Ralston valedictorian, McNally salutatorian of GMUHS Class of 2013

GMUHS Class of 2013 valedictorian Jessica Ralston.

Jessica Ralston has been named valedictorian of Green Mountain High School’s Class of 2013 and Katie McNally has been named its salutatorian, the school has announced.

A valedictorian is chosen to give the closing speech of a school’s graduating class, and that honor usually is conferred on the person achieving the highest in academic excellence in the school. The salutatorian is chosen to give the opening speech, an honor given to the person with the second highest grade point average.

At GMUHS, the honors are solely grade-based. Graduation begins at 7 p.m. Friday, June 21 at the school.

Jessica, the daughter of Ruth Hathaway of Chester and Greg Ralston of Alabama, will be attending Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire in the fall to study biology as a member of its Wesson Honors Program. She is  vice president of the National Honor Society, senior class co-president and a member of the varsity soccer team. During her senior year, she was the varsity soccer team captain. Jessica received the University of Vermont’s Green and Gold Scholarship, the Saint Michael’s College Book Award for Academic Excellence and, as a sophomore, attended the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Conference.  Jessica has been a tutor and mentor, along with volunteering to coach pre-kindergarten  soccer through the Chester Recreation Department.

Katie McNally is salutatorian for the GMUHS Class of 2013.

Katie, the daughter of Jill and Scott McNally of Chester, will be attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston to study vocal performance.  She was a recipient of the Elmira College Key Scholarship, and has been an active member of the the National Honor Society since 2011. During her senior year, she was NHS president. Katie has performed in many venues vocally and on piano, including singing the supporting role of Mrs. Ham in the Opera Theatre of Weston’s latest production of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde in January of 2013.