Matthew Fenkart is officially the salutatorian of Hawthorne High School’s graduating class of 2013.

Throughout the last four years of high school, the race has been close for the highest GPA in the class of 2013, and Fenkart came in close behind to Daniel Chatten, this year’s valedictorian.

When asked how it feels being ranked second out of 182 students, Fenkart sighed with relief.  He said he has always worked hard for this, and this is a reward for all his stress and efforts throughout high school.

Fenkart has been working hard since freshmen year. He took all the possible honors classes available to him, and in his junior year he took all the available AP classes: AP Chemistry and AP History.  By senior year, Fenkart’s schedule included AP Biology, AP Calculus, and AP English.  With a curriculum as tough as this, it’s incredible that he managed to make the High Honor roll almost every marking period throughout his whole high school career.

The stress from high school did not just stop with his schedule.  Fenkart also managed to balance school and many other extracurricular activities.  He was in the marching band all four years, and senior year was one of the drum majors.  This is a huge responsibility and took up a lot of his time.  Despite this, he made time for his studies.

“I always took school seriously.  If I could give any advice to the incoming classes, it would be to treat freshmen year, sophomore year, and junior year all equally.  Your rank will really become important for senior year.”  This is a very accurate statement because when colleges look at an applicant’s transcript, seeing that the student is in the top percentage of the class is very impressive and will go a long way.

As senior year draws to a close for the class of 2013, Fenkart is preparing his speech for graduation before he moves on to Rutgers the State University of New Jersey next year. With the ambition he displayed in his studies throughout high school, those who know Fenkart can safely assume he will do great in college and in life.

Congratulations Matthew Fenkart on a job well done!