Receiving the prestigious title of Salutatorian of the Class of 2015 takes extreme dedication throughout all four years of one’s high school career, and with the second highest grade point average in the senior class, Tommaso Dato is the student who earned this title.

“A salutatorian to me is someone who has stricken a good balance between academic and extracurricular activities,” said Tommaso.

During his four years at Becton, Tommaso enrolled in AP Biology, AP Chemistry and AP English. “[The AP courses] helped me gain insight and experience for the start of my college career,” he said. Along with the AP classes, he took advanced math classes and participated in varsity soccer during all four years of high school.

“It feels rewarding to be called salutatorian having worked hard and remaining motivated all throughout high school,” he said.

One of the salutatorian’s strongest influences was his science teacher, Mr. DiDomenico. Mr. DiDomenico helped Tommaso narrow down his college choices and wrote recommendation letters for him.

Tommaso explains that his journey to being named salutatorian began with “developing an effective work ethic and remaining organized, but also designating time to take a break from high school.” His message to all younger students is that being successful is only achieved by dedication and hard work, and there is a time and place where that hard work must be executed.

As for the next step in his journey, Tommaso will be attending Lehigh University and will major in chemical engineering and minor in engineering management.