The 2025 valedictorians and salutatorians at East Hampton and Pierson High Schools already have résumés that put most of us to shame, and they’re just getting started. Along with their academic successes, they are standout musicians, athletes, and volunteers.
“Knowing what they are capable of and how they have contributed to our school, it just gives me hope,” Sara Smith, the East Hampton High School principal, said in April of the salutatorian, Ava Tintle, and valedictorian, Abraham Stillman. “If future students accomplish half as much as Abe and Ava have and contribute to our school the way they have, the school will continue to be the special place that it is,” she said in introducing them to the school board on April 1. Both are Advanced Placement scholars of distinction and will earn A.P. Capstone diplomas, and both were on the high honor roll every quarter of their high school careers.
Abe has a weighted G.P.A. of 106.7 and completed over 820 hours of community service while at the high school. He took 16 A.P. courses, earning 4 or 5 in all of them. He won the Rotary International Youth Leadership Award, is a member of the World Languages Honor Society, the National Honor Society, and the Tri-M Music National Honor Society, and is a member and treasurer of the Science National Honor Society. He was president of the school’s academic team, vice president of the Century Club, and a participant in the Mock Trial club.
As a participant in the school’s three-year science research program, “His science research has really taken off this year to new levels beyond what Bonac has seen,” Ms. Smith said. He presented his research on social vulnerability as a risk factor for strokes at a conference in Canada and, in a first for the school, was the author of a peer-reviewed article in the International Journal of Stroke.
He is also a baritone saxophonist who played first chair with the Sag Harbor Community Band and was a member of the high school’s Jazz Band. He completed an internship at LTV, is a member of the East Hampton Youth Task Force, the East Hampton Town Tick Advisory Committee, and ReWild Long Island. And if that weren’t enough, he was also on the school’s track and field team and holds the school record for the pole vault.
He will attend Columbia University in the fall, where he plans to major in biology.
Ava has a weighted G.P.A. of 106.3 and has taken 12 A.P. courses, earning a 4 or 5 in each. She, too, is in the advanced research program, focusing on brain activity resulting from figurative versus literal language.
She is president of the Science National Honor Society and is in the World Languages National Honor Society and the National Honor Society and won a Women in STEM Award from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Ava is also a dedicated athlete who captained the varsity field hockey and lacrosse teams, traveled twice a week to West Babylon to play on an elite travel lacrosse team, and made all-county in lacrosse. In the fall, she’ll continue to play while studying at Washington and Lee University.
In Sag Harbor, Pierson’s valedictorian, Kai Basseches, and salutatorian, Milla Campomar, are equally well rounded.
Kai, who will study mathematics at Yale University in the fall, is also “almost an expert-level pianist,” the high school’s principal, Brittany Carriero, said. He played the cello in the school orchestra and was a co-founder with his twin sister, Poppy, of the school’s literary and arts magazine, Singularity. He earned all-state recognition for piano and worked as a docent at the Sag Harbor Historical Museum. He was recognized, among many other things, for outstanding achievement in International Baccalaureate math, physics, and music, and received awards for excellence in history and physical education.
Described as a “dynamic student leader,” Milla was president of the student body, captain of the varsity volleyball team, played softball and basketball, and is a certified lifeguard. She is “passionate about languages,” loves physics, English, and math, and tutored other students in math, according to the district. She was honored for outstanding achievement in I.B. French and history of the Americas, and outstanding effort in I.B. English literature and physics. She plans to study linguistics at Duke University in the fall.
The valedictorians and salutatorians will speak at graduation ceremonies this weekend. East Hampton’s is tomorrow at 6 p.m., and Pierson’s is on Saturday at 5 p.m.