CHSS Names Class of 2025 Valedictorian and Salutatorian

We have amazing news to share! Anna Xie and Christina Yan have been named the Clarkstown High School South Class of 2025 valedictorian and salutatorian! CCSD students Anna and Christina celebrated their achievements during the annual Academic Excellence Awards.

Anna possesses a 103.29 GPA and has completed 14 Advanced Placement (AP) courses and numerous college classes — earning an A+ in each one. Anna serves on the Mu Alpha Theta Math (co-president) honor society and Student Council (G.O. treasurer), has been a member of the tennis team for four years and is the editor-in-chief of Mad About Mu — the math newspaper — where she shares her passion and commitment to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). She is an avid competitor in the American Scholastic Mathematics Association (ASMA) and Math League contests, where she has achieved perfect scores. Anna has participated in prestigious summer camps, distinguished STEM Olympiad competitions and has attended the Columbia University Science Honors Program throughout high school. She also excels in liberal arts, having placed first in the regional National History Day Contest two years in a row. Apart from her studies, Anna gives back to her community through volunteering and tutoring.

Christina possesses a 102.5 GPA and will have completed 12 AP courses by graduation, scoring 5s on eight of the completed courses so far. She is a member of the National Honor Society and Multilingual Mentor Club (president), has served on the Student Council for three years and was elected G.O. vice president this year. She is an accomplished pianist and clarinetist who has been selected for New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) All-County for 7 consecutive years, NYSSMA Area All-State for 4 years and NYSSMA All-State this year. Additionally, she has placed at both Regionals and States for the Science Olympiad Competition’s Microbe Mission. Christina interned at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University during the past two summers, where she researched global warming's impact on phytoplankton growth and enzyme depolymerization of microfibers from laundry. Using the results from her research, Christina lobbied congressional lawmakers to support the Fighting Fibers Act of 2024 and presented at the International Ocean Sciences Meeting in New Orleans. Apart from her studies, Christina has played piano for her church for 6 years and danced ballet for over a decade.

The accolades don't stop there. Both Anna (finalist) and Christina (commended student) were recognized earlier this school year in the 2025 National Merit® Scholarship Program. Anna is weighing her options for college and remains undecided, while Christina plans to pursue a major in biochemistry at Columbia University. Well done!