Vaduthala and Tudisco are W.H.H.S.’s Val and Sal

West Hempstead High School has named Nathaniel Vaduthala and Tina Tudisco as 2017’s valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively.

Ranking number one in his class with a weighted GPA of 102.31, Vaduthala challenged himself academically as much as possible by enrolling in as many Advanced Placement, college-level and honors courses as he could. He also attended several Bio Tech camps at Dolan DNA Learning Center and Stony Brook University, a mark of his passion for science. He also developed his research skills further at Hofstra University with Dr. Roche C. de Guzman through a science research program at the high school.

His achievements also extend far beyond the classroom where he served as co-president of National Honor Society, member of student council, Key Club, and Tri-M Music and Spanish honor societies. He also plays the cello in the orchestra and ran on the track team in his freshman and sophomore years. He also serves a youth coordinator for the Indian Knanaya Catholic Community of Greater New York, where he acclimates children immigrating from India to American culture through tutoring. However, one of his most noteworthy community service projects was the “We Can with Cans” project which involved a massive can collecting campaign to purchase bicycles as gifts for children in need during the holiday season.

Vaduthala has also received several honors and awards during his time at the high school. This includes being named an AP Scholar by the College Board, the President’s Academic Excellence Award, and the Herald Tribune Award for his involvement in the school newspaper, Rampage, just to name a few.

Vaduthala mentioned that one of the best parts of his high school experience was his teachers. “All of the teachers I have had throughout my years in West Hempstead have been a major influence on the person I am today,”

In the fall Vaduthala will attend the University of Notre Dame, majoring in mechanical engineering and mathematics. His advice for his fellow and future graduates is to try to find a balance between hard work and fun.

Tina Tudisco also challenged herself academically with a rigorous schedule full of AP, college-level and honors courses with a passion for science research along with heavy involvement in school clubs, organizations, and community service.

In ninth grade she conducted an experiment titled “How can scientists represent black holes in three dimensions?” which sparked her interest in science research. Later, she conducted research on sustaining urban environments landing her a $12,000 scholarship for placing third in New York University Tandon School of Engineering Competition for High School Students.

Tudisco ‘s passion for science is complimented by her passion for the arts. She has acted in every one of the high school’s drama productions since freshman year. She performed smaller roles in shows such as “Hairspray” and “A Christmas Carol” until landing her first lead role as Olive Ostrovsky in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

She has served as class president for all four years where she strived to work to improve the school through efforts such as coordinating class trips, decorating the halls for homecoming and choreographing the senior dance for Class Night.

Her various awards and honors include being named an AP Scholar, departmental awards in English and Italian, an American Lodge 2445 Order of the Sons of Italy in America scholarship, and the Community Service and Academic Excellence Award from Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, among others.

Tudisco will be attending Adelphi University in the fall, with the help of the $35,000 in scholarship money she has accumulated, where she will be in the Scholar Teacher Education Program-a five year combined bachelor’s/master’s program for students preparing to teach at the elementary and secondary levels.

Her goal of becoming a teacher is inspired by her mother who is a teacher. “I wanted to be a teacher since I was 2 years old,” the salutatorian explained. “Watching how amazing my mother was at teaching, coupled with all of the guidance, devotion and passion I’ve seen in my teachers at West Hempstead, has made me want to have my own class of students to educate and support.”