The high school has announced its valedictorian and salutatorian for the graduating Class of 2014. Valedictorian Reva Abrol and salutatorian Jake Miller demonstrate a continued commitment to academic excellence and dedication to their community, representing the school’s entire innovative and talented student body.
Reva is a talented student who not only excels academically, but also dedicates herself to various extracurricular activities and community service. Through a variety of rigorous courses, including Advanced Placement English Language and Composition and Spanish Language, she has cultivated a love for literature, language and culture, developing critical thinking skills that have improved her understanding of and appreciation for different texts. At the high school, she is the current co-president of the Model UN club, co-captain of the Forensics Speech and Debate team, editor-in-chief of Ken Literary Art Magazine, president and founder of the Social Innovation Forum, president of the National Honor Society and vice president of the Spanish National Honor Society. As president of NHS, she helped coordinate the districtwide volunteer tutoring program and is working on developing an anti-bullying campaign.
Committed to volunteering in the community, Reva spent the summer of 2012 volunteering for a pediatric cardiologist as part of Live Light, Live Right, an inner-city program to address childhood and adolescent obesity. In the summer of 2013, she interned for BRAC USA, an affiliate to the world’s largest development organization dedicated to alleviating poverty in 11 underdeveloped countries. She has also served as a teacher and communications director for El Centro Comunitario de Educacion, a nonprofit that seeks to empower Hispanic immigrants in Brentwood and Deer Park through free English and GED classes. In her spare time, she tutors and has been involved with community projects by the Young Indian Culture Group, an organization dedicated to preserving Indian heritage.
In college, Reva plans on studying international development and public policy, with the hope of initiating social change in developing countries through effective policy reform and implementation. Her future plans include the pursuit of a career in policymaking or work in the nonprofit sector.
Jake’s a dedicated member of the Advanced Research program, penning several papers that have won him both silver and bronze medals at the Long Island Math Fair over the past several years. He also won third place in the mathematics and computer science category at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, and was subsequently named a finalist. Jake contributes much of his success to the Advanced Placement classes at the high school, as well as his math theory course. Additionally, he believes that his participation as a varsity starter on the school’s wrestling team for the past four years – serving as captain as a senior and being named a 2014 conference champion – has contributed to his ability to thrive in Syosset. Jake is also an active member of the Peer Leadership Program and Model United Nations, serving as co-president his junior and senior years.
Since 2012, Jake has been a junior volunteer on the geriatric and pediatric floors at Winthrop-University Hospital, and this fall, he began volunteering at Seaford Pediatrics. He is also a member of “The Malefactors,” a four-person rock band that performs at community service and town events. He hopes to become a physician in the future.