Meet the valedictorians and salutatorians of the Sewanhaka Central High School District's Class of 2023

Mohammed Rahman
Elmont Memorial High School Valedictorian Mohammed Rahman’s educational successes include consistent placement on the school’s high honor roll, recognition as an AP scholar in 2021 and AP Scholar with Distinction in 2022. He is also a member of several honor societies as well as the secretary of the Math Honor Society and vice president of the Science Honor Society.
Rahman served as treasurer of the Key Club, assisted with organizing and running volunteer events and was an active member of the Yearbook Club and Class of 2023
He is attending the CUNY School of Medicine, Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education.

Kimone Walker
Kimone Walker, Elmont Memorial salutatorian, serves as the executive board president of the Junior National Society of Black Engineers – Long Island Chapter, received a Leadership Award from NSBE Jr. She was also accepted into the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America.
Walker has also had the opportunity to explore her interests in engineering and technology through her enrollment in the Apple Engineering and Technology Camp and the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program. She is heading off to Boston University in the fall.

Deirdre O’Neill
Deirdre O’Neill, valedictorian, has achieved multiple accolades during her Floral Park Memorial High School career, such as earning High Honor Roll, being named an AP Scholar with Distinction and a Commended Student in the National Merit Scholarship Program. She has also been recognized as an Outstanding Physical Education Student for Nassau Zone.
In her junior year, O’Neill participated in the 2022 Long Island Youth Summit where she won Best Project in the category of Renewable Energy. She is a dedicated soccer, lacrosse and basketball player. Her basketball coach selected her for the Coach’s Award her sophomore year.

Samannita Mukherjee
Salutatorian Samannita Mukherjee is described by her peers throughout the Floral Park Memorial High School building as an inquisitive, kindhearted individual who has a drive for success. She completed 11 AP classes and has been recognized as an AP Scholar with Distinction.
She served as president of the Science National Honor Society where she helped tutor students and planned science-related activities. She was also secretary of the Mock Trial Club and a dedicated member of the Mathletes, Leos Club and the Long Island Sounds acapella group.
Mukherjee plans to continue her education at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Ryan Yu
Ryan Yu, H. Frank Carey High School valedictorian, has served as the class president, captain of the junior varsity football team, captain of the varsity football team and editor of the yearbook.
His academic achievements include high scores on his AP exams and Preliminary SAT exams, which in turn made him an AP Scholar with Distinction and Commended Student in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Additionally, his accomplishments in football, as an All-County track runner and All Division swimmer warranted Yu the title of Scholar Athlete. Yu will be attending Duke University in the fall.

Caroline Gilman
Whether it is academics or extracurriculars, salutatorian Caroline Gilman is known for putting her everything into H. Frank Carey High School — which will take her far as she moves on to Duke University.
During her high school career, she served as president of the SkillsUSA Club, founded and led the German Club as president, was the fundraising coordinator of the Spanish Leadership Club and captain of the varsity tennis team.
As a member of the Robotics Team, Gilman co-created and helped lead the school’s R2D2 Day, which encourages young women to get involved in the STEM field.

Priya Persaud
From Gladiator to Seawolf, New Hyde Park Memorial High School valedictorian, Priya Persaud, is heading off to Stony Brook University this fall.
Her many high school accomplishments include her selection as a National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalist and a Brown University Book Award recipient.
During the summer of 2022, she participated in a cancer research internship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and through the school’s science research program, she conducted research at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in the Translational Neurophysiology Lab of the Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine.

Taseen Tanzil
Salutatorian Taseen Tanzil cultivated a passion for STEM and robotics during his time at New Hyde Park Memorial High School. Since sophomore year, Tanzil has been a part of the district’s pre-engineering program. He was a member of the Robotics Club and assisted in building, designing and coding a robot to compete against other schools.
He earned a first place Connect Award with his team at the 2021-22 Long Island Champtionship of the FIRST Robotics Competition.

Carl Andre Montoya
A significant highlight of valedictorian Carl Andre Montoya’s Sewanhaka High School career is receiving a perfect score from the College Board on his AP research paper “An Analysis on Mobile Games: Effects of Microtransactions on Gamer Overspending.”
He participated in NASA’s TechRise Challenge where he and his teammates created an instrumentation package aimed to measure carbon dioxide, ozone, volatile organic compounds and air particulates in the atmosphere with the goal of improving air quality technologies.

Sean Andrade
At just 15 years old, Sean Andrade will graduate as salutatorian of the Sewanhaka High School Class of 2023 with a GPA of 103.78.
He is a member of the National Honor Society, the National World Language Honor Society and was enrolled in the district’s pre-engineering program. He participated in the Robotics Team, the Class of 2023 Board, the Superintendent’s Advisory Council and the district’s jazz band.
Not only has he earned High Honor Roll recognition, but he also achieved High Honors from the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth.
Andrade is going to Stony Brook University in the fall
Montoya is attending Stony Brook University.
Tanzil will be attending the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education at the CUNY School of Medicine.