St Rose of Lima seventh grade student Nadine Sun won first place in the “What the American Dream Means to Me” statewide essay contest sponsored by Barnum Financial Group of Shelton. Nadine, pictured, took first prize in the 11 to 14 age group and received a cash prize of $2,500 in college scholarship money. The essays were judged on originality, creativity, structure/grammar, and relevance to the topic. Nadine’s essay expressed that her immigrant parents have taught her that through faith in herself, determination, and hard work she can achieve her dreams without regard to race, color, or religion. She also wrote how she would achieve her goal to become an equine veterinarian.

Allison Modzelewski of Newtown and Robert Mascher of Sandy Hook were among the close to 3,000 students from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, who were named on the university’s spring 2012 Dean’s List

Katherine S. Bamberg of Newtown was named to second honors on the Clark University, Worcester, Mass., Dean’s List. To be eligible for second honors at the university, students must have a grade point average between 3.5 and 3.79, of a maximum of 4.3.

Kelly Murphy of Sandy Hook graduated from the University of New Haven, West Haven, on August 25 with a master’s  degree in education.