FALLS VILLAGE — The winners of the Superintendent Award from Housatonic Valley Regional High School are Marina Matsudaira and Jonathan Miller.
Matsudaira,17, is the daughter of Rachel and Yoshihiro Matsudaira of Cornwall.
She is the captain on the soccer, tennis and swim teams, sings in the chorus, and is on the Envirothon team.
Math is her favorite subject, and also her best subject.
She recently went to the Dominican Republic with her church group, as part of a leadership group. The adults set up a medical clinic, and the young Americans helped by babysitting or playing with the villagers’ children while the parents received medical care.
She said there was something of a gap between her textbook Spanish and the language as spoken in a Dominican village.
“I realized how bad I was,” she said with a laugh. “Listening was hard.”
But she said the language problem turned out to be an asset. “They were very nice about it, and it didn’t prevent us from serving.”
Matsudaira has applied to Harvard for early admission.
Jonathan Miller of Salisbury is a scholar and a star tennis player. The 17-year-old son of Dr. Diane Miller said he plays tennis year-round, and when considering colleges is looking for one with a good tennis program.
Unlike other sports, division rankings are not as important in tennis, he said. “You have Division III schools that are better than Division l, and Division ll is the weakest.”
His best subjects are English and history.
He plays clarinet in the band and is a member of the Heartbreakers singing group.
He is also on the debate team and the academic bowl team.
According to the Superintendent Award write-up from the school, “ In January of this year, Jonathan and his debate partner placed second in a regional debate tournament. This was followed by a third place team finish in a Geographic Competition at UCONN and a finalist finish in Class S tennis.”
Miller said he is looking at Brandeis, Amherst and the University of Connecticut for college.
Photos by Patrick L. Sullivan
Marina Matsudaira and Jonathan Miller
