By Dan Murphy
The valedictorian and salutatorian for Yonkers Montessori Academy High School are Anna Calderon and Albion Lajqi.
Valedictorian Anna Calderon will graduate with a 97.79 percent grade-point average. Her favorite subjects are math and science. “They come to me easy, and they are related to my career goals,” she said.
Advanced placement English teacher Mr. Berkowitz was one of Calderon’s favorites at YMA. “He was a breath of fresh air and had a unique teaching style,” she said. “He was helpful throughout my high school years and is helping me with my valedictorian speech now, and I appreciate that.”
Calderon has been a member of the Actor’s Conservatory Theater since the fifth grade, participating and performing in dozens of shows and becoming friends with another YPS valedictorian who also was an ACT member, Naomi Joyce of Roosevelt-Early College H.S. “Naomi is my best friend,” said Calderon. “We share the same interests and desire to do our best in school.”
Calderon was also a member of the YMA Art Club, until a grant to fund the program was not restored, but she still enjoyed her three years as a member. She has been at YMA, which uses the Montessori style of educational learning, since the seventh grade, and said she enjoys the teachers at YMA because “they give us interesting programs and ways to learn.”
Calderon applied to 14 colleges and was accepted to about a dozen, including SUNY Stonybrook Binghamton, Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute, and City University of New York-Hunter and Lehman. She will be attending RPI in Troy in the fall, majoring in physics and working toward a career in engineering.
“RPI gave me a good financial aid package and they have a good science program for my career,” she said.
Calderon thanked her mother, “for pushing me to do better and for always believing in me,” and her grandfather, who was a physics professor and the catalyst for her interest in physics.
She also thanked YMA teachers Mr. Berkowitz and Mr. Coyle, who “always put me in the right mindset to learn and to go onto college,” said Calderon
YMA Salutatorian Albion Lajqi will graduate with a 97.5 percent GPA – close to the valedictorian but something he never really thought about. “In the 10th grade I knew I was in the top 10, but I just kept working and pushed myself to do my best,” he said.
Lajqi said math and science are his favorite subjects. “The results don’t change and the answers are always certain,” he said. “In other subjects, the answers can be different.”
His favorite teacher is Mr. Friedman in English 12, Mr. Harmon in calculus and physics, and Ms. Morgunova in pre-calculous. “They all gave me a good understanding of their subjects and are dedicated to helping me get to where I am today,” he said. “They also discussed with me making my future decisions in life.”
Lajqi worked as a busboy at Tombolino’s restaurant in Yonkers and volunteered at Performance Rehab, also in Yonkers, as a physical therapy assistant. He was accepted into Fordham, Manhattan College, and Westchester Community College, and will attend Manhattan in the fall.
“They gave me a lot of financial aid and have a good engineering program,” said Lajqi, who said he hopes to have a career as a civil engineer, building bridges and buildings.
Lajqi was born in Kosovo, and his parents moved here when he was young, “so I can have a better life. My dad and mom pushed me, and their sacrifice motivated me to work hard,” he said.
He has attended YMA since the seventh grade and said enjoyed the education and the experience. “The teachers were understanding and helpful,” said Lajqi. “It was also a smaller school, where everyone knows each other and that made it better.”
That’s it for this year’s valedictorians and salutatorians in the Yonkers schools. We have enjoyed meeting every one of them and wish them well. I’m sure they will have great futures and make all of Yonkers proud…you already have!