HAFTR High School’s Val and Sal

Rachel Sacks and Perrin Rudensky are the valedictorian and salutatorian for the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway High School’s class of 2017.

Sacks is president of the Science Institute Club, captain of the Debate Team, president of the Yeshiva League Model Congress, copy editor of the school newspaper, member of the Math Team and College Bowl team, as well as profile editor of the senior yearbook.

An AP Scholar with Honor, she is the current president of the Deah chapter of the National Honor Society and is a member of both the Spanish and Hebrew honor societies. Sacks took part in HAFTR’s two-year Scientific Technology course, in which she developed an enhanced walking stick for the blind and a wearable device that assists in improving posture.

In her junior year, she founded an entrepreneurship club in which she forged connections with innovators and arranged for visits to her school by successful start-up company entrepreneurs.

Sacks has also conducted science research each year and entered the Long Island Science Congress as well as the school science fairs, for which she received honors. For the past two years, she has studied the enigmatic qualities of prime numbers and presented her work at the Long Island Math Fair where she was awarded a silver medal.

Last summer, she worked with Gila Schein on creating polymer scaffolds that serve to augment dental pulp stem cell differentiation and protein adhesion for applications in the field of tissue engineering at the Garcia Center for Polymers at Engineered Interfaces program at Stony Brook.

She was a semifinalist in the Siemens Competition in Science, Math, and Technology, was awarded first place in her category in the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair. Sacks and Schein advanced to the international phase of the competition in Los Angeles, last month.

Sacks was a semifinalist in the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and presented her research at the Materials Research Society’s (MRS) annual symposium. She and Schein recently had their work published by the MRS foundation and are primary authors on the publication.

During her spare time, Rachel enjoys tutoring, cooking, baking, exercising, and spending time with friends. After spending a year in Israel, Rachel plans to study biochemistry at Columbia University.

Rudensky, a creative student, is a distinguished member of HAFTR’s Art Institute. She has mastered a variety of artistic skills, and worked with a plethora of media and subject matter from monochromatic ink pointillism to colorful acrylic landscapes. Her artwork has been displayed at HAFTR’s annual art show and the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County.

She served as art editor of the Spanish newspaper, assisted in set design for plays and productions, and is currently working on developing her portfolio. Perrin is also a member of the Science Institute, competed in the Long Island Science Congress, and took first place at HAFTR’s annual Science, Math and Engineering Fair for her project on altering the genome of E.coli to code for ampicillin resistance.

Rudensky serves as editor-in-chief of the senior yearbook, Reflections, is president of Mitzvah Mutts (HAFTR’s animal rescue club), head of the yoga and Hebrew clubs, and is on the College Bowl team. She tutors underclassmen in English and math, and has coordinated a variety of fundraising events and bake sales. The proceeds benefit several charitable groups.

An Advanced Placement Scholar with Honor, she is a member of the Deah chapter of the National Honor Society, and the National Art, Hebrew and Spanish honor societies.

Rudensky was named Student of the Year at last year’s NHS induction ceremony, where she delivered the keynote speech and received the Barnard College Book Award for academic and community leadership. Following her gap year in Israel, Rudensky will attend Barnard College of Columbia University.