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We are proud to announce Max Paul as Valedictorian and Siddharth Nair as Salutatorian for the Yorktown High School Class of 2026. Please join us in celebrating these two exceptional students and their remarkable achievements.
Max Paul, Valedictorian
What are your academic plans for next year?
In college, I plan on majoring in pre-med or biology, in order to fulfill my life-long ambition of becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon.
What are your favorite subjects and what do you enjoy most about them?
Throughout high school, I’ve enjoyed most classes, but, without a doubt, my favorite classes have been AP U.S. History and all my science courses; regarding APUSH, I found learning about all the intricacies of American history to be extremely fascinating, and I greatly enjoyed all the interesting, funny conversations. As for the science classes, I especially enjoyed the labs, which enabled me to learn the content while also having fun with my friends.
What extracurricular activities have you been involved in?
In terms of sports, I’m a member of the Yorktown High School tennis team. In school, I’m the co-president of the National Honor Society and a member of the Science Olympiad team, Math Honor Society, Social Studies Honor Society, National Science Honor Society, and the Big Buddy Program.
Which accomplishments are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of being a part of the undefeated league-champion tennis team and the Science Olympiad team, which, over the course of the last three years, has won the regional competition twice and qualified for the state competition three years in a row.
Who or what has inspired/motivated you the most in your education?
All of my teachers have inspired me to continue striving to further my education, both in the classroom and outside of school, something I’m extremely thankful for. Additionally, I would like to thank my family and friends for continually supporting and motivating me throughout this process.
What is your favorite memory at Yorktown CSD?
During elementary school, my favorite school memory was playing football with my friends during recess, whereas, during high school, it was either the Science Olympiad field trip to the State Competition or attending football games with my friends.
Siddharth Nair, Salutatorian
What are your academic plans for next year?
In college, I’m excited to pursue electrical engineering and computer science, especially the dynamic between artificial intelligence systems and the hardware and resource requirements necessary to support them. I also look forward to continuing my CS+Environmentalism research, which I have been pursuing for two years thus far.
What are your favorite subjects and what do you enjoy most about them?
Generally, mathematics is the highlight of my school days (between periods 1 and 8) because it provides a space, isolated from my other troubles, where I can just sit down and lock in and tackle each problem one by one. Additionally, I love helping others, and I get to do a lot of that in math classes! This year, my physics class comes close to being more enjoyable than my math class, simply because at the moment it has more interesting math. But math will always be my common denominator (hah get it).
What extracurricular activities have you been involved in?
I lead a handful of clubs at YHS: Robotics, Science Olympiad, Math Honor Society, and Tri-M. (listed in descending order of enjoyment) (just kidding). Plus, I am very involved with music. I play in almost every orchestra in YHS, and some that are outside of YHS, as a violinist; and I play piano for the Jazz Band, and for myself. Outside of school, I volunteer through tutoring — you guessed it — math.
Which accomplishments are you most proud of?
Honestly, I am most proud of finishing my AP U.S. History DBQ on time. On a more potent note, I’m very proud of my research: I think it has a lot of potential to do great things for this community and others, and I’m excited to see where I can take it.
Who or what has inspired/motivated you the most in your education?
Mrs. Cavallo!! She was my fifth-grade teacher (now she is a sixth-grade English teacher at the middle school), and an absolutely phenomenal teacher and person. My love for reading was kickstarted in her classroom, with so many good books and series (Giver! Alex Rider!) She also had a bunch of fun twists and turns for every subject she taught, whether it was math or esperanza rising, that made EVERY DAY in fifth grade enjoyable. Mrs. Cavallo, if you’re reading this, I honestly can’t thank you enough for that and I know you’ll continue inspiring kids the way you inspired me seven years ago.
What is your favorite memory at Yorktown CSD?
Apart from the entirety of fifth grade, and probably the entirety of high school, one specific memory I have actually happened this year. It involved the back room in science research, three other seniors, an atrocious home experiment presentation, and a completely clueless sophomore. I won’t name names. Probably the funniest thing I’ve experienced.
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