Khadija Ashfaq

Editor

It’s official the class of 2016 valedictorian is Joe Bartone and the class of 2016 salutatorian is Mark Duffy.

Four years ago, when both Joe Bartone and Mark Duffy walked into Foran, ranking first and second in their class may not have been something they initially thought of at the start. Getting to the top does not come. Bartone said it himself when he was asked about his workload. “I remember earlier this year and last year it got pretty intense.”

For this year, Bartone took on four AP courses, which were AP Literature and Composition with Mrs. Ramsey, AP Calculus with Mr. Peters, AP Physics with Mr. Stern, and AP U.S. History with Mr. Cesare. Along with these classes, he also takes Computer Science with Mr. Czarnecki and Engineering with Mr. Dillon. In addition to his vigorous workload, Bartone also participates in after school activities that consist of both sports and clubs.

As a matter of fact, Bartone is a member of Foran’s Science Olympiad team. The team competes in a national competition at the state Olympiad and also participates in Invitational Olympiads. The students on this team, along with Bartone, have to compete in a wide range of events related to STEM topics ranging from cell biology to experimental design.

Along with that, he also plays lacrosse for Foran as well as rec basketball.

As far as the near future is concerned, Bartone is planning on attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He is also interested in becoming a robotics engineer.

Duffy takes four AP classes along with Model UN and Physics. Taking one AP class can be a challenge on its own, but taking four is a whole other story. One of the four classes taken by Duffy is AP Human Geography with Mrs. Gilman. Along with AP Human Geography, Duffy also takes Model UN which is once again taught by Mrs. Gilman.

Mrs. Gilman has wonderful things to say about Duffy. “He is an excellent student. He is a pretty good team player and is a leader and a strong student too. Mark can help students get to a higher level as well.”

Duffy also takes AP Calculus with Mr. Peters, AP Macroeconomics with Mr. Noyes and AP Literature and Language with Mrs. Ramsey.

Along with a vigorous work load that stems from his schedule, Duffy also participates in after school activities.

For one, he is part of Natural Helpers, which is a national program that is dedicated to helping those in their school to ensure that everyone feels welcomed and safe. Duffy has been part of the club for four years. He is also a current Natural Helper officer for the 2015 – 2016 school year as well.

“My senior year was not as intense as junior year but I had still had a considerable amount of work; my classes were not very homework-intensive but instead the course material was much more difficult than my junior year courses.”

Duffy is planning on attending Fordham University as a political major in the universities honors program. He also aspires to become a political correspondent or political aide.

Joe Bartone and Mark Duffy have worked hard throughout all four years to accomplish such an honor of being the top two students of their class. Through their hard work and dedication, both of these exceptional students will achieve great things in their future endeavors.