Wantagh HS Salutatorian 'Intellectually Driven'

The following was submitted by the Wantagh School District

Jamie Redes is an intellectually driven and focused student.  Her passion and enthusiasm for learning and excelling academically are fueled by the tremendous pride and enormous effort she exudes. She is confident, deeply involved in all of her undertakings, and has lofty goals and dreams that she consistently brings to fruition.

With lots of energy and a strong work ethic, Jamie is self-motivated and understands that having great ability is not enough to achieve her lifelong goals.  Because of this understanding, Jamie has not only challenged herself by taking some of the most rigorous courses our school has to offer, but has excelled in doing so. Capable in all academic areas, Jamie goes beyond the requirements of any given course to connect with the material in greater depth and satisfy her immense intellectual curiosity.  

Last summer, Jamie participated in the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine to further her already vast knowledge base in her future intended career goal of becoming a doctor.  The results speak for themselves. She is the Salutatorian of our graduating class and has received numerous academic acknowledgements including the prestigious Dartmouth College Book Club award.  Jamie is a member of both National Honor Society and Foreign Language Honor Society in addition to being named an Advanced Placement Scholar. 

Jamie is an active member of our school community in a variety of ways.  A natural leader, Jamie is currently the Co-President of our Key Club, Captain of our Science Olympiad team, and is a member of both our Varsity Track and Cross Country teams.  She is well respected by her peers and faculty and is consistently seen around the building after school working on improving the various organizations she is involved in.

Always willing to help others, Jamie uses her leadership and organizational skills to take an active role mentoring young children of the Wantagh community.  Whether she is helping young children learn to read as a member of the Summer Book Buddies program or teaching first grade students about their faith as a teacher of the First Grade Faith Formation, Jamie takes great pride in volunteer work and has dedicated a portion of her life to help those in need.

Jamie’s interests and abilities are varied and her devotion to excellence is evident in all of her work. She will bring her immense talent to Lafayette College next year to study Biology.