Staples HS Announces Class Of 2020 Valedictorian & Salutatorian

From Westport Public Schools: WESTPORT, CT — Besides the highest GPAs in the school, Staples High’s valedictorian and salutatorian share three things in common.

Both are named Benjamin, and share the last initial S. Both play saxophone in the Jazz Band. And – along with 435 other members of the Class of 2020 – they’ll take part in a commencement ceremony unlike any other in the school’s history.

Social distancing rules in the age of COVID-19 mean that valedictorian Benjamin Spector will not speak in front of 3,000 people in the fieldhouse. Salutatorian Benjamin Schussheim will not offer remarks the night before graduation, at the baccalaureate ceremony. But plans are underway to make sure that Staples’ top two students’ voices are heard.

The high honors students are both proud products of the Westport school system. Spector is the second member of his family born in the United States; his older brother, Eric, was the first in the family. Spector's mother is from Brazil; his father is Canadian.

Spector attended Long Lots Elementary and Bedford Middle School. He played squash as a freshman and sophomore, and is a member of Staples’ Service League of Boys (SLOBs). His main activity is music. He plays tenor, alto and soprano sax, and enjoys the many types of music available at the high school. Outside of school he is a member of Accordions, a musical group that entertains residents of senior centers throughout Fairfield County.

Spector plans to study chemical engineering at the University of Michigan, which he chose for its research opportunities and extracurricular offerings. He cites a broad array of teachers as important influences on that career path, including chemistry instructor Will Jones and Calculus BC teacher John Wetzel. Bedford band teacher Lou Kitchner nurtured his other love. But, Spector notes, “every teacher shaped me in some way.”

He considers himself a “math and science person,” but courses like Myth and Bible Honors intrigued him too. “It was really different and interesting,” Spector says.

He did not set out to be valedictorian “I just tried to do well. I wanted to dedicate time to understanding concepts. But it was important to have balance in my life too.”

Ending his senior year with distance learning has been a challenge. “You can’t see demonstrations or do labs. You can’t play music as a group,” Spector notes. But teachers have gone out of their way to keep students engaged. Flexibility on all sides has helped.

Right now, Staples seniors are in the middle of internships. Spector is working with Wakeman Town Farm, figuring out the best ways to organically remove invasive species. He’ll also write a handbook about proper procedures.

He is familiar with internships. The summer before junior year, he gathered data on diabetes in a Yale University endocrinology lab. Last summer he worked in a patent law firm, under an attorney who was a chemical engineer.

Schussheim, the salutatorian, attended Coleytown Elementary and Middle Schools before Staples. He is interested in computers and programming, and runs the Coding Club.

But he is also an activist in an area very personal to him. Schussheim speaks openly and articulately about his stutter, educating peers and adults about the myths and realities of the speech disorder.

His first speech was for a final project in Cathy Schager’s sophomore United States History class. Realizing the importance of the topic and the impact he had, he sought out opportunities in Staples, and with outside organizations. He’s made over 20 presentations since, including last summer at the American Institute for Stuttering annual gala. He has written about the disorder as well.

Schussheim has been influenced by teachers like Paul Ferrante, who in 7th grade made writing fun; biology instructors Heather Wirkus (who inspired him to do research in a biochemistry lab last summer) and Dr. Joel Kabak; science teachers Dr. Nick Morgan and Dave Scrofani, and social studies teacher Schager (who got him thinking about “what’s overlooked in history”).

Schussheim was a member of last year’s “We the People” U.S. Constitution team. That class, with teacher Suzanne Kammerman – was his favorite ever. They competed at the national level, in Washington, D.C. “It was the same energy as in team sports,” he says. “We had to execute under pressure, in real time.”

During distance learning, the salutatorian has delved into activities he never had time for before, including learning to play piano. He also taught himself how to build apps.

“If you like what you do, you’ll put yourself on a path toward success,” Schussheim says. His path will take him to Duke University, where he hopes to major in computer science. “It’s a challenging but happy place,” he says. “It has the right combination of academics and fun.”