The Public Schools of the Tarrytowns announced the valedictorian and salutatorian from the Sleepy Hollow High School Class of 2021. Valedictorian Maya Weitzen and salutatorian
Zachary Rudder , both of whom have been in Tarrytown schools since kindergarten, have worked incredibly hard to achieve these highest of academic honors, and their achievement is made even more impressive by the fact that they are graduating during a pandemic and have spent much of their senior year in hybrid classrooms.
Maya will be attending Yale University in the fall, where she plans to enter the pre-med track. She says that her desire to study the biological sciences began with her Living Environment classes in 7th and 8th grade, and the medical research project she completed as part of the Science Research program at Sleepy Hollow High School further inspired her. Maya is a member of the varsity soccer team, the Mock Trial club and the SHHS student government, and outside of school, she has been researching cancer treatment with Regeneron.
Zach plans on following his passion for math and physics by studying aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech. He gives a lot of credit to the incredible math and science teachers in the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns, and his high school physics and calculus courses in particular inspired him to pursue engineering. Like Maya, Zach is a member of the student government and Mock Trial, and he is a three-sport athlete in basketball, football and lacrosse.
“I know I speak for all of the faculty and staff in the district when I say how proud we are of Maya and Zach,” said Superintendent Chris Borsari. “Their hard work and dedication, along with the dedication of all of their incredible teachers, got them where they are today, and I wish them the best of luck in college and beyond.”
