Top of the class

Valedictorians from area high schools aimed high and hit the marks

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by JESSE YEATMAN This year's valedictorians from St. Mary's County public and private high schools are, from left, Melissa Greer, The King's Christian Academy; Michael Branigan, Great Mills High School; Timothy Travis, Leonard Hall Junior Naval Academy; Kristina Dronenburg, Great Mills High School; Jacquelyn Blake-Hedges, St. Mary's Ryken High School; Danica Konyk, Chopticon High School; and Pooja Mehta, Leonardtown High School. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

This year's St. Mary's County valedictorians each excelled in his or her own way in high school and are headed off into different directions to continue their education — starting out with a foundation of core classes at the College of Southern Maryland or going to an elite university like Yale or attending a military academy in preparation for service to their country.

The seven included students aspiring to be an engineer, doctor and astronaut. Below are glimpses at each of the county's high school valedictorians.

Great Mills High School

Kristina Dronenburg, one of two co-valedictorians from Great Mills High School, hopes to combine her expertise and interest in science and engineering with her love of music.

She plans to attend Georgia Tech in Savannah this fall and major in electrical engineering. The Lexington Park resident hopes to combine her love of playing music with the technical aspects by studying acoustical engineering with emphasis in the electrical aspect of music and musical instruments.

Dronenburg attended Town Creek Elementary and Esperanza Middle schools before Great Mills. She teaches piano and is in the choir and vocal ensemble. She is also a regular in the county science fair as well as the regional science fair, where she has won multiple awards at both levels.

She said she will miss "the whole community" feel of Great Mills High School where everyone knows everyone else. She has three brothers, Jeffrey W. Dronenburg II, Kurt Dronenburg and Jacob Dronenburg; their mother and father are Diane and Jeffrey W. Dronenburg.

"Continue to dedicate yourselves to succeeding in all of the challenges that you may face in the future. No matter what path you choose to follow, always strive to create a past that when looked back upon, will make you proud," she said during her speech last week.

Michael Branigan, the other co-valedictorian from Great Mills, moved to St. Inigoes while in elementary school and attended Ridge Elementary and later Spring Ridge Middle. Next to his honors as valedictorian, Branigan is known for his time on the school's soccer team.

Branigan said the theme to his graduation speech was to "live life."

He is ready to live his life on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., to pursue a degree in engineering. "It'll be more work, but it'll be more fun, too," he said.

Last year he was a named a Maryland Distinguished Scholars Honorable Mention and AP scholar with distinction. Each of the last several years he has won the school academic excellence award and the Great Mills High School athlete/scholar award. He also received a $4,000 Marine Corps Aviation Association John Glenn Squadron scholarship.

Branigan's parents are Daniel and Debra Branigan and he has two brothers — Nicholas and Daniel.

Leonardtown High School

Pooja Mehta of Leonardtown has been a high-profile student at Leonardtown High School for several years. The valedictorian attended both Leonardtown elementary and middle schools and grew into a role as a community service coordinator for the high school's Harvest for the Hungry food drive campaign, following the path of an older brother and sister.

She is on Leonardtown High's and the Maryland state student council executive boards. She is an avid tennis player and enjoys Bharata Natyam, an Indian classical dance.

"I'm looking forward to the new atmosphere" of college, she said, where there will be people from other walks of life with more diversity.

She was a recipient of the Charlotte Hall School Scholarship and plans to attend Yale University this fall. She said she is "leaning heavily toward medicine or something related to the medical field. I want to make sure I expose myself to different fields before I commit to a specific career."

Her parents are Dr. Kiran Mehta and Sharmila Mehta. She has a sister, Meera, and a brother, Nimay.

Chopticon High School

Danica Marie Konyk came to St. Mary's from Pennsylvania while in first grade in 1996.

Last year would have been Konyk's senior year, but she postponed her graduation for an opportunity to study in Sweden. There she attended Tingvallagymnasiet, an upper secondary school where she studied in the natural sciences program.

She returned to complete her senior year with a new class and to finish with top honors as the school's valedictorian. The Mechanicsville resident was unsure what to expect when she returned. "The class of 2009 has always exhibited a friendly personality, and I could not have felt more welcome coming into it," she said.

She was the team captain for the varsity girl's cross country team as well as the indoor and outdoor track teams. In high school, she was named most outstanding math student, most outstanding English student and Chopticon's female athlete of the year. Konyk was active in the St. Mary's Association of Student Councils and an Air Force Junior ROTC inspector general and flight commander.

She has received an $180,000 ROTC scholarship and plans to attend the U.S. Naval Academy to major in either physics or mathematics.

"It is my goal to serve as a test pilot and ultimately work for NASA as an astronaut," she said. "The Naval Academy provides the unique opportunity for me to achieve all my goals in one quality institution, for I have desired to serve this country through military service since middle school and have always sought a challenging and exciting career."

She will run on the cross country team with the Navy beginning this year.

"I'm really looking forward to the change," Konyk said. "It's been a dream of mine since middle school, and now it's coming true."

Konyk has four siblings, Courtney Konyk, Taylor Konyk, Delaney Payton and Timothy Konyk. Her parents are Deanna Payton and Michael Konyk.

Her speech at graduation focused on seeking to maintain an adequate balance between life's antitheses, she said. "For example, the fact that we must create goals for ourselves and a plan to reach them, yet be prepared for our path to change unexpectedly at any time or that we must continue to move forward with our lives yet forever remember our foundations and where the journey all began," she said.

The King's Christian Academy

Melissa Green lived in Washington and Alabama before finding her home in St. Mary's County. She has attended The King's Christian Academy in Callaway since fourth grade.

After being inducted in her sophomore year, the National Honor Society became just one of activities she participated in. She was involved with student government, serving as secretary in her junior and senior year. Also in her junior year, she was the editor of the yearbook.

Green played varsity volleyball and was a member of the track team as a sophomore, junior and senior. She was awarded the most improved overall award and offensive player of the year award in her sophomore year for volleyball.

When asked how she decided which university to attend, she replied, "I didn't really want a small school. I wanted something different." With this in mind, Green will be attending The University of West Florida in the fall, where she received a presidential scholarship for $6,000. She is also the recipient of a full scholarship from the Bright Futures program in Florida.

Urging students to remain open-minded, Green also said in her speech, "Some of us, including myself, aren't sure what we are going to major in yet or what we want to do in life, but at least we are willing to try things out and maybe we'll find something we really like. Some of us do know what we are going to do in life. But who knows? Maybe we might change our minds. Be willing to embrace change."

In her speech, she also expressed gratitude for her family's continued support. Her parents, John and Shari Green, her sister, Christy, and her brothers, Daniel and Timothy, reside in Callaway.

St. Mary's Ryken High School

For Jacquelyn Marie Blake-Hedges, a lifelong resident of Charles County, attending St. Mary's Ryken High School meant long car rides.

Despite the long commute, she somehow found time to become a Charlotte Hall Fellow, Maryland Distinguished Scholar Semi-Finalist, National Merit Commended Scholar and Advanced Placement Scholar. She was named St. Mary's Ryken's Xaverian Orator, the school's equivalent of valedictorian.

Although she said the uniforms will gladly be forgotten, she said she will miss St. Mary's Ryken because of its small atmosphere, inspiring faculty and all the friendships forged there.

Blake-Hedges was the captain of the soccer team for two years and was named all-conference for all four years. As a senior, she was named as a high school scholar all-American for soccer by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Her passion for soccer will continue at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. "I really liked that it was relatively close to home," she explained of her decision to attend William and Mary. "It has a small, urban campus." She hopes to major in math or science with the dream of working in medical research.

In her speech, Blake-Hedges told her fellow graduates that "success is not defined by the amount of money you make, by how happy you are, or by any of the other clichés you may have heard. The only way to define success is to experience it. I think we've all had a taste of it in the past four years here. And, I think we've been well-prepared to see more of it in the future."

Her parents are Wayne and Lynne Blake-Hedges and she has a sister, Caitlyn, who just completed her freshman year at St. Mary's Ryken.

Leonard Hall Junior Naval Academy

Leaving Leonard Hall Junior Naval Academy is bittersweet for Timothy Travis, the school's valedictorian.

"I'll miss the small classes, being able to know the teachers by name and all the characters that have gone through this school," he said.

His favorite subjects included earth science, pre-calculus and history.

With a laugh, he explained that chemistry was also among his favorite subjects because "we conducted labs behind our teacher's back."

He played soccer and was a member of the National Honor Society.

Travis plans to attend the College of Southern Maryland before transferring to a four-year university.

He is interested in aerospace engineering and is considering pursuing a career in naval aviation.

He is the son of Renee Bernier and Michael Travis. He has two sisters, Erin and Meaghan, and a brother, Colin.

jyeatman@somdnews.com. Kelley Brescia contributed to this article.

Salutatorians

Chopticon — Rachel Peisner and Brandon Runde Great Mills — Mara Olenick and Melanie Boekel Leonardtown — Preya Simlote St. Mary's Ryken — Addison Goodley (speaker) The King's Christian Academy — Tiffany Greer Leonard Hall Junior Naval Academy — Christopher Mandragos