Starting high school can be one of the more anxiety-inducing experiences for any young person in America. Now imagine starting high school at the back end of a pandemic, two of your middle school years having been disrupted by remote and hybrid learning, in a brand new, gigantic building that nobody had ever learned in before — and you’re still expected to wear face masks.

Any student in such an environment had their work cut out for them, but three students from East Providence High School’s Class of 2025 met that challenge and went beyond — achieving high levels of success in the classroom, on the athletic fields, and helping create an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for their classmates and the students who came after them.

Dylan Flynn, Brian Rutkowski Jr., and Abigail “Abby” Leddy are the Top Three Townies of the Class of 2025.

“They've done an amazing job here, and their class is is one that will be missed,” said Principal Bill Black. “They've been very involved in different things, and the amount of respect that the students have in this class for their classmates and each other, they really are genuine. They care about each other and they take care of each other.”

Ranked top in the class is valedictorian Dylan Flynn. She will be attending Brown University next year to pursue a concentration in Anthropology and English. She proudly represented the Townies on the girls varsity lacrosse team, which is playing for an undefeated season and a D-III championship this weekend.

Second in the class is salutatorian Brian Rutkowski Jr. He will attend Villanova University in the fall, studying mechanical engineering. A three-sport athlete, Rutkowski played soccer, participated in indoor track, and was the catcher and captain of the varsity baseball team, helping the team to a D-II title in 2023, and back to a spot in Division 1 this year; where they came just a game shy of making the championship.

Third in the class is Abigail “Abby” Leddy. She will attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), where she will pursue a career in biomedical engineering. Leddy played alongside Flynn on the lacrosse team.

Asked about the experience of coming out of Covid and into a brand new, state-of-the-art high school, Rutkowski said there was a sense of astonishment at first.

“For me, there definitely was some amazement walking into this huge new building, you know, just seeing it for the first time,” he said. “I’m really honored to have been able to spend my four years here.”

Despite that initial shock, each of the students said that they felt buoyed by the support of their classmates.

“I think coming in from COVID, because of the social distancing and small group gatherings, it was a little bit off-putting to come into a school with so many people,” Flynn said. “It’s a big school, but because of the community, it feels a lot smaller. So, I think that those first couple of days were an adjustment, but the people at the school made it seem not as overwhelming as it could be.”

The experience through Covid and being the first in the new school even provided a sense of cohesion among the class, Leddy said.

“It kind of brought us together in a way,” she said. “Like we got to experience all these firsts together and I don't think that we realized it, but I think it only grew our community even stronger as a class, and as a whole.”

Each of the three students continuously brought up the theme of supporting their classmates’ endeavors.

“We've come from a very ambitious class. A lot of high achievers, a lot of really incredible athletes and musicians and artists,” Flynn said. “I think that one thing that's kind of unique about our class and this school, specifically, is that we're a big class but we have a really strong sense of community. We are always supporting each other at athletic games and events and chorus concerts, all that stuff.”

“We have athletes that are in the top of the class here that also do theater and there's people that do so many different things that I feel like all the groups kind of meld and everybody really knows each other,” added Rutkowski. “Everybody is definitely very supportive. We really want to see each other succeed.”

Leddy said that part of the reason for her success was being surrounded by other driven students who excelled at their own interests.

“Not necessarily competing with them, but wanting to keep up and being motivated by their successes,” she said. “Everybody has such a strong desire to be involved. And I also think that is part of the reason that we've been so successful because we're able to try all these new things and learn from them and learn from each other. Our class is very close.”

Asked what was inside of them that motivated them to rise to the top of their class among a group of around 360 students, each provided an insightful answer.

“I would say that failure is a stepping stone as opposed to a setback,” Rutkowski said. “I’m looking to go into engineering, and failure is part of the process. It's something that you have to learn to accept. I know that I used to be really scared to mess anything up, or do something wrong, but you really have to accept failure and come to really learn from that.”

“I think I really learned to not take things so seriously and be so hard on myself,” Leddy said. “I’m definitely my own biggest critic, and even in elementary school I was being told by my teachers that I needed to chill out and be less hard on myself. And I think that as I've gotten older, I've realized that a grade doesn't define you. A score on a test doesn't define you.”

“I think one of the biggest things I've learned is that you have to be a little bit vulnerable,” Flynn said. “Step outside your comfort zone, try new things and understand that the people in your life want you to succeed and they want you to do well. Even strangers — everybody is a lot more supportive and kind than you think they are, so you just need to be more open and you get a lot more places that way.”

True Townie spirit
In a city that emphasizes the importance of looking out for one another and trying to lift each other up in their darkest moments, the top three of the Class of 2025 made it abundantly clear that the concept of “Townie Pride” was not just an empty platitude.

“I think that one of the things that like really makes this community so strong is that it's involved not just at the school level, but like all of East Providence really feels that Townie pride and that Townie spirit,” Flynn said. “It's not just the school, it's not just Riverside or Rumford, it's that the entire city is very much involved in creating that Townie mindset and supporting everyone.”

“I think that being a Townie is just what we've been talking about this whole time — coming together and lifting each other up and bonding over our similarities but also embracing everybody's differences and working together being involved with each other,” added Leddy. “I don't think that we could have been as successful as we are as a class, or myself personally, without being a part of such a strong community.”

“Being a Townie is about showing up,” said Rutkowski. “It's about being there for everybody and really being supportive. I think it’s also about teaching the younger generations what being a Townie is. That's something as a captain on the baseball team, I've really felt that responsibility to do my best to instill those values. Townies support each other. They work hard. Townies are tough people who are going to get the job done.”