Anthony Libardi has been named to the spring semester dean’s list at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont.
Rebecca Carkhuff was named to the spring semester dean’s list at Becker College in Worcester.
Thomas Jeffries, a freshman majoring in electrical engineering, has been named to the spring semester dean’s list at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. He is the child of William and Jean Jeffries, and a graduate of Amherst Regional High School.
Ernesto E. Brown and James P. Mullins, both in grade 12, earned honors for the spring term at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire.
Mariah Lesure received a bachelor’s degree from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York.
Hadassah Northeast and the Yiddish Book Center hosted members and friends to a presentation featuring Ellen Golub, author of the novel “PsychoSemitic.” Golub’s witty novel weaves together neuropsychiatry, quantum physics, and the Talmud while navigating the paradoxical straits of modern Jewish identity. Prior to Golub’s’s presentation, The Yiddish Book Center led a tour of their facility.
Kathryn Przybyszewski received a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in the field of physician’s assistant from Rochester Institue of Technology, Rochester, New York.
Francois Venne a second year student at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, has been named to the second semester dean’s list. He is the son of Fred and Genevieve Venne.
Thomas McLaughlin has been named to the spring semester dean’s list at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams.
Olivia G. Mathieu was named to the spring semester dean’s list at St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York. Mathieu is a member of the class of 2017 and is majoring in performance and communications arts. She attended Hopkins Academy.
Laura Bengis received a master’s degree in education from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York.
On July 23 at the Tri-Alliance Gathering in Naperville, Illinois, Janet E. Aalfs, poet laureate emeritus of Northampton, received the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation Founders Award for her collaborative work in creating, developing, and directing the organization.
For close to 40 years, Aalfs has contributed to educational opportunities for women, girls, and people of all genders that focus on empowerment, cultural exchange, healing, personal safety strategies, improvisational dance, and feminist social justice activism through poetic and movement arts.
Aalfs continues this peace-building work locally through Lotus Peace Arts at Valley Women’s Martial Arts, as well as nationally and internationally.
She is a Jian Mei Tai Chi and Qigong branch chief instructor, a 7th-degree black belt in Shuri-ryu Karate, and received 6th-degree black belt this March in Filipino Arnis Stick Arts.
Her poems and essays have been widely published, and her most recent collection of poems is “Bird of a Thousand Eyes,” Levellers Press.