Roslyn High School seniors Rachel Mintz and Jordan Rosen were summoned separately to principal Scott Andrews’ office in February, briefly unaware as to why.
But when Mintz reached the main office and saw Andrews standing in the doorway with a smile on his face, she instantly knew.
“Dr. Andrews just said, ‘Oh, hi valedictorian,’” she said. “At first, I thought he was kidding. I had no idea this was coming out at the time. He brought me into his office and explained it all, had me call my mom, just reassuring me that he wasn’t kidding around.”
For Rosen, the meeting was even more surprising, as he said he had no idea he was so close to holding the school’s No. 2 ranking, particularly since this is the first year Roslyn has calculated grade-point averages using a weighted scale. “I was a little more surprised than Rachel,” said Rosen, who finished with a 104.2 average, behind Mintz’s 105.9. “I think Rachel knew she was going to be valedictorian.”
Added Mintz: “It’s such an honor to be valedictorian at Roslyn because there are so many of us who put academics first, like Jordan, and who are so talented and raise the overall level of academia. It’s very gratifying.”
For their academic prowess, Mintz and Rosen will each address their classmates during Roslyn’s commencement ceremony on June 26 at the Tilles Center.
Mintz said she plans to study at Columbia University’s School of Applied Sciences and Engineering as an Egleston Scholar, a research award given to 1 percent of Columbia engineering students, while Rosen plans to study computer science at either the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, Brown University or Dartmouth College.
Mintz is captain of the school’s science olympiad team, the vice president of the class’s National Honor Society, math team and quiz bowl team; captains the tennis team and is an officer in Roslyn’s model government. She is also a member of the school’s Foreign Language Honor Society and volunteers in Roslyn’s research buddy program for underclassmen.
Rosen is president of Roslyn’s math team, is the secretary of the school’s Organization of Class Councils, is a member of both the National Honor Society and Foreign Language Honor Society, is treasurer of the school’s quiz bowl team, is a founding member of the school’s badminton team and volunteers in the research buddy program and as the school mascot.
“I try to find a good balance between school work and socializing with friends, watching television,” Rosen said. “I still find enough time to get a decent amount of sleep each night.”
