Putnam Valley High School is celebrating academic achievement this month! A new plaque was dedicated and hung in the building’s foyer, listing the names of all of the valedictorians and salutatorians to date, with new names to be added each year.

The high school opened its doors in 2000 and its first class graduated in 2004. The honorees to date are:

2004 – Jared Berner- Valedictorian; Michael Ammann, Salutatorian

2005 – Greg Curreri – Valedictorian; Scott Pelletier – Salutatorian

2006 – Maggie Chesnut Valedictorian; Nicole Ricapito Salutatorian

2007 – Tony Rush – Valedictorian; Alyssa Marsico – Salutatorian

2008 – Shannon Brown —Valedictorian; Hannah Schmidt — Salutatorian

2008 Salutatorian Shannon Brown, of Lake Peekskill, has been inducted into the National Honor Society, the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, and is Vice President of the newly chartered French Honor Society at PVHS. Shannon is a 4-year active member of the PVHS Make a Difference Club (Treasurer). She also participates in Stage Crew, Interact Club, and Model Congress. Shannon was a Girl Scout from grades K-10 and has been an assistant to a younger troop, helping the troop leader to run meetings and special events. She is a Mentor for the Putnam County Youth Bureau and is very active in the Capuchin Youth and Family Ministries. As a ninth grader Shannon participated in an “Edventures Down Under” trip to New Zealand and Australia as a Student Ambassador. Last year she participated in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Design Your Future Day, attending science related workshops at the university. A CIBA Foundation 2008 High School Science Award winner, Shannon received a Presidential Scholar Merit Award and was selected to the Honors College at the University of Maine.  She also received the Edward and Grace Cutting Scholarship from the College of Life Sciences at the University of Maine, where she plans to study Marine Biology.

PVHS Interim Principal, Richard Herlihy, said, “I feel a personal connection to Shannon Brown since her mother and I were colleagues at Walter Panas High School when Shannon was born. Shannon is intelligent, personable, hard working and a young woman who is responsible, trustworthy, and an outstanding citizen of the Putnam Valley community.”

2008 Valedictorian Hannah Schmidt, of Putnam Valley, is a member of the National Honor Society, the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society (Secretary), the Tri-M Music Honor Society (Secretary), and the French Honor Society. She has worked on the school newspaper and literary magazine, is active in Stage Crew and PVHS TheatreWorks, and plays piano in the PVHS Jazz Ensemble. She has studied classical ballet, piano, and voice, and served on the Concert Tour planning committee for the PVHS Mixed Choir. Hannah was selected to be one of two 2008 student representatives to the PV Board of Education, attending meetings and reporting to the Board on PVHS student activities, and was a student representative to the Superintendent Selection Committee that hired Dr. Marc Space in 2007. She was a member of the first ever PVHS team to participate in the News 12 Academic Challenge, a televised regional student quiz bowl. She has both mentored and tutored younger students throughout her high school career. A tireless volunteer, she has worked in both the Make a Difference and Interact (Co-President) community service organizations and is a Guidance Department Intern. Hannah is a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student, has achieved High Honor Roll all four years, and is a recipient of both the Harriet A. Gair Community Service Award and the PVHS Principal’s Leadership Award. She plans to study English literature at SUNY Geneseo. Because of her stellar achievement, Hannah will automatically become on of two winners of the 2008 PVHS PTSA Achievement Award.

Principal Herlihy commented, “I came to know Hannah Schmidt upon my arrival in March of 2007 as Interim Principal of Putnam Valley High School because of her incredible talent as a scholar, musician, and young woman of character and integrity. After going through a rigorous selection process, she was named student representative to the Board of Education and has continued to achieve at the highest level in all areas of our school community.”

(Report courtesy of the Putnam Valley school district.)