West Hempstead names its valedictorian and salutatorian

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Perseverance and dedication to academics, extracurricular activities and community outreach paid off for West Hempstead High School seniors Maheen Khan and Gabriel Berkowitz, who have been designated valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, of the Class of 2016.

Holding a 104.07 GPA, Maheen enrolled in as many Advanced Placement, honors and college-level courses as she could during her time in the district. Beyond the classroom, she excelled on the field and within her community, playing tennis, running spring track and participating in several clubs and organizations including he Homework Club, Key Club, Students Against Destructive Decisions club, the Spanish National Honor Society, and served as co-president of the National Honor Society. Maheen also volunteered for numerous high school events.

Maheen also received the Nassau County Bar Association We Care Scholarship, the Community Service and Academic Excellence Award from Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano, and the New York State Academic Excellence Award.

Aspiring to become a neurosurgeon, Maheen will double major in neuroscience and physics at Johns Hopkins University in the fall. She would like to thank special education teacher Kristen Kearns and English teacher Alyson Konsker for supporting her during her senior year, as well as her physics teacher, Edward Cosgrove, for inspiring her to study physics in college.

As the salutatorian of West Hempstead High School, Gabriel will be graduating with a 103.36 GPA. Like Maheen, he challenged himself by enrolling in any Advanced Placement, college-level and honors course he could, in addition to being highly involved in school organizations and community activities.

Since the seventh grade, Gabriel’s passion has been in theater. He performed in the school’s chorus and all of the district’s theater productions for the past seven years, volunteered his time in high school as a member of the stage crew for the middle school plays, and assisted in directing one of those plays. Going into high school theater, he always felt he was a better actor than singer, but his chorus teacher, Patricia McVetty, brought out his musical talents. “She encouraged me,” he said. “She is always the first to compliment me if I have a solo, and fostered a love of music inside me.”

Aside from theater, Gabriel was involved in Mathletes, the Yearbook Club and Model Congress, and served as co-president of the National Honor Society with Maheen. Outside of school, he participated in community theater at St. Thomas the Apostle Church and worked as a sales associate at Bed Bath and Beyond.