Class of 2008 Reaches High Levels

By Paul Westmoore, The Buffalo News, N.Y.

Jun. 22–About 2,350 seniors will graduate from Niagara County’s 10 public high schools in ceremonies through next Sunday, a number of them reaching unusually high levels achievement.

The Class of 2008 has a lot to boast about.

Two members have received full scholarships to Harvard University, a school that rejects a lot more students than it accepts.

Two others have won a free ride to the U. S. Air Force Academy and the U. S. Naval Academy.

One is going to Duke University, another to Cornell University. And the list goes on.

Despite being the poorest high school in the county, Niagara Falls High School’s senior class has collected some very impressive college scholarships, including a coveted Harvard scholarship worth roughly $200,000 over four years.

Raymond Fadel got that award. The high honor student kept up his academic performance despite the loss of his entire immediate family during his high school years. In his freshman year, his brother was shot and killed during a holdup at his family’s tavern. His mother died of liver failure while he was a sophomore, and his father died of a rare disease last September. He lives with close family friends.

"He never looks down and keeps forging ahead," his principal, Mark Laurrie, said of Fadel. "His perseverance is something I’ve never seen in a kid before. He’s always courageous."

Another Falls honor student who seems to be cut from the same cloth is Christopher D. Ganczewski. He learned he won a free four-year ride to the Air Force Academy after his brother, Army Ranger Sgt. Steven C. Ganczewski, 22, was killed Nov. 16 during combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq.

Ganczewski will not be at Saturday’s graduation ceremonies. He has to leave for the Air Force Academy on Wednesday. To compensate, school officials held a special graduation ceremony for him late last month.

"He’s a role model for the way he handled things," Laurrie said of Ganczewski. "He came to work here every day. He never missed a day of school, and he did it in a way that was respectful to his family and his brother. That’s how committed he is."

Niagara Falls students are not alone when it comes to academic achievement.

Newfane High School’s class valedictorian, Natalie R. Kappus, earned a full scholarship to Harvard (See related story that starts on this page), while fellow Newfane senior David Nasca distinguished himself by winning a full scholarship to Deep Springs College, an intense, two-year liberal arts institution that only caters to 26 students a year and requires students to help run a cattle ranch.

The vast majority of this year’s seniors seem to have done well and helped improve the academic standings of their schools, according to their principals.

Here is a look at the Class of 2008:

Barker High School

Principal John Hoar said 97.3 pre-cent of his seniors — 72 of them — are expected to graduate, all with Regents diplomas. Fifteen seniors are expected to graduate with Advanced Regents With Honors diplomas; 25 with Advanced Regents diplomas; and 31 with Regents diplomas.

Hoar said 87 percent of his seniors are expected to attend college and those students have won more than $1.77 million in college scholarships. At this time last year, Barker seniors had reported winning about $1 million in college scholarships.

About 6 percent of the class expects to enter the military. About 3 percent will go on for business or technical training, and 4 percent will enter the work force.

Class valedictorian is Joelle Thilkey and salutatorian is Kristina Cooner.

Lewiston-Porter High

Principal Paul J. Casseri expects to see close to all of his 202 seniors graduating, with 97 percent receiving Advanced Regents and Regents diplomas. Six students — Nicole Hall, Kevin Johnson, Ryan McGhee, Alyssa Miller, Sullivan Fitzgerald and Lisa Fleck — will receive the Lew-Port Honor Diploma, a special award given to students who have maintained an A-plus average during all four years of high school.

McGhee is the class valedictorian; Fleck, the salutatorian.

Ninety-one percent of the class is scheduled to attend college next fall, while 2 percent will attend technical schools. One percent will enter the military, and 6 percent are either undecided or plan to enter the work force.

Numerous Lew-Port students have won college scholarships. Jason Carminati distinguished himself by winning a full, four-year ride to the Naval Academy.

Casseri said the 2008 senior class is a strong academic group, with about 50 students having been on the honor roll for the past four years. Nicole Hall and Allison Hamilton had perfect scores on the critical reading component of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Steven Cevare and Maria Taczak had perfect attendance this year.

Lockport High School

Principal Frank Movalli said he had a great senior class, which did well academically and started a comprehensive recycling program at school. The class also set up a program for composting discarded vegetable matter from the cafeteria.

The seniors also played a big role in enabling the school to be ranked a "high-performing, gap-closing school" for the fourth straight year because they worked hard to improve their academic performance with each passing year and set the bar high for the classes that have followed them.

Ninety-five percent of the school’s seniors are expected to graduate and have won numerous college scholarships. Movalli said 96 seniors will be named honor graduates for having been on the honor roll in each of the last four years carrying a 90 percent or better average. He said 95 percent of his seniors will receive Regents diplomas, with 42 percent of them earning diplomas in the Advanced Regents category.

Those who fail to graduate will be able to earn their diplomas by the end of summer or by January, he said.

Movalli said 88 percent of his seniors are going to college, while 5 percent plan to enlist in the military, and 2 percent expect to enter the work force. The rest are undecided or examining other options.

Karen DeWispelaere has won a full, four-year scholarship to the University at Buffalo, and Christina Hoste won a similar scholarship to the University at Albany. Alyssa Magee has received an $8,000-a-year scholarship to Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, and Ryan Vasko earned a $15,000-a-year scholarship to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. Sara Chapman won a scholarship to Boston University.

Also, senior Meagan Straud is the Niagara County representative to the state Junior Miss competition.

Class valedictorian is Mary Rachel Robbins and salutatorian is Karen De- Wispelaere.

Newfane High School

School Counselor Glenn Smith said he expects 154 of the school’s 156 seniors to graduate and 94 percent of them to do so with a Regents diploma, 45.5 percent of them in the Advanced Regents category.

Ninety percent have plans to attend college, while 3.2 percent will enlist in the military service, and 7.1 percent expect to enter the work force.

Many students have done very well in addition to Kappus and Nasca.

Smith said Kristen Loveland received a four-year presidential scholarship to Elmira College worth $72,000. Allen Li won a $120,000, four-year scholarship to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where he plans to major in statistics.

Michael Lanighan has received a four-year presidential scholarship worth about $100,000 to Canisius College, where he will major in pre-engineering. In addition to that scholarship, Lanighan has secured a paid summer research position in robotics beginning this summer in the school’s Bio-Informatics Department.

Grace Platt won a two-year, full-tuition scholarship to Niagara County Community College, where she will major in culinary arts. Joseph Neidlinger won a $48,000 scholarship to Kettering University in Michigan, where he will major in mechanical engineering.

Kappus is valedictorian and Lucas Wong is salutatorian.

Niagara Falls High

Laurrie said things at his school get better every year and is hopeful almost all 452 of his seniors will graduate. For those who don’t make it through exams, he said they will be able to finish up their work and receive their diplomas in August.

"Seventy percent of our seniors are going to college, compared [with] 64 percent last year," he said, and will have earned Regents diplomas.

He said the other students will receive local diplomas and some of the 75 special-education students in the class will earn an Individual Education Program diploma.

Laurrie said 8 percent of students plan to enlist in the military service while 22 percent expect to enter the work force or are exploring other options.

Laurrie said many of his college-bound students have won scholarships. In addition to Fadel and Ganczewski, class valedictorian Hannah Hampton won a four-year presidential scholarship worth about $100,000 to Canisius College. She also was a National Merit Scholarship finalist this year.

Laurrie said his senior class has raised the bar for the rest of the school by having more students performing better academically and more taking college-level courses than ever before.

More than 65 seniors will go on to college, having earned college credits through the Advanced Placement and other college-level courses.

This year’s seniors doubled the number of students attending Niagara County Community College in the afternoons as part of NCCC’s on-campus College Acceleration Program.

Laurrie said that number grew from 12 seniors last year to 24 this year, with each student earning from 15 to 18 college credits. One student, Deanna Wallace, said she will have at least 27 transferable college credits to take with her when she enters Niagara University in September.

By their performance, Laurrie said his seniors led the way in having the school recognized by the state Education Department as a "high performing, gap-closing school" for the second consecutive year. That success came after the school was listed as "a school in need of improvement" four years ago.

"They are consistent, steady, hardworking, solid performers who helped bring the whole school up to another level," Laurrie said. "By raising their achievement level so high at the top,

they forced the whole school to come up with them through their example." Laura DeMarco is salutatorian.

Niagara Wheatfield

Principal Donald F. Mills said he expects about 98.5 percent of his 335 seniors to graduate. Fifty-seven are expected to earn Advanced Regents With Honors diplomas and 159 Advanced Regents diplomas.

Mills said numerous students have received significant scholarships, including Taylor Ryan, who won a $150,000 Army ROTC scholarship to Niagara University, and Ashley Beamish, who picked up a full scholarship to Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

Alexandra Weinholtz and Chad Leadingfox each won a four-year Haudenosaunee Promise Scholarship for American Indians to Syracuse University. It pays full tuition and room and board. Mia McKee and Waylon Wilson each won a State Power Authority Scholarship that pays full tuition to a State University of New York college or university of their choice.

Class valedictorian is Jessica Stachowski and salutatorian is Ashley Beamish.

North Tonawanda High

Principal James Fisher said at least 315 of the 343-member senior class should graduate with little trouble, possibly many more, depending on how final exams go. He said those who don’t make it should be able to earn their diplomas by August or as fifth-year students during the 2008-09 school year.

Of the 93 percent of his seniors who will graduate, 81 percent will be going on to college and 3 percent to technical or trade schools. Four percent plan to enlist in the military, and 11 percent expect to enter the work force, while 1.5 percent remain undecided, Fisher said.

He said many of his seniors excelled academically, with 104 ranked as honor roll students. Thirty-one students have been on the honor roll for all four years of high school. Fifty percent of the graduating class will receive Advanced Regents diplomas. Many seniors took several of the 25 college-level courses offered at the high school and earned as many as 15 to 18 college credits before graduation.

Fisher said his seniors also won college scholarships, including Shawn Hoffman, who won a full sports scholarship to Duke University in North Carolina "for his ability as a diver."

Class valedictorian is Caroline Sorensen and salutatorian is Jessica Utzig.

Royalton-Hartland

Principal Kevin Shanley said his senior class scored first in the county on the reading a math sections of the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

"Thirty-three percent of our seniors will graduate with honors," he said.

He said 93 percent of the class earned Regents diplomas and that 72 percent plan to go to college in September. About 7 percent will enter the military, 10 percent expect to enter the work force, and the remaining 10 percent are undecided about what they will be doing next year.

The class is led by two boys: valedictorian Cole Staines and salutatorian Jason Zayac, Shanley said.

Mark Kern won a full Marines ROTC scholarship to St. John Fisher College in Rochester, and 20 other seniors won partial scholarships to a variety of colleges. Senior Marissa Cileberto has not missed a day of school in four years.

Starpoint High School

Starpoint students also had a good

year, with valedictorian Steven Prendergast picking up a $160,000 Army ROTC scholarship to the University of Notre Dame, where he will study engineering, and salutatorian Joseph Filippini is receiving a full scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, where he will study biology. Steve Pochatko received a full academic-athletic scholarship to Canisius College, where he will compete on the swimming team.

The school also boasts Melanie Stein, a National Merit Scholarship winner who will study environmental engineering at the University at Buffalo.

Ten students have won four-year presidential scholarships to Niagara University worth $10,000 a year.

While not on scholarship, two seniors, Rachel Storey and William Barclay, have been accepted to Cornell University. On a more exotic note, Paul Aswad will go to the University of Hawaii at Maneo in September.

School Counselor Tammy Alt said the senior class had many standouts, with 77 students making the honor roll this year. She said 97 percent of the class is going to college, 1 percent into the military, and 2 percent are either entering the work force and have other plans.

Five students had perfect attendance this year: Thornton Haag-Wolf, Jasmine May, Lisa Nesselbeck, Karla Rowe and Darren Whittall.

Wilson High School

"We’re expecting 100 percent of our seniors to graduate, but there always can be the a surprise that someone fails a test," Principal Daniel Johnson said. "You don’t expect them to. Right now we are hopeful they’re all going to make it."

If they do, they will equal last year’s 100 percent graduation rate.

"All of our students earned Regents diplomas last year. We expect that to happen this year," Johnson said.

He said 89 percent of his seniors will attend college, while 2 percent will enter the military, and 9 percent either will enter the work force or have other plans.

Wilson students have won more than $4.16 million in college scholarships, an average of about $33,000 per student.

"That’s the highest per-student total we’ve ever had," Johnson said.

He said some students have won impressive scholarships, including Olivia Carman, who received a $128,000 scholarship to Cornell University, and Katherman Rademacher, who won a fully paid, four-year Air Force ROTC scholarship to Norwich University in Vermont.

The class is also distinguished by four students who are Eagle Scouts — Mathew Smith, David Warsocki, Derek Gagnon and Joseph Butler. A fifth senior, Bradley Pease, is soon to be named an Eagle Scout.

Class valedictorian is Will Clark and salutatorian is Alexia Thilk.

Niagara Catholic

The county’s 11th and only private high school, Niagara Catholic saw 42 seniors graduate June 13 in North Tonawanda’s Riviera Theatre.

Everyone in the class graduated with Regents diplomas and were led by two cousins: valedictorian Timothy Dyster and salutatorian Megan Dyster- Colosi.

The seniors were offered about $2.1 million in college scholarships, including a number of presidential scholarships from Niagara University and Canisius College, which can be worth anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000.

pwestmoore@buffnews.com

—–

To see more of The Buffalo News, N.Y., or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.buffalonews.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Buffalo News, N.Y.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.