Davies Tech top students are O’Connell and Christopherson

LINCOLN – For the better part of their tenure at the William M. Davies Jr. Career & Technical High School, Charles O’Connell and Brannon Christopherson knew they were neck-and-neck to earn the prestigious honor of Class of 2025 valedictorian, but they didn’t expect to find out the way they did.

They called the moment rather amusing.

“It was just before Thanksgiving last year, and I was walking with Brannon and another friend of ours, Jacob Carani; we had just finished our work with the Robotics Club, so we were leaving,” O’Connell said during an interview recently. “I

was walking down the hallway with them, and I got stopped by my guidance counselor, Amy Hitzemann.

“She told me, ‘By the way, you’re the valedictorian! Congratulations!’”

Added Christopherson: “That’s when I discovered I was salutatorian, so Charles and I pretty much looked at each other and said, ‘OK?’ I wasn’t really bummed at all. I knew it was going to be one of us, so if it was going to be anybody besides me, I wanted it to be Charles. I know he studies and works really hard; he deserves it.”

The two of them claim to be quite close, and it would make sense, as they both majored in Pre-Engineering at Davies, occupied a lot of the same classes and even spent their senior years not at 50 Jenckes Hill Road but at the New England Institute of Technology in East Greenwich. There they took part in the Running Start program, which gives gifted seniors a jump on college classes and their environs.

“We’ve learned so much this year; we both took Calculus II at New England Tech, and that was the toughest math class they had,” O’Connell said. “We both got A’s.”

Deadpanned Christopherson: “Yeah, but I did better than you on the final!”

O’Connell just shook his head and grinned. He knew he had the upper hand, as he had landed the valedictory spot due to a phenomenal 4.5482 weighted GPA. Amazingly, Christopherson finished a mighty close second, as he produced a 4.5204 GPA. Break it all down, and O’Connell captured No. 1 by not even 28 thousandths of a point.

“That’s wild,” Christopherson said, “but he’s so worthy.”

According to O’Connell, he spent his freshman year taking college prep courses, got used to the format and schedule, then rose to Pre-AP classes as a sophomore and AP his junior campaign before trekking to NEIT for courses this year. His main focus: Computer science.

The standout scholar and leader, he nevertheless snared many laurels while at Davies – he served as National Honor Society president; a member of the National Technical and Rhode Island honor societies; was an active member of the Student Council; participated on the Positive Behaviors, Interventions & Support Committee, which is dedicated to improving positive school culture; and was a Robotics Club member.

He also took part as the first student representative to the Parents-Educators Relations Committee (PERC); conducted his own “SAT Tutoring Boot Camp” to aid fellow students; and served as a page to the R.I. House of Representatives as a junior and senior.

Though he’s still awaiting acceptance to both Harvard and Columbia universities, O’Connell right now plans on attending Northeastern University, as he’s earned nearly a full academic ride, and majoring in Computer Science.

“I really like the co-op programs at Northeastern; I want to study computer science because I’m really interested in software development,” he said. “I just really like problem-solving and programming. I’ve known for about three years now that’s what I wanted to major in. I was majoring in Pre-Engineering here, but I kind of drifted to the computer science angle.”

Like his pal, Christopherson nailed down memberships to the National, National Technical and Rhode Island honor societies. Known for his quiet leadership and unwavering academic consistency, he exemplified the values of hard work, integrity and intellectual curiosity throughout his years at Davies.

He and O’Connell both maintained the earning of high honors through every semester, though Christopherson achieved perfect attendance throughout his career and a silver medal at the R.I. Skills-USA Competition as a junior.

In addition, he participated in the PrepareRI Internship Program last year.

The salutatorian indicated he will further his education at the University of Rhode Island, where he will major in Electric Engineering, not a far leap from the things he studied at both Davies and NEIT.

“I want to chase that because I enjoy building circuits, soldering and learning complex topics,” he said.

When asked where he believes he attained his intelligence, he mentioned his parents, Merimee and Michael Christopherson.

“They always wanted me to do well in school, and they definitely pushed me toward that, but I’d also like to think that I’ve been gifted by the ability to be a quick learner,” he said.

O’Connell, the son of proud parents Nichole and Charles, issued a different answer.

“I’ve talked to both sides of the family and they say it doesn’t come from either side,” he said. “I will be a first-generation college student, as neither my mom or late dad attended, but I know my mom is very proud.

“I feel great about this. I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot, but there’s a lot more out there I want to accomplish.”