Best friends at the top of their class

Stiles and L’Heureux share award

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – Shepherd Hill seniors and best friends Emily Stiles and Johanna L’Heureux are literally at the top of their class.  The two have been ranked first and second in their class all year, but neither is willing to say which of them is actually number one, instead preferring the co-billing.

This standing earned them each a share of the Dudley-Charlton Superintendent’s Award, which is presented to the student(s) that not only excels in academics but is also involved in community service.

Stiles grew up in Dudley with her mother Cathy, her father Jeff, and her older sister Erin, who is currently a junior at the University of Connecticut.

Her list of credentials at Shepherd Hill includes a three-year membership in the National Honor Society, vice president of her class for four years, and four years on both the soccer and basketball teams.
 

Stiles said that class trips to Europe in both her sophomore and junior years were the highlights of her career at the school, along with playing sports with her friends.

“I’m anxious to get out of high school but it’s kind of bittersweet to leave,” said Stiles. “I am excited for college and new experiences, but I love Shepherd Hill. It will be hard to leave all my friends.”

Stiles’s number one choice for school is Bentley College, where she would like to major in either mathematics or statistics, but she is still uncertain as to what field she wants to enter after school.

As far as being selected as a co-winner of the Superintendent’s Award, she said that she “felt honored and really happy” that they chose her.

L’Heureux also grew up in Dudley, where she has spent her entire life living with her parents Cathy and Robert, who are both teachers (her Mom teaches Math at Bay Path in Charlton and her Dad teaches at Knox Trail Junior High in Spencer), her sister Alicia, who just graduated from Gordon College, and her brother Christian, who is a sophomore at St. John’s in Shrewsbury.
 

She was also a member of the National Honor Society, class Treasurer all four years, co-leads the Bible Study at Shepherd Hill and played on both the volleyball and basketball teams.

L’Heureux is also very involved in her church, Oak Hill Bible Church in Oxford, where she sings on Sundays and helps out with the younger kids. And, somehow she has found time for a part-time job at Park N Shop in Dudley.
 

“Shepherd Hill has been amazing for me,” said L’Heureux. “I have always had the most amazing teachers who have been willing to help me at any time. I have loved the whole experience, including the foreign language trips, and the volleyball and basketball has added so much to my experience. I am definitely going to miss it.” 
 

L’Heureux has been accepted by Assumption College and although she has not finalized her decision, it’s “at the top of her list,” but Gordon College is also a possibility. She plans on majoring in either the math or science field

On her friendship with Stiles, L’Heureux said, “we have worked so hard all our years and we are best friends; we are not really competitive with each other but we like being at the top together.”

And that is exactly where these two friends are, at the top of the class.

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