One of the leading members of Huntington High School’s Class of 2020, Kyra DeSalvo is set to have a sensational senior year after a summer filled with interesting studies, trips and training.
The teenager is an exceptional young woman with so many talents that it is simply impossible to list all of them in a short article. Ms. DeSalvo is capable of juggling a variety of responsibilities at any given time and the results she’s posted across the board have been magnificent.
The happy senior is very well-regarded around the high school building by both students and faculty members. Articulate and well-informed, Ms. DeSalvo defines the term “well-rounded.”
Always striving to grow in every possible way, Ms. DeSalvo participated in the Global Citizenship pre-college program at Molloy College last summer. “It featured lecture-based discussions along with class trips to the Holocaust Museum and United Nations in Manhattan and to Fire Island for a climate change lesson,” she said.
During the third week of July, Ms. DeSalvo traveled to the Midwest for college tours of Northwestern University, Notre Dame University and the University of Michigan, which has emerged as a serious contender for the teenager as she weighs where she wants to continue her studies.
“I really like Northeastern University in Boston, University of Michigan, Boston College, Boston University, American University, Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh,” Ms. DeSalvo said. “Although there are about six others on my list, these are probably the most notable. I either want to study international relations or history and see as possible careers doing something as a diplomat or public affairs officer or, if choosing the history route, eventually being a professor for higher education.”
The senior is in the Blue Devil marching band’s color guard. A member of seven different academic honor societies, Ms. DeSalvo is vice president of the Italian Honor Society and secretary of the Social Studies Honor Society.
The teenager sings in Huntington High School’s a capella choir and chamber choir. “I have an opportunity to sing at different venues, including football games and participate in the spring musical,” Ms. DeSalvo said.
The teenager’s current academic schedule includes classes in Advanced Placement US Government and Politics, AP Calculus AB, AP Micro-Macro Economics, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Italian, Regents Physics, Chamber Choir Honors and a credit bearing career internships with social studies teacher Kenneth Donovan in an AP US History class.
Ms. DeSalvo attended Drum Major Academy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for five days last July “to prepare me with leadership skills to be the color guard section leader in the Huntington Blue Devil marching band this season,” she said. “I listened to lectures and participated in color guard rehearsals for a family performance at the end of the workshop.”
August was filled with completing summer academic assignments, a family vacation to Lake George and Blue Devil marching band training camps.
Ms. DeSalvo’s closest friends include Natalie Ciccone, Zubair Ali and Maggie Lalor, but her wider circle includes friends from the marching band, such as Molly Kessler and still more from the drama club, including Abby Semelsberger. Then there are even more friends from her classes.
The senior’s favorite teachers have been Lauren Desiderio and Mr. Donovan, “because history has always been the most intriguing subject for me and I really loved the way both AP World History and AP US History ran and how we learned so much content within three years,” Ms. DeSalvo said. “Both teachers also gave me extensive help on National History Day and helped me place in competitions.”
A spectacular senior in every way, Kyra DeSalvo is shining as she marches toward graduation day in June 2020.