By: Jonathan Sager, Staff Writer
The month of May signals the beginning of summer and the beginning of the end of the school year. While many students are looking forward to what summer has to offer, there is also value in reflecting on the school year and what it has brought for students here at River Hill.
Over the course of the 2025-2026 school year, students challenged themselves with new pursuits and interests both in the classroom and outside the classroom. Students at River Hill pursued new academic feats that they had not previously thought possible. For example, junior Shea Diver Bono took pride in the fact that he challenged himself to take more difficult classes. “I didn’t take any AP (advanced placement) classes last year, and AP classes are new to me… I just kind of jumped in, and I think everything went well,” Bono explains. Over the course of the school year, Bono has become “a more independent person overall and definitely better at scheduling workloads.”
Over the course of the school year, students participated in classes suited to the unique interests they had and were not limited to traditional school subjects such as math, science, English, and history. Bono, for instance, is incredibly passionate about music and as a result, he took AP music theory over the course of this school year, a class which he describes as being a class where students “learn about the history of music and how it was created.”
Outside of the classroom, students also participated in trips related to the classes they were taking and participated in other community-building activities across the school. Bono, in April, took a trip with the theater and choir to New York City. When in New York, Bono saw a musical with some of his friends, which he recounts as really enjoyable.
Another trip that some students at River Hill participated in was a state-wide FBLA conference in Ocean City. Junior Benjamin Gavin, who has been involved in FBLA for many years and has been named the central region state vice president for next year, recounts how the trip was a success and how it was a valuable opportunity “for members to demonstrate their skills across various fields and get recognition for outstanding work and achievements.” Trips such as the choir’s NYC trip and FBLA’s Ocean City trip are just small showcases of how students at River Hill contributed to and expressed their passions throughout the year.
This year, alongside new academic and extracurricular pursuits, students also pursued new athletic interests. This school year, Junior Milan Sanyal began his first season running with the cross country team. “I mainly did it to get more in shape and for something to do at the end of the day.” After completing his inaugural season on the cross country team, Sanyal recounts how he “really enjoyed making new friends on the team, and it felt good to gradually get faster and improve my times as the season progressed.”
Overall, the 2025-2026 school year has represented both monumental growth and monumental improvement for our fellow hawks. Students have challenged themselves and grown throughout the year by challenging themselves academically, getting more involved with their extracurricular activities, and trying something new. Here’s to an incredible year.