Riverside High School Valedictorian Kayley Rodriguez, right, and Salutatorian Ebenezer Wontumi
By Dan Murphy
Congratulations to Riverside High School Valedictorian Kayley Rodriguez and Salutatorian Ebenezer Wontumi. Valedictorian Kayley Rodriguez will graduate with a 98.5 GPA. One of her favorite members of the Riverside HS staff is School Counselor Scott Silverman. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have become Valedictorian. He is easy to talk to and truly tries to understand you. He gives you advice and options and keeps bothering you to keep you on track,” said Rodriguez, whose favorite course is History. “I enjoy learning about the past, especially US history, and relating it to what is happening now.”
Kayley took advantage of Riverside’s P-Tech (Pathways of Technology) program where students take one college course each year, and two courses in 11th grade, and in senior year they take a course at Westchester Community College in Yonkers.
One of Kayley’s extracurricular activities at Riverside was tutoring her fellow students in Math. “I love math and numbers, and I enjoy helping out other students who were studying for their regents.” The peer tutoring program at Riverside has junior and senior students volunteering and helping students struggling in understanding and comprehending math and other subjects.
Kayley was also a member of Junior Achievement, and three times a year, she would volunteer at a local school. She also babysits her cousins and toddlers for her neighbors.
Rodriguez is still considering which college to attend in the fall but has narrowed the choices down to Lehman College or the Macauley Honors program at Hunter College. “I like being in the city and the excitement about everything, and seeing how woke people are at both schools.”
Kayley wants to become a Nurse and maybe a doctor in the future. “My mom had cancer and there was a point in my life where I visited her in the hospital for a year, and I saw how the nurse took care of her and other patients.” “When she got out of the hospital, I became her caregiver for a month and had to help her get around and give her medications and food. That is why I want to be a nurse.”
“Even though she passed away in my sophomore year, she pushed me to get to this point. I promised her that I was going to make it and do it for her. She pushed me to be stronger and that I can do anything if I’m determined. I wanted to do this for her.”
“I learned that I was ranked #1 in my sophomore year but I didn’t think much about it. My classmates are amazing so anyone could have been ranked #1 and it would have been fine with me. We all worked hard.”
Her advice to young students, “When the hardest moments in life come, do not give up. You can achieve greatness with your determination to succeed.”
Riverside High School’s Salutatorian, Ebenezer Wontumi, will graduate with a 97.97% GPA. Wontumi acknowledges the invaluable support and guidance provided by his English teacher, Kathryn Kaufman, during his freshman and sophomore years. He credits Kaufman for her unwavering encouragement, stating,
“She was there for me from the start, and without influencing me to be my best, I wouldn’t be here.
Sometimes you need people other than your family to push you to do better. I consider her another parent for her encouragement.”
One of Ebenezer’s favorite courses in math because “I like problem solving and I enjoy learning the different possibilities in answering a question. I also like how math is a part of computer science and engineering.”
Ebenezer enjoyed the Financial Literacy Club at Riverside, where he learned about day trading. “We learned how to pay for our expenses, and how to grow your money.”
He also played on the Yonkers Brave football team for two years.
Ebenezer has committed to the University of Connecticut. “It was between UCONN and SUNY Albany, but after a visit to UCONN it opened my eyes, the grass is a lot greener and different from New York. Sometimes we all need to experience new things.”
Ebenezer said that Riverside High School helped him “start over.” “I have experienced a lot of failures and setbacks in my life. I got held back a grade in middle school, but that helped me shape who I am today. I worked hard in high school and proved to myself that I can do anything I want to.”
He thanked his family and teachers for “influencing me to do better. If you listen to your teachers, they can change your life. And my family has been motivating me to do better.”
Ebenezer was ranked #2 for three years. “I didn’t care at first, but secretly I wanted to be #1. It motivated me to continue to work hard.”
He hopes to pursue a degree in computer science and engineering, and become a software engineer.
Any advice for aspiring Valedictorians? “Starting over can be painful, but its’ also a chance to rebuild yourself and change your life.
