Pike Road, Canton. She has participated in soccer and indoor/outdoor track and field all four years of high school where she received Academic All-Northern Awards. She has been a member of the National Honor Society as well as secretary of her class. She has participated in both St. Lawrence University’s Scholars Enrichment Program and Clarkson University’s Project Challenge.

This past year, she took part in the French exchange program and spent two weeks in France. Outside of school, she has taken piano lessons for the past eight years. She also holds a part-time job in Canton. She was selected to participate in a research program focusing on the Data Analytics of Mathematical Biology this coming summer with Clarkson University. In the fall, she will be attending Union College in Schenectady. While her major is undecided, her interests include science and political science.

• Brittany Wilcox is the daughter of Ronald and Diane Wilcox, county Route 14, Rensselaer Falls. Through her high school career she has enjoyed being involved in a variety of activities. She has participated in sports two seasons of the year, and during her off-season she participated in the musical. She was on the varsity swim team for all four years of high school, going to states once and qualifying for sectionals three times.

She also played varsity softball for her junior and senior years, while playing at the JV level during her freshman and sophomore years. Between the two sports seasons, she was cast for all four of the spring musicals, which furthered her involvement in the arts and music realm of school. This included becoming a member of the schools chapter of the International Thespian Society and also a member of the Vocal Jazz and Select Choir ensembles. In addition to athletics and theater involvement, she was a member of the National Honor Society in which she tutored, gardened, and volunteered at school functions. S

he became involved with Model United Nations and the yearbook committee when she was a freshman and continued with the yearbook in roles of increasing capacity throughout her senior year. Within her community, she contributed with service through the National Honor Society and furthered her community service by volunteering her time at the local hospital during her freshman year. Looking forward, she plans to attend Utica College to pursue a degree in nursing, specializing in pediatric nursing or oncology.