New Hyde Park High Valedictorian and Salutatorian Announced at Sewanhaka Board of Ed Meeting

Amanda Lesar and Thomas Campbell of were announced as the school's valedictorian and salutatorians respectively toward the beginning of the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night. At that time, announced the valedictorians and salutatorian in each the five schools that comprise the Sewanhaka Central High School District.

Before he began running through the list, Meierdiercks noted, "These are the best of the best and we congratulate each one of them on what they have accomplished for themselves, their families and their schools."

Meierdiercks then announced each high school's top two scholars and gave a little speech about each.

For Amanda Lesar, Meierdiercks said, "Amanda's grade point average is 101.96. Amanda is a National Merit Scholarship commended student and also an AP scholar. She placed twelfth in the nation in the national Italian exam. Amanda is also a member of the Senior Honor Society, Foreign Language Honor Society, the Tri-M Music Honor Society and a recipient of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Medal Award. She has won many awards for her involvement in Model UN and is the editor of the school yearbook. She's also co-captain of the twirling squad. She has applied to 16 colleges and universities -- I think that's a record -- including such prestigious schools as Columbia University, Cooper Union, Harvard University, MIT, New York University and, last but not least, Yale University. Congratulations to New Hyde Park's valedictorian, Amanda Lesar."

Lesar then, like the other scholars who were honored Tuesday night, shook hands with each of the members of the board who were present.

New Hyde Park salutatorian Thomas Campbell was unable to make the meeting because he was sick, but the following was read about him by Meierdiercks.

"Thomas' GPA is 101.93. His passion is Model United Nations, where he has excelled as a delegate for the past three years. Thomas' other passion is sports. He's a member of both the boys varsity lacrosse and varsity football teams. Thomas has served as captain of the football team for the past two seasons. According to head football coach Kevin Dolan, 'Along with his consistent presence on the field, Thomas' character and person qualities are what make him an outstanding captain.' Thomas has applied to nine colleges and universities including American University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Fordham University and Harvard University. Congratulations to Thomas Campbell."