The Great Neck News, Friday, June 26, 2015
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G.N. public schools set to graduate 562 By J es s i c a K . V e ga An overview of the Great Neck Public Schools Class of 2015 reveals 562 graduates from our three high schools: 253 from North, 300 from South, and nine from the Village School. Some 98 percent of graduates will pursue higher education at either two- or four-year colleges. The remainder historically seeks employment, vocational training or enlistment in the Armed Services. Graduation ceremonies for Great Neck North and South High schools were on Thursday, June 25, at the Tilles Center, LIU Post, with North’s ceremony in the morning and South’s in the afternoon. The Village School graduation was held on Wednesday afternoon, June 24, at the school. A look at the Valedictorians and Salutatorians for North and South High Schools follows. Winners of other significant commencement awards will appear in future editions of this newspaper. These awards include: Frederic Duclos Barstow, Alan L. Gleitsman, Scott Moss and Genelle Taney. Student speeches, a vital part of the graduation ceremonies, will also appear in future editions of this newspaper. Valedictorians The John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School Valedictorian is Jessy Lin. The William A. ShineGreat Neck South High School Co-Valedictorians are Casey Li and Sherry Yang. North High Valedictorian Jessy Lin is an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction (earning perfect scores on her ten exams), National Merit Scholarship Finalist, and Intel Science Talent Search Semifinalist. She was NYU-Polytechnic Institute Cyber Security Awareness Week Cybersecurity Competition Finalist and USA Physics Olympiad Semifinalist. She took Second Place at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair and third place at the WAC Lighting Foundation Invitational Science Fair. She was a member of the Nassau County Interscholastic Math League All-Star Team, placing among the Top 15 in the County. She took Gold Medals at the Long Island Al Kalfus Math Research Fair, Performance with Distinction Award at the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge, honorable mention in Moody’s Mega Math Challenge, and highestscoring student in a second-place school in the American Scholastic Mathematics Association. She took first place in the Nassau West Regional Science Olympiad, and was a member of the
second place Team at the Nassau County Math Tournament. Jessy was a four-year participant in the Columbia University Science Honors Program and participated in the Institute of Creative Problem Solving (SUNY-Old Westbury). She was President of Science Olympiad and a member of Math Team. She played piano in the Jazz Band and Jazz Ensemble, performed solos at Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall, and took a Gold Prize at the International Music and Arts Society Competition. Jessy was a three-time winner in the National French Exam, and a Peer Leader and Peer Mentor. She also participated in Badminton and Field Hockey, where she was named All-League Player. Jessy plans to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall. South High Co-Valedictorian Casey Li is an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction (earning perfect scores on her five exams), National Merit Scholarship Finalist, and three-time Gold Medalist in the National Spanish Exam. She was Christian Seekers Club President, and a four-year member of the Asian Culture Club. Casey plays clarinet in the school Band and Jazz Band. In addition, she plays drums, guitar, and piano, which she also teaches. She played Basketball and Lacrosse for three years, was Captain of each team her sophomore year, and was named Scholar Athlete and winner of the Coach’s Choice Award in both sports. She was named AllConference in Lacrosse. Her senior year, Casey played Field Hockey. She plans to attend Princeton University. South High Co-Valedictorian Sherry Yang is an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction and National Merit Scholarship Commended Student. She was a member of the First Place Team at the New York State Science Olympiad, Nassau West Regional; two-time Second Place winner at the WAC Lighting Foundation Invitational Science Fair; and member of the New York HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) Team that competed at the national level. She played Lacrosse for four years and was also a four-year member of Science Olympiad, Science Bowl, and Asian Club, where she served as Co-Chair. Sherry, a cellist in the school Chamber Orchestra, was a member of the Beethoven string quartet that performed at the Lincoln Center Young Musicians Concert. She was also a member of the pit orchestra for several school musical productions. She participated in Winter Track, Academic Outreach, Music Community Outreach, Chamber Music Club, Student Government,
and International Club. Sherry will attend Duke University. Salutatorians The John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School Salutatorian is Daniel Hanover. The William A. Shine-Great Neck South High School Co-Salutatorians are Hamsavardhaan Pillai and Jay Zuss-
a member of the Semifinalist Team in Moody’s Mega Math Challenge. He won the Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award and the Yale Science & Engineering Award. He was a four-year member of Student Government (where he was School Vice President and Class Treasurer), DECA, Math
Daniel Hanover
Jessy Lin
Casey LI
Sherry Lang
Hamsavardhaan Pillai
Jay Zussman
man. North High Salutatorian Daniel Hanover is a National Advanced Placement Scholar and National Merit Scholarship Finalist. He took first place at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, first in the State in the US Cyber Challenge, and was a Gold Medalist at the Long Island Al Kalfus Math Fair. He was also a member of the first place team for the American Scholastic Mathematics Association. Daniel took a third place award at the International Science & Engineering Fair and an Award of Merit at the WAC Lighting Foundation Invitational Science Fair. He was a finalist in the NYUPolytechnic Institute CSAW High School Forensics Competition and
Team (where he was President), Quiz Bow, and Track (Winter & Spring)/Cross Country (where he was Captain and received the MVP Award). He was also a member of Film Art Club, Science Olympiads, Model Congress, Model UN, Aids Awareness, and SAVE (Students Against Violence to the Environment). Outside of school, Daniel is co-founder, chief technology officer, and chief financial officer of his own start-up tech venture, Eventible, Inc. Daniel will be attending the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology. South High Co-Salutatorian Hamsavardhaan Pillai is an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction (earning perfect scores
on his five exams), National Merit Scholarship Finalist, Gold Medal winner in the National Spanish Exam, and member of the Second Place team at the NYS Science Olympiad, Nassau West Regional. He participated in DECA, Science Olympiad, Quiz Bowl, History Bowl, and One-Act Plays. Hamsa played the trumpet in Concert Band and Symphonic Band for four years, and in Jazz Band for three years. He was an active member of GNPS/TV, filling a myriad of roles, including: cameraman, editor, director, assistant director, audio technical director, and crew. He was an integral part of the South High Spotlight show and was responsible for many of the shows that have aired the last three years over GNPS/TV. Hamsa also participated in Cross County and Winter & Spring Track. He will attend Duke University in the fall. South High Co-Salutatorian Jay Zussman is an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction (earning perfect scores on his six exams), National Merit Scholarship Finalist, Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology National Finalist, and Intel Science Talent Search semifinalist. He was a first place winner at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, and member of the First Place Team at the NYS Science Olympiad. He was Science Olympiad Team Captain and member of the First Place Team at the regional competition; Science Bowl Club President and Team Captain and member of the second place team at the regional competition; and Ocean Bowl Club President and Team Captain and member of the third place team at the regional competition. Jay placed First in the HOSA Bowl at the NY HOSA State Competition, and took a second place in the Stony Brook Protein Modeling Competition. He was First Place Winner at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair and Second Place Winner at the International Science and Engineering Fair. Jay was selected to All-County Band (bass clarinet), All-County Orchestra (clarinet/bass clarinet), and state Honor Concert Band (bass clarinet). He was first clarinet in the school Chamber Orchestra, played clarinet and saxophone for musicals, and was active in the Contemporary Music Club, both playing and singing. He is also proficient on the saxophone, ukulele, guitar, bass, and piano. Jay participated in Science Challenge, Quiz Bowl, Math Team, and Music Community Outreach. He earned two varsity letters, in both swimming and lacrosse. He plans to attend Duke University.