Hard work pays off for WHS students
Christina Lussier named valedictorian, Lucas Rodriguez salutatorian
WOONSOCKET — The high school honored its two top students, Christina Rose Lussier as valedictorian and Lucas Rodriguez as salutatorian, while holding Honors Night ceremonies in the high school auditorium Thursday evening.
After beginning with recognition of the school’s top ten honors students toward the end of the ceremony, High School Principal Carnell Henderson arrived at the second and highest and top achieving students and called first Rodriguez to the stage to be vested as salutatorian and then Lussier for the top student honor as valedictorian.
Lussier is the daughter of John and Donna Lussier, and had been an active member of many different organizations and activities at the high school, Henderson noted while citing her achievements.
She performed in the Jazz Band and the Concert Band with the Music Department, she was Captain of the Math Team, participated in the Science Olympiad, worked on the yearbook staff, served on the Student Council and was National Honor Society President – offering a welcome to the gathering as Thursday’s ceremonies began.
She also served as Captain of the high school’s softball team and was a member of the golf team.
Her awards include Rookie of the Year and Perfect Attendance for band, the Junior Leadership Conference Award, the Junior Math Award, the Moody Mega Math Challenge participant award, and an honorable mention
for softball, according to Henderson.
Lussier was an Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church volunteer and also an Elks Club volunteer. She will receive a Woonsocket Teacher’s Guild scholarship. She plans to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute to take a major in statistics and applied mathematics and a minor in actuarial math.
Rodriguez is the son of Elmer and Cheryl Rodriguez and has marked his high school career by serving as a class activities chairperson, a member of the prom committee, and participating in the Science Olympiad, according to Henderson.
He has been an active member of the National Honor Society participating in the annual Kevin K. Coleman Elementary School Block Party – a city school that as Henderson proudly pointed out for the audience, Rodriguez and his principal had both attended – and also worked on Thanksgiving baskets, blood drives and teacher appreciation week.
He was a chemistry aid for Sophie McGarrity, a science teacher.
Rodriguez collected the 2016 St. Michael’s Book Award, the 2016 Rhode Island Secretary of State Civic Leadership Award and the 2017 Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor’s Advance RI Leadership Award.
Rodriguez will also receive a Woonsocket Teacher’s Guild Scholarship, Henderson said.
After spending time with Lussier on stage in front of his fellow students and the audience, Rodriguez said his salutatorian honor was “kind of indescribable.”
Just being among his class peers at the ceremony was a “such a special feeling,” he said.
Rodriguez never set out to place among the top students of his class when he arrived at the high school and that made being Salutatorian an “honor” rather than an award for a goal he had set.
He did work hard and took on challenging advanced placement classes, he said. “I did challenge myself and stick to doing my work, even if it was through the late night,” he said.
“I’d say it wasn’t easy getting here, but the commitment I was able to make, the passion and love for learning
– that is what got me here,” Rodriguez said.
“I guess it was just my outlook that got me here,” he added. “The support I received came from my peers, my parents, my teachers and others in the school community and in my life,” Rodriguez said.
He will now take his commitment to education on to URI where he plans to study Chemical Engineering.
Lussier, in contrast to her fellow class leader, always wanted to be the Valedictorian of her class and from her earliest days in school “put in a lot of hard work and dedication” to achieve her goal, all the while gaining the motivation and support she needed from her parents, John and Donna Lussier.
“I liked the big fancy title of valedictorian when I was younger and I knew that if I pushed myself and applied myself, I could achieve anything,” she said.
She also kept a clear focus on her goal while putting in the work to reach it. “My parents basically taught me to never give up on myself. And they were always there for me, whenever I had a problem they were there to fix it,” she added.
Her late grandmother, Rosie Cherwinski, was also an inspiration, she said. “She was one of my biggest supporters,” she said of grandmother.
To younger students who also might want to set high goals for themselves, Lussier offered just a bit of advice. “Set your heart to achieve it and never give up,” she said.