Four Ridgefield High School seniors completed their Spring internship with the Historical Society, working on various projects including the 2025 Ridgefield Garden Tour, Ridgefield’s Civil War veterans, oral history transcriptions and more. Meet our 2025 Ridgefield High School interns!
Brandon Morales
Can you tell us about your background?
I’m a senior at Ridgefield High School and will be heading to UConn in the fall to major in business. At school, I’ve been active in clubs like FBLA and the Investment Club. Outside of class, I’ve worked for a painting company, volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club, and ran my own small business selling on eBay.In my free time, I enjoy working with older technology like digitizing VHS tapes and photos, spending time with my family, and staying active by working out. After graduation, I hope to build a strong business career that also lets me use my creativity and tech skills.
What sparked your interest in history and led you to select the Ridgefield Historical Society as your internship?
My interest in history started with the old house I live in near Branchville. It’s really old and mysterious, which made me curious about the past. When I was younger, I read books by Jack Sanders and got even more interested in local history. I chose the Ridgefield Historical Society because I wanted to learn more about the town and help preserve its history in creative ways, like through digitizing old materials.
What specific projects or experiences have you been involved in during your internship with the Ridgefield Historical Society in 2025? How have your projects shaped your understanding of the town’s history?
During my internship, I worked on digitizing old photos and VHS tapes. It was really cool to bring the past back to life and see how the town has changed over time. It helped me understand how much Ridgefield has grown and how every piece of history tells a story—especially ones that are forgotten.
What is the most interesting thing you learned during this internship?
The most interesting thing I learned was about Mr. Scott, a former owner of the house I work in. He once owned slaves and had a complicated personal life, including cheating on his wife after moving to the U.S. It showed me that even local history can have deep, surprising stories that reflect bigger issues in American history.
Martin Guijarro
Can you tell us about your background?
I am a senior of Ridgefield High School, currently interning at the Ridgefield Historical Society. In my free time I enjoy staying active, whether it’s working out, going for walks, spending time out with family, or working at my job. After graduation, I plan on attending college, where I am going to major in Finance.
What sparked your interest in history and led you to select the Ridgefield Historical Society as your internship?
My interest in interning at the Ridgefield Historical Society was sparked by my curiosity about the history of the town I currently live in. I’ve always enjoyed hearing and learning about the events that have taken place in specific locations. When I first heard about the Historical Society, I was amazed and surprised that a place like this existed in town. Everything the Ridgefield Historical Society offers is truly impressive. During my time there, I’ve helped organize archival materials and assisted with local history projects—experiences that have both impressed me and taught me.
What specific projects or experiences have you been involved in during your internship with the Ridgefield Historical Society in 2025? How have your projects shaped your understanding of the town’s history?
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve been involved in during my internship with the Ridgefield Historical Society in 2025 has been researching and organizing records about Civil War soldiers from Ridgefield. I worked with documents, photographs, and burial records that told the stories of local men who served during the war. Many of them were young, and some never returned home. It was eye-opening to see how the Civil War, which often feels distant in history books, had such a personal and lasting impact on a small town like Ridgefield.
What is the most interesting thing you learned during this internship?
One of the most interesting things I learned during my internship at the Ridgefield Historical Society was about the Battle of Ridgefield, which took place during the American Revolutionary War. I was impressed to discover that Ridgefield was the one of the places of a real battle in 1777. The battle wasn’t a major military victory for either side, but it showed the courage and determination of the local military force and townspeople. Learning about this event made me realize how connected Ridgefield is to the founding of the country, and how much history Ridgefield offers.
Mridhula Praveen
Can you tell us about your background?
I’m a senior at Ridgefield High School right now, and I’m graduating mid-June . In my free time, I enjoy drawing, reading, and baking, and I’ve also done classical Indian dance since I was 4 years old. At RHS, I helped run the Diversity Book Club as the co-president. I’m currently undecided on my major and future plans, but I’m attending UMass Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts in the fall.
What sparked your interest in history and led you to select the Ridgefield Historical Society as your internship?
I really enjoyed learning about major historical events in school, and I also realized that I didn’t know much about Ridgefield’s rich history and background. I wanted to educate myself about my town, especially since I’ve been here for over a decade already. I was also interested in historical artifacts from the past at the Historical society, which I definitely got to see a lot of during my time here.
What specific projects or experiences have you been involved in during your internship with the Ridgefield Historical Society in 2025? How have your projects shaped your understanding of the town’s history?
One project I really enjoyed working on was proofreading AI transcripts of interviews of seniors who have lived in Ridgefield their whole lives. I loved hearing about these people’s experiences as they grew up in Ridgefield in the early 20th century. It was really interesting comparing their lives to mine, especially when they talked about their lives at my age as teenagers. Seeing how historical events like World War I and II affected them was surprising as well.
What is the most interesting thing you learned during this internship?
One interesting thing I’ve learned during this internship is how vast Ridgefield’s history is and how thoroughly the Ridgefield Historical Society preserves it. I worked in the vault downstairs to file obituaries, and it was really fascinating to see how detailed the archives were of thousands of former residents and the documents related to their lives. It definitely gave me a deeper connection to Ridgefield and a greater appreciation for history and the importance of documenting it.
Hannah Gilland
Can you tell us about your background?
I have attended the Ridgefield Public Schools since Kindergarten and have enjoyed every second of my education. During my free time here at RHS, I have been a member of the Varsity Lacrosse team, and I actually plan on playing Division 1 lacrosse next year at Bucknell University. I have also participated on the Italian National Team at the 2024 World Championships in Hong Kong, so lacrosse is definitely something I spend a majority of my time doing.
Additionally, in college I am planning on majoring in International Relations as I have had a huge interest in history and politics during high school. I have explored these interests through a variety of clubs like the RHS Model UN Club, and I have also attended the 2025 UNIS UN Conference along with attending and presenting at the Holocaust and Human Rights Conference at Iona University two years in a row, which led me to leading a food drive for the Connecticut Institute of Refugees and Immigrants. I have loved getting involved in all different history and politics related events like the Candidates Assembly held at RHS this fall and have truly learned so much from these experiences. Finally, when I’m not doing all of these activities, I enjoy hanging out with friends and family and getting ice cream.
What sparked your interest in history and led you to select the Ridgefield Historical Society as your internship?
My interest in history has been mainly influenced by my father who has long been interested in history and who has recently written and published his own historical fiction novel, Passage to War. Since I was a young, my father would take me and my siblings to countless history museums across the nation and we would also never miss a battlefield, visiting sites like Bennington, Lexington, Concord, and Gettysburg. Experiencing these sites and museums along with my fathers own history lessons and stories, and watching various documentaries and shows with my dad growing up, has led me to have a strong interest in both US and World History. So, when it was time to choose a senior internship I thought about what I was truly interested in and passionate about, and started looking for history or politics related internships. I thought that the Ridgefield Historical Society was the perfect place for me because I was not as knowledgeable on local Ridgefield History, so I thought that it would be a great opportunity to learn more about my community through my internship.
What specific projects or experiences have you been involved in during your internship with the Ridgefield Historical Society in 2025? How have your projects shaped your understanding of the town’s history?
During my internship I have done a variety of projects including helping with the 2025 Garden Tour that the Historical Society is co-hosting with the Ridgefield Garden Club, transcribing oral history interviews, filing obituaries in the vault, reading letters sent to a Ridgefield resident serving in World War II, and finally, taking pictures of current Ridgefield to compare them with older photos for a project called Old vs New. These various projects have allowed me to see the rich and deep history of Ridgefield. I have learned so much about my local history that textbooks could never describe, and I now have realized just how interesting even our small town of Ridgefield is!
What is the most interesting thing you learned during this internship?
One of the most interesting things that I have learned about at the Historical Society is just how much the historical society actually deals with and keeps records of. I was actually unaware that they kept records of artifacts like yearbook photos to obituaries to muscat balls, etc. I was unaware of just how much history is in Ridgefield but also how important it is to keep record of this history. Anything and everything tells a story, which is definitely something I have learned from this internship. This internship has been instrumental in my understanding of local history, and I learned so much about the historical society itself and what they are involved with around town.
