This year’s academic honors have begun to roll in, as Jericho and Syosset high schools have named their valedictorians and salutatorians.
Jericho’s honors go to Lauren Gold, as valedictorian, while Dana Luong, Amanda Orbuch and Sulaimaan Siddiqui all shared salutatorian glory. According to officials at Jericho High School, Gold is the captain of the varsity tennis team and president of the Chinese honor society. She participated in exchange programs to Spain and China, and works part time in the concierge service department at the Americana Manhasset. Gold will attend Northwestern School of Communications this fall.
The salutatorians at Jericho have all garnered praise for varying accomplishments at Jericho. Luong is the co-leader of the Jericho A Cappella Group, Noteworthy, and is president of the Project Care Club. She is an AP Scholar with Distinction and a commended National Merit Scholar. Luong was also involved in many music organizations, including all-county mixed choir, all-state women’s choir and NYSSMA. She was also the MVP of the bowling team and spent time in the national, French and Chinese honor societies.
Orbuch is a competitive Lincoln Douglas debater and the recipient of the University of Rochester Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony award and recipient of the Joan Feindler award. The senior is a National Merit finalist and AP Scholar with Distinction. She is in the French Honor Society, National Honor Society and Ethics Bowl semifinalist. She is the Pegasus Literacy Magazine assistant editor and captain of mock trial team.
And finally, Siddiqui is a National Merit Scholarship finalist and a bronze medal Long Island Math Fair winner. He is a national AP scholar and a member of the National Honor Society. He is a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist and Long Island Math Fair bronze medalist. Sulaimaan volunteered for two years at St. Joseph’s Hospital and he is also a second grade teacher at ICLI Sunday School.
Meanwhile, Syosset named Benjamin Senzer as its valedictorian and Michael Collet as its salutatorian.
“Benjamin Senzer and Michael Collet are two examples of students that inspire while immersing themselves in everything Syosset,” said Principal Dr. Giovanni Durante. “I am very proud of their accomplishments both inside and outside of the classroom and wish them continued success in their futures.”
Senzer is a well-rounded student with a strong interest in science and math, having scored an 800 on both the chemistry and math SAT II. He is an AP Scholar of Distinction with A-plus grades in 14 different AP courses covering math, science, social studies, English, French and music, as well as Advanced Research courses. Senzer is also a heralded bassist with the orchestra, achieving with all-state and all-county honors. He also serves as editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and volunteers his time as a pit bassist for theater productions as well as teaching Hebrew at the Woodbury Jewish Center. A National Merit and Presidential Scholar finalist this year, Senzer has been accepted to Princeton University and plans to study bioengineering, an area of study for which he completed a pre-college program through Brown University.
Salutatorian Collet is an entrepreneurial-minded student who has excelled in several marketing and business related courses and competitions. This includes holding membership in the Business Honor Society, as well as the National Honor and National Spanish Honor societies. He currently serves as vice president of the Investment Club, is a member of the school’s chapter of the DECA for which he has won numerous awards and serves as vice president for fundraising for the school’s Model Congress club.
Additionally, he volunteers at the Variety Child Learning Center and the Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. A past AP Scholar of Distinction, Collet is a National Merit finalist this year and plans to study applied economics and management at Cornell University.
