Valedictorian, Salutatorian Named At Enfield High School

ENFIELD, CT — The top two scholars in the Enfield High School Class of 2022 have been named as valedictorian and salutatorian for this year's commencement exercises.

Sam Chen, son of Qi and Xiu Chen, is the valedictorian. He is a member of the National Honor Society, as well as a past member of the Spanish National Honor Society. During his time in high school, he has been a member of the cross country team, the Book Club and Finance Club, as well as an exhibitionist at the Family STEM night held at the school. He has also received several awards, including AP Scholar with Distinction, RIT’s Innovation and Creativity Award, Yale’s Book Award and the AAPPL Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish.

Outside the classroom, Chen has consistently dedicated work to his family’s restaurant, Great Wall Chinese Restaurant, even before his high school career. He plans to attend a four-year college, following an engineering track, and majoring in either aerospace or astrophysics.

Karalyn "Kara" Edwards is the salutatorian. She is the daughter of Diane Edwards of Enfield and Keith Edwards of Oxford. Her academic achievements include recipient of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Award for Academic Excellence, Community Leadership in STEM (2021), and the Spanish 4 Award (2021). She is a member of the National Honor Society, serving as treasurer in 2021 and 2022. She is a member of the Spanish National Honor Society (2021, 2022) and earned the Certificate of Biliteracy in 2021. She is treasurer of the Student Council, a peer tutor for math and Spanish and a member of the Student Equity Leadership Team. She is a First Violin in both the string and chamber orchestras, and is an active member of many high school clubs, including the Diversity Club, the School Climate Club, the Friends of Rachel Club and DECA.

In addition to her academic successes, Edwards' athletic accomplishments include four years of varsity field hockey, serving as captain n 2021 and making the All-State first team in 2021, as well as All-CCC. She played four years of varsity tennis, making the All-Conference squad in 2021 and serving as team captain her final two seasons.

Edwards has been a Girl Scout for 12 years, earning her Bronze and Silver Awards and currently working on her Gold Award. She is also a volunteer for the Enfield Community Cat Project, caring for rescued cats up for adoption. She has been accepted into the Honors Program at Western New England University, majoring in mathematics, and has committed to play on the Golden Bears field hockey team.