South Side High School's top two

Soon to be added to the list of things that best friends Alyssa Ehrlich and Lori Ying do together will be graduating at the top of their class.

Ehrlich and Ying, South Side High School's class of 2010 valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, were featured in an article in the Rockville Centre Herald in January, when they were both named semifinalists in the Intel Science Competition. (Ying went on to become a finalist.) Both girls have averages slightly over 103.

“I just think it's really cool that, at graduation, I get to speak with my two best friends,” said Ehrlich. “Because my one best friend, Lori Ying, is salutatorian, and my other best friend, Cathy Mackey, is class president.”

Ehrlich said she was surprised to hear that she was her class's valedictorian. “I had tried really hard, maybe more so in middle school,” she said. “I was more concerned with grade numbers. But once I got to high school, I was more concerned with learning the material. So I was kind of surprised that, out of all the people, I had the highest grade point average.”

Nearly all of the classes both girls have taken are either International Baccalaureate or Advanced Placement — among the most difficult classes that SSHS offers. Both girls are interested in science, and attend the Columbia University Science Honors program, a series of intensive, graduate-level classes offered to select high school students on Saturdays.

“[It's] a lot of stuff we never get to experience in high school,” said Ying. “For example, I took classes in organic chemistry, relativity and black holes. And right now I'm taking one in experimental genetics.”

The duo also volunteered together at Mercy Medical Center in their sophomore and junior years, helping to restock shelves, changing sheets and sometimes bringing patients food and water.

And their list of activities goes on. Ehrlich is also the editor in chief, treasurer and advertising editor of the yearbook, vice president of the Forensics Club, vice president of the National Honor Society and a member of the Quiz Bowl team. Ying is in the Forensics Club, the National Science Olympiads and the Engineering Club, to name just a few of her activities. In her spare time, Ehrlich likes to play the guitar.