Wallkill High School names 2019 Valedictorian and Salutatorian

Posted 4/17/19

Wallkill High School is proud to announce that Amanda Whitehouse is the valedictorian of the Class of 2019, and Victoria Soler is the salutatorian.

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Wallkill High School names 2019 Valedictorian and Salutatorian

Posted

Wallkill High School is proud to announce that Amanda Whitehouse is the valedictorian of the Class of 2019, and Victoria Soler is the salutatorian.

Amanda, with a near-perfect grade point average (GPA) of 99.79, is the daughter of Lynn and Charles Whitehouse of Wallkill. She has been active in the National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society (for which she serves as secretary), and the school band. A talented oboe player, she earned a spot in the All-County Band as well as the Area All-State Band.

Outside of school, Amanda serves as an assistant teacher at her church’s Sunday school, working with three- and four-year-olds.

Amanda is very appreciative of the education she received at Wallkill.

“I was able to learn something from each and every teacher I’ve had,” she said. “I liked the challenges each class has brought me, as each challenge pushed me to be a better student, and each teacher taught me important lessons.”

Next fall, Amanda plans to attend SUNY Orange, where she will study accounting as the first step towards achieving her long-term goal of becoming a forensic accountant.

“Forensic accountants look into fraud involving money,” she explained. “It’s a relatively new field, and I think it’s growing.”

Ultimately, Amanda plans to obtain a bachelor’s degree in accounting, followed by a master’s degree in forensic accounting.

Amanda looks back fondly at her years in the Wallkill Central School District. “There were so many opportunities, and I really liked our music program,” she said.

Victoria Soler, this year’s salutatorian, achieved a GPA of 99.70. She is the daughter of Vilmarie and Edwin Soler of Plattekill.

In addition to handling a rigorous academic schedule, Victoria has kept busy with a range of extracurricular activities, including National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, Madrigal Choir, Handbell Choir, and Girls Barbershop.

Victoria also excels at her chosen sport, taekwondo, in which she holds a third-degree black belt, and serves as a senior instructor at a martial arts center in Newburgh.

“I love my job!” she says.

Victoria also loves code, the language that computers use to talk and communicate. Last fall, she was active in the Girls Who Code Club. This spring, she plans to “challenge” the AP Computer Science A exam.

“Coding is 100 percent my favorite class,” she said.

In the fall, Victoria will begin her studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she plans to major in web and mobile computing. Eventually, she plans to earn a master’s degree and pursue a career in computer coding.

Computing and technological know-how runs in the family, as her uncle works for Google. In fact, after visiting the tech giant’s Silicon Valley headquarters at the age of 11, Victoria decided it would be a great place to work. A possible first step towards that goal? An internship.

“I would love it there!” she declared.