Student Spotlight

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: CLASS OF 2021

Valedictorian: Ian Bailey By: Isabel Taveras

High school senior Ian Bailey has shown great excellency in all academic areas throughout the years. His determination, passion for science, and his effortless ways of impacting all those around him have resulted in a very eventful four years of high school. Some of Ian’s interests include Science Research, which he has been a part of since middle school. Ian competed in his first science competition in 8th grade and was named one of the top 300 Masters in the Broadcom Masters Competition. The following school year, Ian won a first place award at the New York Section of the American Chemical Society’s Chemagination competition, with the mentorship of Dr. Gordon. In Ian’s sophomore year, his project on cardiovascular effects of electronic cigarettes won the Judges’ Choice Award at the South Asian American Women’s Alliance Science Fair. He also placed first at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair and was finalist at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. In Ian’s junior year he designed and prototyped a wave energy generation system for unmanned surface vehicles. He was the named a First Place Grand Award Winner at LISEF and an ISEF finalist for the second year in a row! It is no doubt that Ian Bailey has a remarkable tendency to excel at science competitions. Science is surely not the only nor last thing on Ian’s long list of accomplishments. He is also very involved in sports at the high school. He played tennis in 9th and 10th grade and is currently Co-Captain of the high school’s Varsity Soccer team. Besides Ian’s various competition victories in Science research, he has also been named a National Merit Finalist and a U.S. Presidential Scholars Program Candidate. He won the Adelphi University Prize for Leadership where winners are recognized for academic achievement and community service. Lastly, Ian won a silver medal at the Al Kalfus Long Island Math Fair sophomore year and then won a gold medal at the following year’s competition. Ian has also contributed to the community various times. Such gestures really demonstrate Ian’s genuine nature of being a leader wherever he goes. He has helped organize an annual school supply drive for the Mary Brennan INN and also served as a high school representative for the Village of Garden City’s Environmental Advisory Board since sophomore year. Ian is also currently the president of the National Honor Society at the Garden City High School. Ian Bailey is certainly destined for greatness in the future. As for his near future, Bailey will be enjoying his undergraduate years attending Duke University! Ian Bailey would like to state the following:

“I have had a wonderful past four years at the high school. Everyone - friends, teachers, coaches, administrators, and hall monitors - has been incredibly supportive and caring. They challenged me to become both a better student and person. The community at GCHS is incredibly special, and I feel lucky to have been a part of it.” Many congratulatory sentiments are sent his way for all his hard-work and achievements.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: CLASS OF 2021

Salutatorian: Jenna Matarazzo

By: Isabel Taveras

High school senior Jenna Matarazzo has shown her outstanding character through the myriad achievements she has completed throughout the past four years. Such accomplishments must call for their appropriate recognition. To begin, Jenna has shown her scholarly nature through the membership of the following four honor societies: National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, and National Society of High School Scholars. Jenna also has her fair share of participation in school clubs. Her leadership positions include being treasurer of the History Club, Vice-President of the German Club and being the founder and president of the Medical Club. Her inspiration to start Medical Club began right before the start of the pandemic lockdown. Jenna states, “I noticed that a lot of my peers wanted to go into medical or STEM fields (including myself), but there was not even a club in our high school for it yet.” Jenna still brought her club idea to life despite school closing. In her own words, “Over quarantine, we created an instagram account (@gchsmedicalclub) through which we post about Medicine, current events, the human body, etc.” Thanks to Jenna and members of the Medical Club, students at the Garden City High School can now sign up to learn more about medicine and human biology. Along with academic achievements, Jenna is also part of orchestra and chamber orchestra, where she holds the position of a principal violist. Her passion for the viola began when she was introduced to it in third grade. Her amazing musical abilities and years of experience have allowed her to share her knowledge through tutoring. Not only does Jenna tutor in music, but she also tutors all academic subjects. Jenna’s exceptional efforts are also seen outside of the classroom. Jenna was the winner of AAW National Writing Contest for the first time in eight years of our high school’s history of participation. Her team also placed in first place at the American Chemical Society’s Chemagination science research competition in 2019, second place at the Northwell Health Medical Marvels Research Competition in 2019 and became the first winning team in our high school´s history. At Girl Scouts, Jenna won bronze, silver, and gold awards which focused on increasing education about STEM careers. Having accomplished so much in just four years of her high school career, it is no doubt that Jenna Matarazzo is destined for greatness. Members of the ECHO newspaper wish her all the best in the future.