On Monday morning, Feb. 7, Principal Blake Bennett announced the names of the Class of 2022’s highest academically-performing seniors, a group referred to as the “Top 20.” When administration announces the seniors’ names at their graduation ceremony, they will announce the Top 20 first as a way to highlight their accomplishments.

  “I didn’t know being in the Top 20 was a big thing at all,” visual senior Gracie Szymanski said. “It does feel nice when people look at you when your name is announced, and it’s academic validation.”

Administration hosted an ice cream social for the top ranked students on Feb. 4 during fifth period. The students chose from a variety of toppings as they celebrated their academic standing in the media center.

“For us in the top five, we knew who was in our little group, but we didn’t know who else was in the top 20, so it was exciting to see who was also high ranked,” piano senior Deven Seedial said. “Everyone (who was at the social) was really supportive and it was fun.” 

Although Szymanski thought the social was a way to celebrate her accomplishment, she acknowledged the pressure it took to get her there.

“It’s hard trying to take all these classes and constantly comparing your class rank to people,” Szymanski said. “Also, junior year was very hard. I took five APs that year. I put a lot of pressure on myself to get straight A’s and keep that up. So, it was stressful, but worth it.”

The list of the top 20 students from Dreyfoos’ graduating class is below:

Name, Major 

Ashesh Amatya, piano – Valedictorian

Miles Wang, communications – Salutatorian 

Jeffrey Wang, piano

Deven Seedial, piano

Philip Ye, piano

Shina Nguyen, visual

William Wu, band

Emma Kaminski, visual

Kaylie Martling, communications

Jaclyn Cohen, visual 

Megan Rollins, digital media

Amber Hansen, visual

Annabella Saccaro, communications  

Alyssa Deale, Vocal

Sophia Roud, communications 

Kate Davis, communications

Christian Chantayan, communications 

Gracie Szymanski, visual 

Joshua Kopit, band

Byron Matysek, dance