Education

Meet your 2011 Riverhead High School Val and Sal

Alexa White and Meghan Davis

Alexa White, Valedictorian

GPA: 107.4 (weighted)

Future plans: Alexa will attend the University of Maryland at Baltimore, where she will study environmental science with a minor in music. “My entire household is environmentally concerned,” she said.

Renaissance woman: Alexa ran varsity cross country and winter track during her time at Riverhead. Also a musician, she plays piano and viola in the orchestra and chamber orchestra and sat first chair viola in the Long Island String Festival Associations orchestra. She said she will continue to play viola and piano in college.

Latin scholar: Alexa says Latin is one of her two favorite subjects (chemistry is the other). She helped the Riverhead Latin team during the annual Suffolk County Classical Society Declamatio at Stony Brook University.

Nature lover: Alexa has also studied human genomics at the Dolan DNA Learning Center and volunteered at Pack Forest (state Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Camp). She wants to dedicate her career to improving the environment.

On going to college: “I am most excited about becoming more knowledgeable in the field I want to pursue, because Riverhead doesn’t offer courses in the field I want to study,” she said.

Meghan Davis, Salutatorian

GPA: 106.51 (weighted)

Future plans: This fall, Meghan will attend Northeastern University in Boston. There she will study physics on a pre-med track. “I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was 8 years old,” she said adding that she hopes to volunteer her skills when she becomes a doctor. “I think that would a great way to dedicate my life.”

Volunteer work: Meghan said she is most proud of her volunteer work at Camp Good Grief, a summer day camp in East Hampton for children who have experienced the loss of a family member. “You get to have a really strong bond with the kids,” she said.

Talented thespian: Meghan doesn’t shine only in the classroom. A frequent actress in Riverhead High School Blue Masques productions, she took home a Teeny award for her role in “Up the Down Staircase” in 2008.

Jill of all trades: Meghan has taken home High Honors in the Long Island Science Congress and second place in the Direct Action East End competition, as well as numerous awards in the Declamatio and Certamen Latin competitions hosted by the Suffolk County Classical Society. She is an active member of the Spanish, Latin, and National Honor societies and has held the position of class vice president for four years. She is president of both the Science and Mentathletes clubs and an active participant in Riverhead High School’s research class, where she participated in establishing the nation’s first Coast Guard-certified solar-powered tour boat.

What’s next?: Meghan said she is very excited to experience all Bean Town has to offer. She is also looking forward to studying and working abroad on a $6,000 scholarship to any city she chooses. “Maybe Dubai,” she said.

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