By Vasu Abhiraman

Assistant Principal Becky Chambers announced an unprecedented four valedictorians and two salutatorians for the 2002-2003 school year at the May 4 seniors honors assembly. 

For the magnet program, Chambers named Jin-Hee Kim, Katherine Stein, and Rachel Blumenthal valedictorian and co-salutatorians respectively. Julia Reidy, Christina Stewart, and Ben Ferrer were named co-valedictorians for the resident program. 

When there is a tie for valedictorian, there is no salutatorian. 

Kim’s high school schedule included heavyweights AP BC Calculus, Multivariable Calculus, and AP U.S. History.

“Some people think that I took all of these classes just to become valedictorian, but that’s not true,” Kim said. “I really enjoyed the APs I took in high school.”

The magnet salutatorian tie is the second such tie in the past four years. Both Stein and Blumenthal had 4.2+ GPAs and were two of the few to attain an A in Steve Rubino’s AP U.S. History class. “Rubino was my favorite teacher in high school,” self-proclaimed workaholic Blumenthal said. 

Reidy complemented courses like AP AB Calculus with activities such as marching band and NHS. “It feels good to be recognized. [The other winners] deserve it too.”

Stewart took AP Biology and participated in Beta Club and Kappa Club. Ferrer ran three years of cross country and also plays the bass in the school orchestra. Stewart said that she was very surprised to win. “It was nice to see that harder classes can pay off in ways other than preparation for the future,” Ferrer said.