Schools

Graduation 2012: Co-Valedictorian Alexandra Granato

College of William and Mary-bound senior to deliver speech at tonight's ceremony

Alexandra Granato enjoys doodling, poetry encased in drawings and is a “slave” to cinema. She’s intelligent, driven, dedicated, involved and almost always sleep-deprived.

The high school senior was announced as co-valedictorian earlier this month at the Academic Awards. She and Garrett Waligroski each earned a grade point average of 4.835 over their high school careers — the highest in their graduating class. Kyle McGuire was named salutatorian with a grade point average of 4.793.

“I am honored to share the stage (today) with Kyle and Garrett — they are two of the most dedicated individuals I know, and I am so pleased that Lacey's system of ranking has given us the opportunity to appear together, each recognized for four very long years of hard work,” Granato said.

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Hesitant to give a preview of her speech for tonight’s graduation ceremony, Granato said her goal is to “uplift the class of 2012 and remind them that greatness is waiting for us.”

Granato has been a member of the Math Team, Peer Mediation, Student Reading Committee, National Honor Society, the Drama Club’s costume department and the Student Government Association.

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“I honestly believe that being lucky enough to sit as class president my freshman year made me realize how involvement can impact a high school experience,” she said. “For me, this idea was an incentive to run around the building, joining every single club and (if I had been athletic) team as well.”

The highlight of high school, for Granato, was Lacey Township High School’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony, she said. The event was her first to speak in front of the entire student body and she was impressed by her fellow classmates' respect and sincerity.

Her challenge?

“I am almost always facing sleep deprivation, but in the grander scheme, I have struggled a good deal to learn to create a balance in my life between work and wonder, inspiration and perspiration, the to-do list and the life beyond the calendar,” she said.

With English as her favorite subject, Granato considers herself a “dedicated word girl,” sometimes curling up with a book, scribbling poems on notebook edges and playing through a scrabble tournament at the end of the day.

That "word girl" will be taking those English skills to the College of William and Mary with the hope of pursuing a career in speech writing.

“It is a beautiful school, one whose students and professors seem quite content and even proud to be quirk-filled nerds,” she said. “I look forward greatly to joining their ranks... in many ways it will feel like coming home.”

Granato hopes to be a novelist, speech writer, mother and a Peace Corps volunteer. She also dreams of restoring an old house and finding a career that gives her a sense of purpose.

“However, whichever of these I choose, and perhaps it may be several, I simply hope I feel I am making the world a better place, and that the world has bettered me,” she said.

Return to Lacey Patch throughout the day for a story on Waligroski, McGuire and high school graduation.


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