Co-valedictorians Adam Fields, Alexandra Hay, Sana Raoof and Jared Solomon along with salutatorian Ryan Price are the top five graduates of 2008. The students addressed their classmates at graduation.

Valedictorian Adam Fields has been very active in the Jericho School District as well as extracurricular activities. He is a national saber fencer as well as active in the guide dog foundation.

Fields is a two-time Siemens competition regional finalist and a two-time Intel International Science and Engineering fair first place grand award winner in the world. He is also a published author and spoke at national professional conferences.

His valedictorian speech was funny, yet serious, encouraging his peers to follow their passions and embrace challenges and not be afraid to fail. He quotes Robert Kennedy, saying, "only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."

Fields will be attending Yale University and fencing on their Division 1 varsity fencing team. He plans to become an orthopedic surgeon.

Valedictorian Alexandra Hay will remember her time at Jericho fondly. She was the managing editor of the Pegasus Literary Magazine, an annual publication of student artwork and writing, as well as vice president of Cultural Events for the French Honor Society. She also helped decorate the language hallway with French artwork and was a member of the art honor society for three years.

Hay's favorite classes were Myths and Legends, which was an elective that she took during her junior year, and also Mr. Kirby's Literature class, which students read Dostoevsky and Orwell, which are two of her favorites.

In her speech at graduation, Hay said, "I logically concluded that the school was built on the site of a former swamp, which would explain the early morning mists that I have sometimes been fortunate enough to observe on a few of my 7 a.m. commutes. Though clouds of eerie vapors may appear alarmingly Gothic at first glance, there are few locations more apt than a swamp for a school. As some of us learned in Environmental Science, wetlands are one of the most productive places on earth, at least in terms of photosynthesis. This fact is further evinced by the fine minds this ecosystem has been churning out ever since."

Hay will be attending Princeton University in the fall and has applied to take Princeton's Humanistic Studies double course, which covers literature, history, art history and philosophy, during her freshman year.

Valedictorian Sana Raoof has many favorite memories that she will take with her as she moves on from Jericho.

"Nothing compares to the happiness and satisfaction I have gotten from teaching a philosophy class before school on Fridays for an hour," she said. "I started the club two years ago and taught it with the aim to help debaters use philosophy in competition, instead of just using empirics. Unlike track, debate, and research, teaching a philosophy class was a noncompetitive activity for me to pursue, it made me feel sort of wholesome and happy to help underclassmen, and I learned an incredible amount throughout the process."

Raoof was the president of Debate Club and also on the Spanish National Honor Society. She also was a finalist in many science competitions throughout her tenure at Jericho.

In her speech to fellow students and their families at Graduaton, Raoof said, "We sit before you today, as your grateful children, inherently taking your values and lessons with us, but we sit before you today, as adults, mature, graceful, and ready to carve our own paths towards self-actualization."

Raoof will be attending Harvard University in September.

Valedictorian Jared Solomon was involved in many school, extra-curricular and volunteer activities during his tenure at Jericho.

He was school president of the student council and also involved in the future Business Leaders of America. Solomon volunteered for the Michael J. Fox foundation as well as the Darwin Initiative.

Solomon's favorite memory took place at the homecoming event when his younger brother snuck up on him while he was in the dunking booth and released the lever. It was a great laugh and one of the many fond memories he has of Jericho.

In his speech at graduation, Solomon said," this chaotic world is the playing field on which we have been born to triumph. We will continue to adapt, we will continue to grow, we will continue to benefit. And most importantly, we will continue to find comfort in our families, our friends and our community."

Solomon will be attending The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in September.

Salutatorian Ryan Price embarks on a new adventure after graduating from Jericho and leaves with great memories.

"My fondest memory of Jericho High School would have to be having my best friends by my side while learning from great teachers who had a profound effect on my academic journey through high school," said Price.

In his speech to fellow graduates, he said, "As we embark upon this next phase of our journey, we must figure out how to be early adopters of new innovation; strive to operate on a higher ethical plane and demonstrate strength to those we lead by example. As you leave here today, ask yourselves: What are you going to do to 'light the fire within?'"

Price will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall and plans to major in the Biological Basis of Behavior. Although his future plans are still undetermined, he is interested in a career in the health care industry.