Riverside HS Valedictorian Karim Thornhill, right, and Salutatorian Nora Sandoz
By Dan Murphy
Congratulations to Riverside High School’s 2023 Valedictorian Karim Thornhill and Salutatorian Nora Sandoz. Thornhill was named Riverside’s Valedictorian after achieving a 97.23 GPA. His favorite teachers at Riverside are Teorrah Williams- Computer Information Systems 110, Danny Fanek – Networking, and Kelly Jakab Mueller – Earth Science
“They really pushed me to succeed, and they also had similar backgrounds to me, being raised in a low income home. Seeing how successful they are helped me,” said Thornhill, whose favorite subject is Math.
“Math allows me to think out of the box and explore the many ways to find a solution. Math allows me to get my brain active.”
Karim will graduate with 33 college credits, thanks to his participation in the P-Tech Dual enrollment program at Westchester Community College. “P-Tech gave us the opportunity to go to WCC and see what a college campus is like.”
After touring Mercy College’s Dobbs Ferry Campus, Thornhill said “I felt comfortable, and they welcomed me. They don’t care what color or sexuality you are. Plus, it is a beautiful campus.”
Who helped you get to this point of achievement? “No matter how many people try to give me the best advice, I pushed myself to be the best. Even when we went through the pandemic and I wanted to give up, I decided to push through. I knew I was going to get to a better place, and I did.”
When did you realize you had a chance to become Valedictorian? “I started to look in my junior year. My first two years, I wasn’t focused. But after junior year I realized that I had a chance and that pushed me to do better.”
Karim comes from a family of nurses, and he hopes to become a Nurse Practitioner. “Being around that environment, I love caring for people, and being by people’s side and doing something for them.”
What is your inspirational quote to a future Valedictorian? “Don’t let people try to push you down. Know what you can do and do it.”
Riverside HS Salutatorian Nora Sandoz will graduate with a 96.02 GPA. Her favorite teachers are Teorrah Williams (Intro to Computer Information Systems), Kelly Jakab (Earth Science), and Danny Fanek( Computer Network and Operating Systems).
“They were the teachers who motivated me to keep going and work hard. My freshman year during COVID I was slacking off at home. That environment didn’t help me to learn, but these three teachers checked up on me. As soon as we came back to school, Mr. Fanek helped me to work harder and kept me focused on what we were learning.”
Sandoz’s favorite subjects are English and Art. “I’m passionate about both. I have had a love for art for the longest time and love to express myself by drawing or painting. And I used to think writing was a chore but now I love it and enjoy writing short stories of poetry.”
Nora will attend Westchester Community College in the fall, and already has 22 P-Tech college credits from the school. “I want to pursue a security pathway program and I plan to move on to a four-year college and obtain a degree in both English and Criminal Justice.” A future career in law enforcement or as an investigator are likely.
When did you start to pay attention to your ranking? “In my junior year a bunch of classmates told me I could be the Val or Sal and was up there in rank, and I was shocked. But it made me stay true to myself and motivated me to push myself harder.”
