Valedictorian, Salutatorian Named At Suffield High School

SUFFIELD, CT — The top two scholars in the Suffield High School Class of 2019 were announced by the school Tuesday.

Ziad Hassan has earned the title of valedictorian of the Class of 2019, while Rabi Zulfiquar has been named salutatorian. They will speak at the high school graduation ceremony on Saturday, June 15 at 9:30 a.m.; rain date is Sunday, June 16 at 1 p.m.

Hassan has received many awards during his years at Suffield High School, including Excellence in AP Statistics, AP Biology, Chemistry, AP Spanish Language, Algebra II, Geometry and English I. He is involved with the school's Science Fair, where he received 3rd Honors in Physical Sciences and Second Place in Applied Technology. He also received the Connecticut Invention Convention Next Step Inventor Award, and earned the highest Critical Reading Score, highest Writing Score and highest Math Score on the PSAT. He was the recipient of the Harvard Book Prize and also was the recipient of the Governor’s Scholar Award.

Hassan is a member of the National Honor Society, where he has participated in Readers are Leaders, Toys for Tots and Teens and the Red Cross Blood Drive. He is also a member of the World Language Honor Society. He has been involved in many activities at SHS such as Debate Club, where his team earned first place and received the honor of Debate Second Place Speaker. Hassan is also involved in Student Senate, the Giraffe Club, Interact Club and Chick-Fil-A Leader Academy.

During his time at Suffield High School, he has also participated in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and tennis. Outside of school, he has volunteered to help with the Dustin Doyon Road Race and the Suffield Senior Center, as well as volunteering at Windsor Mosque to help teach children about Islam. In his spare time, he works at Big Y and is also employed with Suffield Parks and Recreation Youth Soccer as a referee.

Zulfiquar has received many awards during his time at Suffield High School. He was chosen as the National Merit Scholarship Commended Student of September in 2018, and has received the Delmar F. Sisson Memorial Award for Excellence in American History. He was also chosen as the World Language Student of the Month in 2018. He is a member of the Spanish Language Honor Society and has received Awards for Academic Excellence in Social Studies, Geometry, English and Debate Team. He has also been recognized at Suffield's annual Scholars’ Breakfast during his four years at the school.

Zulfiquar is co-captain of Suffield High School’s Debate Team. In this club, he has conducted research on relevant debate topics, practiced argumentative and public speaking skills and competed with other schools in the Connecticut Valley Debate League. He has also trained new debaters in research skills, public speaking skills and refutation skills, and has coordinated with faculty advisors and created meeting agendas. Zulfiquar has received awards such as 1st place varsity debater, 1st place varsity speaker and 1st place varsity speaking team and championship round winner in 2018. He is also a member of the Aces High Robotics Team, where he assisted the team in the basic maintenance of the robot and moved materials and tools inside the shop. He is hoping to join the programming sub team.

In his spare time, Zulfiquar has volunteered many hours at Foodshare, where he helped sort, prepare, label and package food donations for distribution. During the summer months, he has attended many camps, exploring the world of information technology. He has learned about Java Programming, Android Application Programming and attended a Computer Science Program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is proficient in Java, Python, HTML, CSS and JavaScript.