LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield High School art department added another feather in its cap this week.
Four recent graduates are among elite company at the top of the high school art world.
Superintendent of Schools Kristen Vogel said that 37,000 students “across the world” took the Advanced Placement (AP) 2-D Art and Design Portfolio exam in 2022.
Only 189 students earned a perfect score of 5; four of those were from Lynnfield.
2022 LHS graduates Emma Condon, Lauren Lim, Kelsey Hodson and Samantha Bunar were among the exclusive group to successfully answer every question on the test. Vogel made the announcement at a recent School Committee meeting held at the Al Merritt Media Center at Market Street, describing the accomplishment as “another bit of great news”.
“That puts them in the top .53 percent in the world,” Vogel said. “Not only did they earn a top score of 5, they earned every point possible.”
Vogel gave a shout out to art teacher Laura Johnson, saying she “did an amazing job preparing those students to take a very difficult exam.”
“It’s pretty exciting for such a small town to have great success such as this,” said Johnson. “But they sure earned it with their hard work and dedication. I believe all four of them took my classes all four years at LHS, so they really built up their technical skills, creative imagery and conceptual ideas over the course of the years. They were also quite supportive of each other so it was a great group to work with during their last year.”
As a senior, Emma Condon took home the grand prize at the 28th annual Sixth District Congressional High School Art Show last march, at the Montserrat College of Art Gallery in Beverly. Her submission, a self-portrait entitled “Superposition,” beat out 107 other students from 21 North Shore-area schools located in the Sixth District.
Condon is a freshman at the Rhode Island School of Art, enrolled as an art major.
Bunar, a freshman at Bates College, won a Best of School award for “Asphyxiation.” A former Eastern Massachusetts and Agganis Games soccer all-star and Pioneers’ Team MVP, Bunar started 10 of 11 games in goal for the Bobcats’ women’s soccer team in 2021, posting a .750 save percentage.
Lauren Lim, the Class of 2022 valedictorian, was also recognized for “Naiveté.” Lim is a freshman at Dartmouth College.
Kelsey Hodson is studying at the University of New Hampshire where she is enrolled in the honors program.
