Garden City High School names its 2025 valedictorian and salutatorian
Seniors Jeffrey Li and Hunter Maguire were named valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, for the Garden City High School Class of 2025. These two outstanding students have demonstrated academic excellence while actively participating in numerous clubs, activities and the greater school community.
Throughout his time at Garden City High School, Jeffrey, who has a 102.83 GPA, has taken nine AP classes in addition to self-studying two more. Jeffrey was a national finalist for the United States Earth Science Olympiad and qualified for their training camp, earned medals through the Long Island Math Fair and was recognized with a gold medal from the National Spanish Exam. He is the president of the Aviation Club, president and founder of the Geography Club, vice president of the math team and vice president of the Science Olympiad, where he has competed for almost six years. Additionally, Jeffrey has played the piano for 11 years, competing in numerous related competitions while attending music school on the weekends and playing at his church.
Jeffrey will be attending Carnegie Mellon University in the fall to pursue engineering.
“I’m grateful to be named the valedictorian of Garden City High School and I am even more thankful to have had the opportunities, friends and teachers supporting me for the last four years,” said Jeffrey. “I will look forward to the next four years of college and beyond and I am proud to have had four years surrounded by the best people I know.”
Jeffrey advises others to take the time in high school to develop their ideas and discover their path at their own pace and to stay true to themselves rather than conforming to others’ expectations.
Salutatorian Hunter Maguire, who has a GPA of 102.72, has taken 13 AP classes while at Garden City High School. He is the editor-in-chief of the school’s literary magazine, Inkspots, and co-editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, ECHO. He has earned three gold keys, four silver keys and eight honorable mentions for his poetry through the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Hunter is the co-president of the Science Olympiad, student researcher for the Garcia Summer Scholars Program and the president of Envirothon, where he worked alongside Jeffrey to place second twice in the Long Island Regional. He has earned awards from the school’s English and science departments for the past three years, was a presenter at the 2024 Materials Research Society fall meeting and exhibit and earned first class distinction for the NCTE 2024 Achievement Awards in Writing. Hunter plans to double major in English and science next fall.
“I’m incredibly honored to be named the salutatorian of Garden City High School,” said Hunter. “This honor is a real validation of my hard work over the last four years which have been challenging and amazing in equal measure. This is an honor I will take throughout my life, and I am excited to represent our community at graduation and beyond.”
The Garden City School District congratulates Jeffrey and Hunter on their achievements throughout their time at Garden City High School.
