Meet The Calhoun Valedictorian And Salutatorian

A professional television actress, valedictorian Julia Losner is capable of commanding the stage — and the best from herself educationally.

An accomplished pianist, Losner has attained countless music honors, including Festival Disney Outstanding Accompanist Award and National Association for Music Educators All-Eastern/All-State/All-County Vocalist.

“Playing the piano has fostered collaborative relationships with others; it calms me down if I'm upset and cheers me up if I'm having a bad day,” she said. “Being an accompanist has had a profound impact on me, and I am proud of the work that other musicians and I have done.”

Losner is also editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, Hoofbeats, a junior EMT and member of the Bellmore-Merrick EMS and a section leader in the Crescendo Show Choir.

Role models and mentors include teachers Jason Boland, Kim Lascarides, Sanford Sardo and Mary Reinhardt.

“They have all inspired me in various ways and have played an integral role in shaping me not only as a student but also as a human being,” she added.

Academic accolades include AP Scholar with Distinction, French, Math, Tri-M, Science, Social Studies, English honor societies, Students Building Bridges Award recipient, St. John's Women in Science Award recipient, National Merit Letter of Commendation, National Merit Corporate Award winner, three-time Durrell Blank Scholarship winner, New York Press Association High School Journalism award winner 2014, 2015, 2016 and the Le Grand Concours Certificat d'Honneur Laurete National – 2015 and 2016 Award winner.

She will attend Harvard University in the fall, with a focus on Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology.

As salutatorian of Calhoun High School’s Class of 2017, Matthew Garber has maintained an impressive level of academic accomplishments. In addition to his class rank, he received a National Merit Scholarship Commendation, and is a member of the National Honor Society, Math, Italian and Science honor societies. In an effortless way, he excels in everything, all the while contributing an enormous number of hours to his leadership and service commitments.

Garber’s extracurricular interests run the gamut from baseball to Book Club to Science Club to Math Team.

Without question, his most meaningful pursuit is his leadership position as District Governor of New York District Key Club. He is the top Key Club officer in New York State, leading over 13,000 Key Clubbers from 240 organizations through a year of service.

“It has given me the opportunity to fall in love with service again,” he said. “The experiences I have gained in Key Club have helped me to grow as a leader and a person.”

As a school and community leader, Garber has had the opportunity to lead thousands of Key Clubbers toward a common goal. It has taught him public speaking and leadership skills and has exposed him to people from literally all around the state, country and world who are different in all but one way; their love to make the world a little bit better.

Garber plans to study applied mathematics/political science at the University of Pennsylvania this fall.

Photos: Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District