Jacob Caracciolo, put in all his effort to earn the title of Valedictorian.
“I wouldn’t say that I put a ton of work to achieve this role, but I definitely put in my best effort into every assignment I had to do or test I had to take,” Jacob said.
Bellwood-Antis will hold its commencement at Memorial Stadium on May 30. With the highest grade point average in the Class of 2025, Jacob will be delivering one of the keynote addresses as Valedictorian.
Jenn Norton and Holden Schreier are the Salutatorians. Sarah Garber (BAHS Class of 2009) will be the guest speaker.
“I am proud of these three students. Their hard work and efforts are being recognized, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for all three of these students,” said B-A principal Mr. Richard Schreier.
Jacob said that the most challenging aspect of achieving this role is having the feeling like you’re always competing with others.
“It can feel exhausting,” he said.
When he was younger, he did not see himself getting the role of Valedictorian in high school. In fact, he was shocked the first time he was told he was in the running.
“I can remember when I was a freshman thinking that I would just be happy with B’s in high school school,” Jacob stated.
Throughout Jacob’s journey, he has learned good time-management skills and that school is a lot easier when you stay on top of all your assignments. This role has shown Jacob that hard work does really end up paying off at the end.
“I feels like it is a nice award for all the time I have been focusing on school,” he says.
Mr. Schreier credited Jacob with taking a difficult course load.
“Jacob’s academic performance has been steady throughout his high school career. He takes our most difficult classes and works hard to succeed in each of those classes,” he said.
Jacob, who is planning to attend Juniata College next fall, isn’t fully sure what he will be speaking about at graduation, but he knows one thing for sure: he wants to thank all of the people who have helped him get this far and for all their support.
“I couldn’t have achieved this alone,” Jacob said.
Some advice Jacob would give someone running for the same role as him would be to have a good work/life balance
“I would never do homework on the weekends, as these days were reserved for relaxing and hanging out with friends,” said Jacob, who also found time to star in several B-A musical productions, including Shrek the Musical in April.
Jacob plans to major in Chemistry/Pre-veterinary medicine.
