For Carle Place’s Sarah Laga, being named valedictorian was a relief. It was a sign that all the hard work she had put in the last four years had finally paid off. But it wasn’t the highlight of her high school career.
“I applied through the Spanish National Honor Society for a trip to Spain and I was one of 24 kids nationwide who got to go. We spent a week in the south of Spain, that was a highlight,” Laga said.
She hopes to spend a lot more time traveling the world and to help her achieve that goal, Laga will be attending the University of Scranton in the fall, where she hopes to pursue a degree in International Studies and Spanish.
Laga is president of the Spanish Honor Society, serves as editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, secretary of the society records in the Math Honor Society, is parliamentarian in the National Honor Society and is a member of the key club, mock trial team and orchestra. She’s also captain of the volleyball and track and field teams, and was an all-conference volleyball player.
In addition to all her extracurricular activities, Laga’s also taken nine Advanced Placement courses and earned the title of AP Scholar with Distinction for her high marks on those exams. She finished her high school career with a 102.9 GPA. She has also earned the George Washington University Math & Science Award and the Dartmouth College Book Award.
She credits her mom for being her biggest supporter and teacher.
“She’s an elementary school teacher and she helped me when I was younger. Both my parents helped instill the importance of education and learning in me and I kept that with me,” Laga said. “Both of my parents taught me in anything you should try your best and do the best you can.”
As she moves on to the next phase of life, she said she’ll miss her friends and teachers at Carle Place.
“We’re a very small school and that’s a good thing because you have so many close-knit relationships,” Laga said. “The teachers and administrators are very friendly and know you. I’m going to miss everyone at the school. Everyone was so supportive and it’s nice knowing when I come back, I’m still going to have that support system.”
Joining Laga at the top of the class is Tom Monahan, who was named Carle Place High School salutatorian.
“I put a lot of hard work in so I was happy to see that come to fruition. It was fulfilling,” he said.
During the last four years of high school, Monahan has been involved in numerous activities including serving as stage manager for the school plays, vice president of SPARC (a community service team), president of the math honor society, captain of the track and math teams and playing saxophone in the band. He is an AP Scholar with Distinction and earned the Rennsselaer Medal and the Building Bridges Award.
He said one of his most fulfilling experiences was his time as an Eagle Scout with Troop 305. For his Eagle Scout project, he built bat habitats throughout Carle Place. When bats come through the community, they stay in these “bat boxes,” which not only gives them a home but keeps the mosquito population in the area down.
Monahan, who took numerous AP science and math classes, will be going to Ohio State University to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering. He’s looking forward to being a part of Ohio State’s excellent research program, but said he will miss the tight-knit community of Carle Place.
“It’s a very small community so I’ll miss that. I’ll miss knowing everyone’s name and the family feel,” Monahan said.
He credits his parents’ support for helping through high school and encouraging him to be a well-rounded person. And for incoming students, the senior offers simple advice.
“Try everything once. Give everything a shot because you never know what you’ll like and what you’ll be good at,” Monahan said. “Have an open mind.”
Congratulate Laga, Monahan and the rest of the Carle Place Class of 2015 at graduation at the high school on Friday, June 26 at 6:30 p.m.
