officially. Good afternoon. Welcome. I'm Liz Bruner from Channel 5 and I'm so happy to once again be able to serve as your mistress of ceremonies for today's very, very special 14th annual Boston Public Schools validictorian lunchon.
Let's hear it for our valadictorians. A hearty congratulations to all of you and we'll be honoring you individually as we proceed with our program this afternoon. I'm delighted today to also be joined by Mayor Manino. He's I believe being interviewed in the lobby, so we'll we'll wait for his
arrival momentarily, but also he's there he is. I didn't even see you come in. Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for joining us once again. Also in this gorgeous room today, we have the Boston School Committee, our superintendent Johnson, and all of our honoring the graduates of the class of
2012. We're going to begin our awards presentation in just a little bit, but I wanted to get you all seated. Please continue to enjoy your lunch, and I'll see you back in about another 20 minutes or so when we officially begin our program. So, I encourage you to make sure you're back in your seats so we can start and and get everybody recognized.
Thanks so much. Enjoy much. I hope you enjoyed your lunch and I know some of you are still um taking the last few morsels before you dig into that banana chocolate something or other. It's for dessert. Um, but we are going to begin our
program. I first want to thank um our friends here at the Boston Harbor Hotel for hosting us once again. This is an extraordinary, beautiful room. And I mean, can you even though the sun's not out, what a gorgeous view we have today. Absolutely wonderful. Well, thank you, Boston Harbor Hotel. We really appreciate it.
And I also invite you to take your program books home with you um this afternoon when you leave because I would really like you to take a look at all of the generous sponsors that we have who are supporting us today and they're all listed in the program. So, thank you for making it possible today that we can be
here. We also want to extend a special thanks to our presenting sponsors of Reebok and Simmons College. I'm sure the students are going to agree that they did not achieve their success alone. All along the way, all of the valadictorians have been supported by so many people and some of those wonderful
supporting people are here today. First of all, thank you to the parents and the family members of our valadictorians. Let's give them a round of applause. And we're also joined today by many of the students, teachers and headmasters. I would like to take just a moment to have all the teachers and headmasters stand right now so we can
acknowledge all of you. Fantastic. Not many people know this, but prior to my television career, which goes on 20 plus years now, I was actually a high school teacher. So, I have great affection and fondness and
appreciation and high regard and respect for all of you and for all that you do and especially here at the Boston public schools. One of the things that um Superintendent Carol Johnson and I and Dr. Guber and I were talking about is every year we're constantly amazed at
the number of different nationalities that we have represented here today. I mean, it's like a United Nations. It really is extraordinary to think that all of you have come to this wonderful city of Boston. it is a melting pot and how fantastic that you are getting a great education here and you're going on
out into the world and making it a better place. So congratulations and thanks to all of you for that. Right now it gives me great pleasure to bring to the podium a man who has made education certainly a top priority here in the city of
Boston. Whoops. think a little uh little Here we go. I think we're okay. As I was saying, um this is a man who I don't have to tell you is truly devoted to building better lives for the young people of our city. He's made it his mission. Um and
he certainly is no stranger to this event nor to any in this community. So, please give a warm welcome to our fantastic mayor, Mr. Tom Manino. this side. Sure. I just want to make it ski. That's all.
Making your presence, right? Uh, thank you, Liz. Thank you once again for being with us. Thank you for the support you give the uh the Valley Victorians by the Boston public schools and all of you. This is a wonderful day in the neighborhoods, isn't it? We
really show the best of what the Boston public schools is all about. The val Victorians we have the young woman who's the speaker, she says mayor, you know the difference between the Boston public schools, other
schools, we take in all kids. We don't discriminate. Those weren't my words. That young woman right there who's going to be a valid Victorian speaker, she said those to me. Also, we have a couple elected
officials here. I think uh Senator Senator Sonia Chang Diaz is with us today. My left council Gonavos out there. Council law Martina. Council Martina.
Yeah. Representative Jeff Sanchez. Oh, Charles. Charles. Charles Yansy. I'm sorry. Charles, you know, I'm really delighted to be here this afternoon to honor the 34 valictorians and their families to this very terrific
event. This event always means that the school year is almost over. And let's let there be no doubt that 2012 was another good year for the Boston public
schools. The Boston public schools students again outperformed other big cities this year. The nation's report card. And for the first time, not only did they we beat the other big cities, but we met the standards set by the
nation's suburban districts. 5,000 more kids have art education this year than last year. 14,000 students in the last three years. We received a $4 million grant from the Wallace Foundation in February
to expand this even further. The graduation rate reached an all-time high. We we opened two in district charter schools, the first ever Boston Green Academy and the UP Academy.
We also transformed the Clap Elementary into our first innovation school with longer school days, a longer school year, strong teachers, and high expectations. We have doubled the number of inclusive classrooms in Boston and I
create even more this fall. And our efforts to improve the quality of learning for English learn language learners was validated. An independent report found that since the superintendent arrived, we have cut the
number of ELLL dropouts by more than half. I want to congratulate the person who has made all this progress. That's our Superintendent Cowell Johnson. Thank you, Carol. I often say the most and most people
agree that education is the most important thing we do. But what's often overlooked is that education is also one of the most challenging things we do. No matter what challenges a child, no matter what
inspires a child, we educate everyone. I don't think everyone is doing it better than Dr. Johnson. We are so fortunate to have her in Boston. So, thank you, superintendent, for all your hard work. And I just want to tell you, you want to get to the if you want to get to the
superintendent, bring a chocolate. She's a chocolate freak. So, if you principles here, you want some extra money in your budget, bring her some chocolates. Teachers, if you want some good transfers, bring her chocolates.
Now what do we all of those facts have to do with today's all the facts I gave you what do they do about the guest of honor all accomplish show the continued improvement of the Boston public schools not just this year but over the last
several years the whole system is stronger our turnaround and other efforts are create more quality schools there are more talented students in our classrooms given In all this competition, the group of valer victorious is perhaps the most
impressive yet. All of you sitting here today have proven yourselves very worthy of this honor. I'm sure there were nights where you didn't know how you were going to get all of your homework done,
right? My little friend there, she know, she just told me that. But you keep studying hard and keep earning excellent grades. I applaud your commitment. I'm proud to congratulate you on a job well done. You are not only intelligent, hardworking,
but you're a very diverse group, too. 50 of you were born outside the United States in places like Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Haiti, Morocco, Colombia, and Nigeria. Now you're heading to places like
Syracuse, University of Mass, Northeastern, Harvard, Smith, and Boston University. I thought I saw BC there someplace also. Absolutely. Absolutely. Who said absolutely. If you want to go to BC, this guy get all kinds in there. Take
care of you. I'm happy to see many of you are attending colleges in Boston are nearby. I see also you're back going to Rhode Island, New York, Ohio, and California. I think it's great, too. It's important to see other parts of the
country, but please show everyone just how smart you are when you come back to Boston after you graduate from your college. A success successful school year really is made up of more than good students. It takes involved parents,
teachers, guidance counselors, headmasters, principles, and more. Just want to thank all of you for helping your child or student get here today. I'd like to thank the Boston School Committee for helping to make sure that every Boston public school stu student receives the quality education that they
deserve. Finally, I want to recognize our chief sponsors, Reebok and Simmons, for being the chief sponsor of this event today. And uh I just want to say to all of us, thank you for being here. There's one guy, it's going to be his last graduation and he's always been a squ.
Where's Mr. McAfee? Huh? Chuck McAfee is retiring in June and he's one of the great people we had in the Boston public. Thank you, Chuck. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We appreciate it.
And now, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you the chair of the Boston School Committee, a man who is deeply committed to the children of the city. And I have had the pleasure, I think, of sitting next to him the last couple years at this lunchon. So, please give a welcome to Reverend Dr. Greory Goober. Thank you, Liz. I think while the mayor
was speaking, um, uh, councelor at large, uh, Felix Royal came in. So, we want to recognize you as well. On behalf of the Boston school committee, it is my pleasure to to be here as the school committee honors all
of you, the valictorians of the class of 2012 of Boston public schools, the birthplace for public education in America. I want to quickly take the time to recognize my colleagues, my distinguished colleagues on the school committee, our vice chair, Mr. Michael
O'Neal, someone who we affectionately and respectfully uh call the dean of the school committee. She has served on the school committee for 19 years. This is Alfreda Harris.
Uh Mary Tamer, our school committee member. Mary, you're you're here somewhere. Thank you, Mary. Our school committee member, John Baros, and our new school committee member, Meg Campbell.
All of us, Mayor Manino, the school committee, Superintendent Carol Johnson, we're all very committed to raising the standard of excellence for students, all students in the Boston public schools. We want every student to have access to
first class education. And this is our job. This is our mission as the school committee and our superintendent. We lay out the plans. We set the expectations and we provide the support for you the students to help you along. But then
it's up to you to work hard to meet those expectations. And I think I speak for all of my colleagues here today when I say that each of you has surpassed by far those expectations. as this year's validictorians, you are
truly remarkable. And as the mayor said, and Liz, though you live in one city and you attend one school district, you come from all over the world. Many of you
have overcome extraordinary obstacles beyond words and measurement just to get here today. But here the good news, you are here and we celebrate you today and you
deserve to be celebrated. And so we congratulate also the adults who have supported you along the way, your families, your teachers, your guidance counselors, your wonderful headmasters, and the many community and business
partners. Each and every one of you is making Boston a stronger city by investing in the education of the 50,000 plus gems of our city. Thank you again our sponsors for today's event and as
Liz said, you will find a complete list of them in your program. Our corporate and our community partners also play an essential role in ensuring the success of all of our young people. Again to our 38 valid tutorians, we say
congratulations. Enjoy the lunchon. Enjoy today. Enjoy your commencement and your summer. And enjoy your continual path to always achieving the highest level of excellence in college and even
beyond. Thank you. Thank you, Reverend Groover. Our next speaker is widely recognized. We've already heard from the mayor and also from Dr. Groover that maybe one of the best superintendents in the country. Please welcome Superintendent Carol
Johnson. Good afternoon. It's so exciting to be here and I want to start out by thanking Liz Bruner for always showing up here and helping us celebrate this wonderful day for all of our students, Reebok and Simmons College. Thank you so very much. The mayor already recognized our
city councilors and uh Reverend Groover, the school committee members. I do want to just take a moment and recognize uh Sam Tyler who is from the Municipal Research Bureau who often comes to a lot of our events and uh has really been a partner with us on many activities that
you can join us. Thank you. The mayor also recognized u Mr. Chuck McAfee who is retiring from um Madison Park High School having also worked at Edwins Middle School. I do want to acknowledge a couple of other headmasters who are leaving us to go on
to new heights. Uh Dr. Margaret Randy Bleo from Charleston High School will become a superintendent in Vermont. Is she here this today? Thank you so very much. And Carrie Tornoff Tooff who is going uh uh retiring from Snowton
International. Thank you. We have two um high schools for the first time who will celebrate international balorate diplomas graduating from our first two international balorate programs. Um
Higall Landerto and Alex Young Heal is from the Snowton International and Alex from the Quincy. But these are our first IB graduates in the history of Boston public schools. So will you please join me in thanking very exciting. And um also, you know,
this is about, as the mayor mentioned and Reverend Groover, making sure that we increase excellence throughout the school community. And for the first time tonight, Boston International will create its first national honors
society. So, congratulations to Boston International. a real statement about how we feel about students. No matter where they come from, where they start, they can achieve excellence. We are here today to honor the best and the brightest our city has
to offer. That alone is special and significant. And you heard they're from countries all over the world. Albania and Dominican Republic, Haiti and Vietnam, Colombia, Nigeria, Morocco, Malaysia, from all over the world and
also from Boston and neighborhoods all over this city. And when I came in today, it was pretty exciting because some of the students I know, for example, Nicholas Cathkart is one of our shining stars on our debate team, one of the big champions. So, I see him at
debate. He's a robotics champion also and he's been in Boston public schools from Winship to the Baldwin to the Edison and now um Brighton High School celebrates him and he's going on to Brown University. So a student from day one here in Boston public
school and then there are students like Shantelli Jones who is headed to Boston College but she started at the Henigan and then went to the Timulty and went then went on to Health Careers Academy and now she's headed to Boston College. So, in addition to these fabulous stars
that we have from all over the world, we have local kids who grew up right here in neighborhoods in Boston, who started out in Boston public schools, who went elementary to middle schools to high schools, and they've shown that hard work and effort, caring and competent
teachers, great leadership can truly make a huge difference. So, congratulations to all of you for outstanding work and outstanding leadership. I did forget one headmaster who's leaving and that is from the English high school Cedar Narcissis who's taking
a position with the Montgomery County public schools in Maryland. See, Dr. Narcissis is Thank you. I would be remiss if I didn't just say a word about the leadership in the uh high school office. Um the academic superintendent for high schools, Dr.
Linda Cabraw and her assistant Leia Noriega and Katherine Shu who heads up all of our college and career readiness. Will you three please stand so that I can acknowledge the leadership that you provide every single day to our students. Thank you. Um, each of you has chosen
to lead, to participate in your own education, to work harder, work smarter, and to spend extra effort. And really, the difference between you and millions of other kids in Boston public schools
and around the world is your deep commitment to excellence every single day, every single time you've had the chance. and this community, Mayor Manino, all of our school committee members, our entire faculty, we couldn't be more proud of you. But we do know
that where success occurs, no one ever ever walks alone. And to your families, to your friends, to your great teachers, to the people who've stood beside you when you kind of wanted to give up when it was so hard to stay up that one last
hour and finish that project. Um, we know that today you salute them as well. We're also very very fortunate in Boston to have an absolutely fabulous uh set of higher ed partners and so um
Northeastern University certainly has uh a lot of leadership over there because Bob Gens used to be on the school committee and John Tobin used to be on the city council. So they kind of make Northeastern participate with the Boston public schools. So we're honored to have them here today and thank them so much
for their continued leadership. We also have to salute uh all of the individuals here from Simmons College because they're real partners with her us today. Uh Simmons has a new dean in their arts and science area, uh Dean Renee White. We welcome you to Boston and to Boston public schools and we
thank uh President Dryan and all of those of the uh Simmons College. you could please stand because Simmons has really been a true partner with us particularly with our Boston Teachers Union pilot school, Simmons College. Thank
you. We have tons of partners here, so I won't uh take time to acknowledge all of our hired institutions, but be just know that Bunker Hill and Simmons and RCC and Boston College and Boston U and Harvard and UMass and Emanuel are all here and present today. And we thank all of our
higher ed partners. We Thank you. Oh, Bentley College. So, sorry. Did I miss any other colleges or universities here? Leslie College and Mass Bay. Firmingham State. Everybody's here. I just want you all to
know you're inheriting absolutely fabulous students and they will enrich in your campus lots more than any other students in the Commonwealth. Um, you know, a lot of people think and say that urban public schools can't
achieve excellence, but I think the students that we are honoring today are a true testament that regardless of a student's background or language or disability, regardless of where you start, when you
arrived. It's really about whether we educate you well and give you opportunity and whether you and your family work in partnership with us to make the difference. I know that I speak on behalf of all the headmasters and teachers in the city of
Boston to say we're extremely honored to work and serve with you and we are so proud of your accomplishments and look forward to your name being in great leadership roles uh in the future. And just so you know, Mr. mayor. When I
talked to Nicholas Cathkart from um Brighton High School today, who's going on to major in political science at Brown, he did indicate that he would be looking for a future job uh in politics. Congratulations. Thank you, Carol.
And now I think that the uh next person we're going to hear from is our student speaker today. She's the valadictorian of Boston International High School and I think the mayor's new best friend. Please give a warm welcome to Ke I hope I'm saying this correctly, Casy Cabrera.
Is that correct, Casy? Very well. Come on up, sweetie. Good afternoon, Mayor Manino, Superintendent Johnson, counselors, headmasters, family, and my fellow valictorians, and thank you for being here.
It is an honor for me to be here today and speaking to a group of students who have achieved so much and have such bright futures. Three years ago, I would never imagine being here to give a speech in English in front of all of
you. On September 13 of 2009, I took my first plane ride ever. But I was not going on vacation to some exotic location. I was leaving the exotic location. I had oneway ticket from the Dominican Republic to Boston,
Massachusetts. I was leaving behind everything familiar. Friends, teachers, family, and so much more. Two weeks later, I was sitting behind a desk in Misv 9th grade English class,
which is my teacher over there, surrounded by students speaking many different languages, all of whom have the same look of terror in their faces. You see, Bosong International High School is a special place.
We are a school that was created for students who are brand new to the country. Our school has the mission to assist young immigrants in learning English while maintaining a regular high school
curriculum. The school also helps students and their families to assimilate to the new culture. All the faces in Misv 9th grade class that September of 2009 represent the different countries,
cultures, and languages, and they all have little to no English. Most of us knew how to say yes, no, please, and thank you. And a couple
brave people knew how to ask to use the bathroom. Our faces to terror because our teacher was speaking to us, but none of us could understand what she was saying. Or imagine a time that we ever would. The first book that Misa assigned
for me to read was called The Most Beautiful Place in the world by an Cameron. It had four sentences and pictures, a baby book. In the art, I was one year away from graduating and was reading books
like Julius Albert in the time of butterflies. I was frustrated by how far behind it seemed I had fallen. I felt like I was a starting all over again, like I was learning how to walk after a bad
accident. And sometimes I just wanted to give up. But I couldn't give up because I if I give up now my sacrifices will be in vain. So instead of losing myself in pity, I made a commitment with myself to
work as hard as I possibly could. I was my own biggest obstacle and I had to get out of my own way. So I stay after school, I asked questions and I spoke as much English as
I could and I took risks with the language. My teacher began to tease me about how many large words my essays will contain and sometimes they even accuse me of using Google translation because sometimes these
words will appear out of place. By April of the same academic year, I was reading Malcolm X's book, By Any Means Necessary. And a year later, the the MCAST results came out, and I had earned
an advanced score in both English and math. Seeing my progress in English, but also in no other subjects made my hard work and dedication to seem worth it. And I was ready to take any other challenge that Boser International would throw at
me. And Boser International does throw a lot at us. Miss Bonam is the fearless leader who believes that even though we're English language learners, it doesn't mean that we have to have a dumb down
curriculum. In fact, at this year, I was lucky enough to take both AP Spanish and honor English. One year ago, our school didn't even have honor classes, and next year
there will be even more offered. The thing that makes Boston International unique is that we are a team and we empower one another to be successful. I believe the spirit comes from a shared experience of
survival. We were terrified but we are now surviving and thriving. We could not have this done without the support of every teacher, every counselor, every support person and every administrator in the school. They go above and beyond their
responsibilities to make sure that we are happy, healthy, and learning. They believe that learning doesn't just happen in a classroom. For example, during my time at Bosa International High School, I was
encouraged to participate in programs both inside and out of the school that allow me to explore areas of interest I didn't know I had. I've held a summer internship at Bank of America where I hope to return to the
summer. I was a member of a community service team that went to Washington DC during our April vacation to work with Habitat for Humanity. I joined a contemporary dance group with Rubano and became involved in
the church choir. At every event, I can look into the crowd and see at least one of my teachers cheer me on. I know that the lessons I learned and confidence I've gained at Boston International High School will follow me
on my life journey. My next stop will be Regis College where I will be studying medical sciences in order to prepare for medical school. I look back over the last 19 years and
I'm amazed at the mountains I had to climb in order to get to this great day. But the quote Malcolm X, there is nothing better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss contains its own seed, its own lesson on
how to improve your performance the next time. The challenges I have faced have shaped. I will continue to shape the picture of my life. I know you all have faced a lot of obstacles along the way as well. But the
moment we are living right now is the reward for the sacrifices we will made along the way. Congratulations on your graduations and let's show this world what we are made of. Thank you so much. I think you just showed us what you're
made of, my dear. Oh, man. Inspiring. and wise beyond her years. All right, now it's time for some fun stuff, too. This is how it's going to work. Um, I'm going to be calling the students up um in alphabetical order, and I encourage you to follow along in
your program book. Hopefully, we'll we'll get it correctly. When I read your name, I invite you to please come forward so you can collect your gifts and have your picture taken with the mayor and superintendent Revery Rubver. And you'll notice behind me, our great sponsors, Reebok, have put a a backpack
together for all of the students. And I'm sure you're going to appreciate it. It contains a leather portfolio. You can use it at college. There are gift cards to the Reebok store. So, it's all good. And after your photo is taken, just go back to your table. But then at the end of the program, and this is a key point
here, at the end of the program, all of the Valley Victorians need to come up here. Okay? We're going to take a group photo. I know we're going to try and do it outside, but just come forward and we'll march everybody out at the same time so we can have you all together in mass. You ready to get started? Yes. It's time to honor our lovely valet
Victorians and class of 2012. And I'm going to apologize right now in case I mess up anybody's name. Okay. All right. Let's begin with from another course to college, Jeanie Lantern. Where are you, Jeanie? Come on up here.
Jeie was raised by her father. She's skilled in areas that are not typical for a young lady of her age. Listen to this. She can operate a crane, handles power tools. She's taking classes in mechanics and computer engineering, and she plans on attending where else?
Wentworth Institute of Technology. Our next student making their way forward from Boston Adult Technical Academy, Justin St. Cloud. Jefferson, there he is. Jefferson came to the United States from Haiti just two years ago. He loves
reading, writing poetry, and he plans to have a career in law enforcement. He plans on attending Roxberry Community College. Congratulations, Joseph. Thank you. Next person to bring forward is from Boston Arts Academy, Zoe Olrich. How are you,
Zoe? Zoe is an Arabic scholar, studied at Middleton Monterey Language Academy. She is also a teaching assistant at BAA and the Arabic Summer Academy, and she will be going to Sarah Lawrence College. Congratulations, from Boston Community Leadership
Academy, Diana Florenzio. Diana is also from the Dominican Republic. She loves to travel and enjoys working with younger children. And she is the first in her family to attend college and she will be going to Holy Cross in the fall. Congratulations from Boston Day and
Evening Academy. Rochelle Holland. After attending several high schools, Rochelle found a home at BDEA. She earned a perfect 4.0 gradepoint average. She has her sights set on medical school. She we have no doubt she's going to get there. Rochelle will
attend Mass College of Pharmacy and Health Ser Sciences. Congratulations, Rochelle. From Boston Green Academy, Danielle Felix. Danielle. Danielle also attended several high schools before settling in at Boston Green Academy. She's a member of
the rowing and the softball teams. Strong young woman. She's going to attend Worcester Polytenic Institute. Did I mention these kids are smart? From Boston International High School. We've already met her, but please give her another warm welcome.
Cassra. Well, we already know she came to the US from the Dominican just three years ago, but she loves to dance and perform community service. And she will be going to Regis College in the fall. And no doubt who knows where else. Alrighty. Our next validictorian
is from Boston Latin Academy. Please welcome Adah Casselli. Ada is originally from Albania. She lived in Greece for four years before immigrating to Boston in 1999. And she too is the first person in her family to go to college. and she is
going to Harvard University from Boston Latin School. Please welcome Anumita Das. Anumita has spent her entire educational career in the BPS. She previously attended the Farragut and the Edison. She has studied Indian dance for
12 years and she is a prize declaimer at Boston Latin. Anomita will also be attending Harvard University. So please say hello to Hayden. They were two together. And from Brighton High School, please give it up for Nicholas Cathkart.
Nicholas is a member of the Brighton High Robotics Team and is a city champion with the Boston Debate League. He will be going to Brown University on a full academic scholarship and he plans to attend law school with a focus on criminal law. Shantel Bogosa is our next person
from the Jeremiah Burke High School. Come on up, Shantel. Shantel is the editor of her school newspaper, The Banner. She also serves as the Dorchester representative on the mayor's youth council. So, obviously, the two of you know one another. She plans on attending UMass Amherst in the
fall. Congratulations, Shantel. From Charles Town High School, our next validictorian is Chuand Do. There she is. Chuhan is originally from Vietnam. She loves math and she plans to pursue a
career as an engineer. And she too will be attending UMass Amherst in the fall. Congratulations, Chuan. And from community, please welcome Kayla Barrows Moody. Kayla loves working with young children
and helping others. She lost her father to cancer sadly last year and she now plans to go on to become a nurse and she will start that project by going to Quincy College in the fall. Congratulations. Also from Community Academy of Science and Health, please
welcome Joanna Vasil Vasilio. Come on up, Joanna. Originally from Haiti, Joanna arrived in the US not knowing any English and when many of her family and friends were affected by the Haitian earthquake, Joanna still maintained a 4.0 grade porn
average and she will be going to SUFFK majoring in biology. Congratulations to all these young people besides being validictorians are so interesting and accomplished. Please welcome from Doorchester Academy, Angela Trin. Where is
Angela? Can you see? There she is. She's making her way. Angela's originally from Vietnam and she is apparently a math wiz. In 2010, she won the American Math Contest and was a recipient of the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award. And at Dorchester Academy, she's a
member of the Engineering, Robotics, and Math Clubs. I'm exhausted just talking about it. She's going to attend Dennis University in Ohio as a Posi scholar. Congratulations. And from East Boston High School, please give it up for Nancy
Figareroa. Nancy is a member of the East Boston High ROC program. She holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Should I be saluting? She was chosen from 4,000 applicants nationwide to receive the prestigious Legion of Valor Bronze Cross, which recognizes outstanding
academic achievement and leadership, and she is going to Northeastern in the fall. Congratulations, Nancy. Our valadictorian from English High is Laura Ooa. There she is. Laura arrived in the United States just
four years ago from Colombia. She enrolled in the English high school, taking ESL classes before transitioning to honors and advanced placement classes. Why am I not surprised? The first person in her family to attend college, Laura will be going to Suffach University. Congratulations, Laura Aar
from English High. From Excel High School, we have two validictorians. We're going to first welcome Tao Wen. Where is Ta? There she is. Tao immigrated to the United States from Vietnam less than three years ago.
She quickly learned English and has excelled academically and socially. She is co- captain of her school's robotics team and is a member of the student government. Oh, thank you. Stay there. Very nice. It's a family affair. Tao will be attending Northeastern
University. Congratulations. We did say it was a family affair. It takes a village, right? Our next validictorian from Excel is Steven Clifford. How are you, Stephen? Stephen participated in the BPS community service learning project last
summer in Peru. He has overcome many obstacles in his life and he is a proud cancer survivor. He plans, yes, amen to that. He plans to pursue a career in pediatric oncology and he plans to go to University of California at San Diego.
Lucky dog, it's gorgeous there. Please welcome from Fenway High School, Samantha Delos Santos. Samantha is an adventurous young woman. I'm told she enjoys challenging herself. She participated in an outwardbound program in North Carolina. She traveled
to Ecuador on a humanitarian mission and she will be going to Holy Cross. Samantha, congratulations. from Greater Eagle Community High School. Please give a warm welcome to Ross Oi Gay. Wait a minute, I didn't say that
correctly. A semi gay. Is that right? Close enough. I'll just call you Ross. How's that? Ross came to the United States from Nigeria three years ago. His interests include nursing and economics. He's not yet decided which college he's going to attend to, but he plans to
pursue a career in accounting. Ross, congratulations. from the Edward M. Academy for Health Career, Shantel Jones. Shantel recently completed an internship at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute where she worked in their research laboratory. She is also a Mass
General Hospital bicesentennial scholar and she's going to BC as a premed and business major. Holy cow. from Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. Please welcome the Linus
Savalo. Milinus has overcome many obstacles in her young life as well. She too will be the first person in her family to graduate from high school, let alone go to college. She will attend Northeastern University as a torch scholar.
Congratulations. Please give it up for Anthony Riopel. He is from McKinley Preparatory High School. Anthony, I'm told, is a diehard Celtics fan. Buddy, you better step it up with that presence for that. He's met two of
the players in person. Who'd you meet? Rondo KG. Rondo and KG. That's good. That's good. Wish him some good luck. He's a strong advocate for McKinley Prep and enjoys hosting tours of his school. He will attend Bunker Hill Community College in the fall. Congratulations from McKinley Southoun
Academy. Cassandra Rivera De Jesus. Cassandra is another one of our inspiring young women who has really transformed herself as a student. She went from having poor attendance to becoming a standout student and now validictorian. She enters Bunker Hill Community College in the fall. She will
become the first in her family also to attend college. How wonderful is that? Congratulations. from New Mission High School, Gina White. She's making her way to the right of the room here. Gina is an award-winning debater.
She recently placed at the National Forensic Competition. She's also a four-time softball allstar and the first person in her family to attend college. And she is going to the Oso Profa Smith College.
My grandmother went to school. I can say that. Alrighty. From the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, please welcome Lind Trron. When Lynn arrived in the United States in 2003, she spoke no English, and today she is the top student in one
of Boston's prestigious exam schools. She's also mentors young children at the Boston Public Library and she will be going to good old VU Boston University in the fall from Josiah Quinsey Upper School. Alex Yien. And when Alex is not busy hitting
the books, I'm told he enjoys long distance running. You look like a runner, Alex. He also goes hiking and he's into animation. He is the first in his family to attend college and he plans to go to Boston College this fall. Congratulations, Alex. Our next valadictorian is from the
Muriel S. Snowden International School at Copley. Say that fast. Hegal Landtoy. Hegal Hegal is originally from the Dominican Republic. Not only is he the first person in his family to attend college, he received a full four-year
scholarship to Union College, also as a Posi scholar from Tech Boston Academy. Please welcome Amin Alamagni. Amin came to the country from Morocco at the age of nine. Again, not speaking any English. He was placed in
the seventh grade and since then he's not only mastered the English language, but all of his academic subjects as well. At just 16, he is the youngest valadictorian in the history of Tech Boston and maybe maybe the history of Boston public schools. He goes to Syracuse in the fall.
Congratulations. From Urban Science Academy, we actually have two validictorians today. Starting with Johanei Medina Herrera. I hope I said that correctly. She wasn't able to come, but I'm just going to say anyway, at 9 years old, she immigrated from the Dominican. After
failing the fourth grade twice because of language, she persevered. She became an academic standout. She's still deciding which college, but she would too will be the first in her family. So, congratulations to her. Thank you for representing her. Also from the same school, Urban Science Academy, please welcome Hung Nu
Yen. Originally from Vietnam, Hung lives with relatives in two states before settling in Boston at the age of 10. She enjoys playing the violin and the clarinet. She will attend Curry College and she too, how many does this make? The first person in her family to attend college. How many times have I said that today?
That's extraordinary. An impressive group of young people. And from West Roberry Academy, we also have two valadictorians. Starting with Francesca Gonzalez. Francesca, no, you're not Franchesca. You're representing
Franchesca. Francesca came to us from the Dominican Republic and she too is the first person in her family to graduate. She's going to Stonehill. So, we congratulate her. Thank you. And last, but certainly not least, also from West Roxberry Academy, please
welcome Lena Ye. Lena is deeply committed to community service. She's performed service work from Maine to as far away as Ghana. She's also a talented photographer and she volunteers with Artists for Humanity and she will be attending Bridgewwater State University.
Congratulations, Lena. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, all of you valictorians, all valadictorians, please stand for one more proud round of applause and congratulations to the class of 2012.
Bravo to all of you. And that really concludes our program. And with one exception, validictorians, come forward. Thanks everybody. Have a great year and good luck to all of you. Be well.