Great Neck South High School students crossed the stage of the Long Island University Tilles Center on Thursday, June 26, signifying the end of their high school chapter and transitioning to post-high school life.
The graduation ceremony was filled with music, performed and led by the school’s very own students and the Class of 2025 graduates.
Performances included songs “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked,” “Le Festin” from “Ratatouille,” “The Star Spangled Banner” by the senior choir members and performances by the Great Neck South High School Band.
Multiple students were also honored at the ceremony, including Valedictorian Ruiqi Liu and Salutatorian Laura Zhang. Both also gave remarks during the commencement.
Liu, who will be attending Northwestern University, is a National Merit Scholarship winner and also an AP Scholar with Distinction. He led various campus organizations, including as the co-president of the Mathematics Club, co-president of Academic Outreach and co-president of Aylus Great Neck Branch.
Liu was also a member of various student organizations and programs, including Key Club, the Science Olympiad Team, the South High science research program and research at the NYU Avalos Lab.
Outside of academics, Liu is also a flutist and participated in the high school’s wind ensemble, symphony orchestra and pit orchestra. He also received multiple music honors.
Zhang, who will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a National Merit Scholarship winner, an AP Scholar with Distinction and a National Latin Exam gold medalist.
Her accolades also include her involvement in many student organizations as captain of the Science Olympiad Team, treasurer of the Math Team, co-president of the National Science Bowl and Physics Club, and executive director of the Teen Hacks Long Island Hackathon.
Zhang is also a decorated athlete and a four-year member of the varsity fencing team. While on the team, she won multiple Nassau County and Long Island championships.
Both Liu and Zhang were also named the recipients of the Frederic Duclos Barstow Award, a local honor established in 1962 by Great Neck residents Françoise and William Barstow in memory of their son, who died of pneumonia. The award is given to students in the top 10% of their class and who exhibit leadership, citizenship, scholarship and service.
Another honor handed out was the Scott Moss Award, which was given to Yuzhen Lin in honor of the late South High student Scott Moss, who died of cancer after graduating. Lin was granted the award for embodying Moss’s “service, concern, interest, and ability.”
