SARANAC LAKE — The academic leaders for the class of 2017 at Saranac Lake are fraternal twins Silas Swanson, valedictorian, and Witter Swanson, salutatorian. Silas and Witter are the sons of Randall and Laura-Jean Swanson.
Silas has completed several Advanced Placement courses and received the 2016 President’s Call to Service Award, International Youth Eco-Hero Honorable Mention and Nature’s Voices Essay Contest, second place.
Silas has completed several training programs and seminars, including the 2015 Al Gore Climate Reality Training in Miami, Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Foundation, Harvard Model United Nations and Adirondack Youth Climate Summit. He has been published in LocalADK Magazine, Adirondack Daily Enterprise and has volunteered more than 250 hours since June 2015 with a variety of organizations including Color Run, Rising Star Children’s Productions, Saranac Key Club and Stormin the Stage Children’s Theatre Camp.
He is a school board student representative, National Green Schools Alliance intern, Key Club lieutenant governor and division 14 state board member. He is also a member of the National Honor Society, environmental club, Key Club, Big Buddy Program, French Club and Odyssey of the Mind team.
Silas was winner of the Pendragon Theater’s Young Playwright Festival for co-writing the winning one-act play in 2015 and planned the 2015 and 2016 Adirondack Youth Climate Summit.
Silas plays the tenor sax and has participated and placed in New York State School Music Association solos and All-State Jazz Band. He was a member of the 2013 fall play and 2014 spring musical and was cast/crew of the Rising Star Children’s Productions. A three-year member of the varsity soccer, track and nordic ski teams, he competed in the state championships in 2016 and competed at the New York State Championships for alpine skiing in 2015 and 2016.
He works as a host at Downtown Grill, Saranac Lake, does maintenance work for private homeowners in Saranac Lake, works in maintenance for the Pendragon Theatre and works dinner parties for local homeowners.
Silas will study environmental engineering at Columbia University, New York City.
Witter serves as class president, president of Key Club and Model UN, treasurer of Green Storm, the school environmental club, participated in the school musical and is a member of the school band and select jazz band. He played junior varsity and varsity soccer, nordic skiing and competed on the cross-country ski team all four years. He competed in both alpine and nordic ski racing, baseball for three years and also tennis.
He interned on a Congressional campaign and planned the Adirondack Youth Climate Summit in his junior and senior years. Witter has worked at Camp Topridge for two summers.
He was a 2016 member of iMatter, a nationwide group of students leading campaigns to give their communities a “climate report card.” In 2016, he started and organized a coat drive at the school, collecting more than 250 coats to those in need, has worked backstage at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts for several years, has volunteered for the Saranac Lake Young Arts Association phone fundraiser and has volunteered at the Color Run to benefit a local food pantry.
He has volunteered for several years at the Lake Placid Ironman as well as the 2015 Lake Placid Half Marathon, helped build a lodge at the bottom of the local cross country ski mountain, Dewey Mountain, where he also helped to plant a flower garden. In addition, Witter has volunteered with the annual Saranac Lake Village Cleanup and as an usher at the local theatre.
He will major in political science at Amherst (Mass.) College.