Seizing their opportunities

Rohit Bachani, W.T. Clarke’s salutatorian, left, and Pavithran Ravindran, the valedictorian, rose to the top of several organizations during their high school careers.

David Weingrad/Herald

Take one look at the high school transcripts of seniors Pavithran Ravindran and Rohit Bachani and you’d think you’re looking at a W.T. Clarke High School brochure rather than the academic profiles of two of its students.

To say that the pair, the school’s valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, took advantage of the opportunities that Clarke offers would be an understatement. They don’t just participate in clubs and organizations — they lead them.

Recalling their favorite memories from the past four years, Ravindran, 17, and Bachani, 18, spoke excitedly about experiences that an outsider might be surprised to learn were even possible at the school.

Ravindran remembered an overnight trip his freshman year to the Peconic Dunes in Southold, a 4H camp run by Cornell Cooperative Extension, in which students conducted field research. The trip fueled Ravindran’s passion for science research, and three years later, after spending two summers volunteering at a laboratory at Long Island University in Brooklyn, he was named a semifinalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search for his analysis of the scientific use of polymer plastics.

He is also the president of the Tri-M Honor Society; an editor in chief of the school’s newspaper, the Vanguard; and president of the Math Honor Society and Science Olympiads; and he plays the violin in the chamber orchestra.

Bachani, meanwhile, described the intense but exciting days he spent in Nassau County Court in Mineola as the lead attorney for the school’s Mock Trial Club. “The plaintiffs took their seats; the defense took their seats,” he recounted. “It was so quiet and the tension was so palpable. And then it was like a verbal battle throughout. It was a lot of fun.”

He spoke fondly of a six-day trip to Orlando, Fla., in April, with the Clarke chapter of the nationwide business program Distributive Education Clubs for America, of which he is president. There they were part of a gathering of 18,000 students from countries around the world, including China, Guam and South Korea. Bachani is also president of the National Honor Society and an editor in chief of the Vanguard.