When Gov. Mifflin senior Elise “Nox” Clemmens talks about social studies, the subject becomes something alive — an ever‑expanding web of ideas, histories, and human stories that shape how she sees the world and her place in it.

That curiosity, paired with a fierce commitment to learning and community, has earned Clemmens the Reading Eagle’s Berks’ Best 2026 award in social studies.

Clemmens’ academic record alone is formidable: 10 AP courses, including U.S. history, European history, U.S. government, psychology and English literature — each of which she scored a 5 on. But Clemmens’ teachers say it’s the 17-year-old’s intellectual depth that sets Nox apart.

In a recommendation letter, Social Studies Department Chair Michael Kurtz describes Nox as a gifted thinker and writer whose analysis is consistently nuanced, precise and insightful.

Nox’s passion for understanding people and systems began unexpectedly — with Frankenstein.

It was early in the COVID-19 pandemic during Nox’s freshman year. Nox and friends, as a way of coping with the forced isolation, began constructing stories together based on an alternative Frankenstein universe. Research for those stories dovetailed with the Nox’s studies in AP U.S. history.

“Before, I reluctantly endured analyzing classic literature, thinking of it all as blatantly pretentious,” Clemmens writes in the Berks’ Best application. “Yet, suddenly, a desire planted itself in my brain: to understand. I devoted my entire being to understanding the history of the novel and the movements that influenced Mary Shelley’s writing. Learning forced me to reconsider the beliefs I once held as truth.”

Nox’s research spurred a desire to read on a variety of other subjects, from the ideal growing conditions for plum trees to subcultural fashion.

That curiosity extends far beyond the classroom. Nox has volunteered at the Reading Public Museum, the Mifflin Community Library, the LGBT Center of Greater Reading and Threads of Success, a school‑based program supporting unhoused and low‑income students. Whether tending a community garden, helping patrons navigate technology or helping to arranged Prom Palooza so students have the opportunity to get free prom garments, Nox sees each act as part of a larger mission to create spaces where people can learn, connect and feel supported.

Teachers note Nox’s empathy, integrity and quiet leadership.

Clemmens’ academic interests are rooted in personal experience as well. Growing up in a low‑income family and witnessing the effects of addiction on loved ones shaped Nox’s early life and questions about human behavior, social structures and compassion. Those questions now guide Nox’s future plans.

Nox will attend Yale University with the initial goal of studying sociology and psychology, with aspirations of becoming a professor and researcher.

Ultimately, Nox sees social studies not as a subject but as a lens through which to observe the human condition while continually presenting more questions worthy of research.