Recognizing South Side High School's Valedictorian and Salutatorian

Meghan Connelly and Michael Spelfogel have been named the valedictorian and salutatorian for the South Side High School class of 2014.

As a candidate for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, Connelly has challenged herself by taking the rigorous classes available to her. She is the type of student that teacher’s love to teach. Her natural curiosity, impeccable work ethic and overall desire to achieve are what make her so deserving of this prestigious recognition.

Outside of the classroom, Connelly’s commitment to her activities is commendable. She has been a Girl Scout for 13 years, earning both her Bronze and Silver Award. For her Silver Award, Connelly, along with her troop, made “learning dolls” shaped like people that doctors used at the Kennedy Krieger Institute to show patients exactly what was going to be done to them. In addition, she has been a member of the cross country and track team since middle school and has played the clarinet since elementary school.

Connelly is passionate about animals and spent last summer at the Bronx Zoo as a member of their Summer Teen Program. She thoroughly enjoyed this experience and plans to major in animal science.

Spelfogel is truly a unique individual who is extremely intelligent and driven, possessing a genuine thirst for knowledge. He is also an IB Diploma candidate, who especially loves science and math, having taken part in the school’s Science Research Program and academic competition teams. He is also gifted in foreign languages and is on his way to mastering Spanish through his IB Spanish courses. In addition to Spanish, he studied French and has even begun to learn Chinese on his own.

A kind and generous individual, Spelfogel spends a great deal of time on worthy causes within the community. He has done a great deal of volunteer work for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and even volunteered to travel to Costa Rica to teach English to children. Moreover, he possesses a true entrepreneurial spirit, having begun his own international business venture selling products online to customers around the world. This past summer, Spelfogel was an intern with a company in China, giving him an experience that few students have earned so early in their lives. A gifted orator, he has received acclaim in national public speaking competitions. Spelfogel, along with a few others, also began the SSHS Tutoring website where he is assisting his fellow classmates through free, online tutoring. It is a program that he will be bringing to other local high schools as well.