BY Michael Mandelkern
The graduating class of 2010 at Millennium High School has a graduation rate of roughly 98 percent and all 147 students have been accepted into various prestigious colleges in the fall, including Syracuse University, Smith College, Columbia University, George Washington University, American University, New York University and several S.U.N.Y. and C.U.N.Y. schools, such as Stony Brook and Baruch.
Emily Apple, this year’s valedictorian, will enroll into Macaulay Honors College. She was co-Editor-in-Chief of her school newspaper, the Millennium Phoenix, a member of her school’s Student Government and Ethics organization and volunteered community service on a school trip to Chile.
Benjamin Mace and Brittany Barnes were chosen by their fellow students to speak at graduation.
Other M.H.S. students stand out amongst their senior year class as well.
Kiersten Chresfield started a student club called M.A.AS.A., a group of students of African descent trying to reconnect to their roots. Her and seven other M.H.S. students raised enough money to plan and fund a 10-day trip to Ghana in February with faculty supervisors and other adults. They visited an orphanage and took a historical tour of the country.
She was awarded a Princeton Prize in Race Relations and Harlem Black Achievers in Industry Scholarships. Chresfield is attending Vanderbilt University in the fall on a full four-year scholarship.
Farrah Zhao was one of eight New Yorkers and the only student from her school to be accepted into the highly competitive Korea Society’s Project Bridge program this year. She was granted a youth ambassadorship to raise awareness of intercultural and race relations between the United States and Korea. Zhao took a trip to Korea in April for 10 days where she met with city government officials, toured Seoul, the capital, and visited the demilitarized zone that separates North Korea. She will attend C.U.N.Y. Baruch in the fall.
Ninety percent of the High School for Economics and Finance’s senior class, a total of 155 students, will graduate this month and attend a postsecondary school in the fall.
The high school graduates will enroll into such schools as Fordham University, New York University, Vassar College, Skidmore College, Boston University and several C.U.N.Y. and S.U.N.Y. schools.
Most students have been accepted into schools located in the Northeast. Students were collectively offered $3,340,485 in scholarships and grants.
All graduating seniors passed the school’s New York State Regents requirements and completed a senior thesis that they presented in front of a faculty committee.
Peter Gorski, H.S.E.F.’s 2010 valedictorian, will graduate with a 98.56 G.P.A. and attend Fordham University in the fall. He participated in the New York State-wide 2007 Euro Challenge, an academic competition that tests student’s knowledge of Europe’s economy and the euro.
Ellina Nektalova, salutatorian, has a 97.52 G.P.A. and has enrolled into Smith College. She has been a member of H.S.E.F.’s Student Government Organization.
Both students have taken several Advanced Placement and college courses and have been active in community service throughout their high school careers. They have completed both paid and unpaid internships and been involved in the national Academy of Finance program. Gorski and Nektalova will speak at their graduation ceremony.
