A new chapter for East Meadow High School seniors
East Meadow High School seniors gathered on the school’s football field on the morning of June 23 to celebrate their achievements and collect their diplomas.
Students walked onto the field as their friends and family members in the crowd applauded. Musical numbers officially open the ceremony, and then students, school and district leaders offered the graduates words of reflection and advice.
Principal Richard Howard applauded the students’ achievements in academics, athletics and community service, noting that the class set standards of excellence for future graduates.
Valedictorian Christian Cang Cuesta and Salutatorian Glen Newberger addressed their class in encouraging speeches.
Asked what it meant to graduate as valedictorian, Cang Cuesta said, “I quite frankly didn’t like the publicity. I didn’t like how it became the definition of who I am . . . it’s not all I want to be know as.”
Asked what he would like to be known as, he laughed and said, “Ideally, I wouldn’t be known. I just don’t like attention.”
Instead, Cang Cuesta lets his music speak for him. He played the organ in the school orchestra and at his Lutheran church in Plainview; he has conducted the orchestra; he played violin, piano, percussion and bass in the school band; he plays violin and piano in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, and he has played various instruments in school musicals.
Salutatorian Glen Newberger shares Cang Cuesta’s passion for music, and played percussion in the school band. He was also on the cross-country team since freshman year, the math team, STEM club and was a middle school tutor.
While Newberger said he was proud of his achievements, he noted that his classmates who also took part in sports and graduated near the top of the class should be recognized, too.
“We all worked so hard to get here,” Newberger said of the class of 2019, making sure to thank East Meadow’s teachers and staff members for fostering a community that has allowed him and his peers to succeed.
