Agganis Scholar Heffrin gives back to North Shore community

(This is the 10th of a series of articles about Lynn-area recipients of the Agganis Foundation scholarships.)MARBLEHEAD ? To use the term “scholar/athlete” to describe Marblehead’s Ryan Heffrin seems woefully inadequate.Heffrin, 18, graduated earlier this month as Marblehead High’s valedictorian, and is headed to Harvard in the fall. During her senior year, she was the co-captain of two sports ? girls tennis and skiing ? and won an individual and team state championship in the latter.What makes Heffrin worthy of an Agganis Scholarship has as much to do with what she does outside the classroom and in the academic arena, however. During her freshman year, she developed and oversees a program called “Bikes for Tikes” that repairs bicycles and distributes them to children in need. At Marblehead High, she was involved in the “Best Buddies” program, which matches mainstream students with transitional students.She describes the scenario not as one where she is a tutor or a mentor, but rather one where she is a “friend.””It can be talking about academics, the social aspect of what’s going on in school, or anything,” Heffrin said. “Just helping out.”The Bikes for Tikes program has distributed more than 150 bicycles through agencies like Girls Inc. of Lynn, the Salem Boys & Girls Club and the Plummer Home for Boys in Salem. It was an idea that came to her and her dad, Jim, when they were at the Swap Shed at the town’s transfer station.”Every day, we’d see these old bikes, and it seemed like something that would have a lasting effect, so we came up with a way to fix them and donate them,” Heffrin said.Even though Heffrin is going to be off at college in the fall, the Bikes for Tikes program won’t be curtailed.”I have two brothers who are 16,” she said.Heffrin won’t be going too far away, though. She applied to about 10 colleges ? among them Cornell, Yale, Princeton, Middlebury, Tufts, Bates and Bucknell ? but when she received an acceptance email from Harvard in the spring, she knew where she was going.”I’m really excited,” she said. “I went there a few days ago, and it’s so immersed in culture. I’m going to be studying engineering, but I’m looking forward to exploring other interests, as well.”Unfortunately, she doesn’t plan to continue her athletic career at the collegiate level. The academic workload at Harvard is, obviously, cumbersome and will be her first priority. She foresees herself continuing as a recreational skier and perhaps participating in some local adult leagues, after finishing second overall during the regular Mass. Bay East Ski League’s regular season and then winning the Giant Slalom in the state competition in February at Berkshire East in Charlemont.A state title in any sport is quite an accomplishment, but this season was just the third for Marblehead High’s ski program in interscholastic competition.”Winning a championship (in a fledgling program) is probably a little more satisfying,” she said.While she’s been skiing since she was four, and ski racing since she was 12, Heffrin also managed to find time to hone her tennis game, and played first singles on the Magicians’ girls tennis team in the spring. Marblehead qualified for the state tournament, but lost, 3-2, to North Andover in the first round of the Div. 2 North regional.”I know we didn’t do as well as some of the other Marblehead teams have done in the past, but we lost 11 seniors (from the previous years), so we did OK,” she said.This summer, Heffrin will be an instructor with the Marblehead Recreation Dept.’s youth tennis program, at Seaside Park.Already, Ryan Heffrin has had a positive impact on her peers, her classmates and the youth of North Shore that goes well beyond the simple description of a “scholar/athlete.”The Harry Agganis Foundation has awarded $1,314,525 in scholarships to 813 student-athletes since its inception in 1955.