Perfect. That was Alexander Harmuth’s score on the Chemistry PSAT II exam.
“It comes naturally to me. I just get it,” said this year’s Poughkeepsie High School valedictorian.
Perhaps it was his upbringing – after all, his mother, Anne, is a chemist, and his father, Mike, is a software engineer. Whatever it is, the science department will notice when Harmuth is gone.
“Alex is ‘Mr. Science.’ Years ago, I said that his name is synonymous with science, and all of the students agreed,” said science department chair Gwen Saylor. “I wonder if he’s ever gotten below 100 in a science class.”
Unlike most students, Harmuth took AP Chemistry in 10th grade – at the same time he was taking AP biology. He aced both classes.
“He’s an exceptional science student, and when he was in my class, I wondered whether or not I actually taught him anything,” laughed Saylor.
In addition to his love for science, Harmuth also played sports; he joined the school’s soccer team in seventh grade – after years of playing on the city team – and played throughout high school. When all of his friends tried out for crew, he did too – and made it. He’s also a member of the school’s swim team.
His favorite? Crew. “There’s never a dull moment, and being at the races is an incredible experience,” he said.
Harmuth is also a member of the National Honor Society and Science Olympiads, and is on the math team. So is Poughkeepsie High School’s 2008 salutatorian Brian Veltre.
Veltre also writes for the school’s newspaper, the Pioneer Post, and has played on the school’s tennis team for four years – he started as a doubles player, and began playing singles in his senior year.
Like Harmuth, Veltre also loves math and science.
“Brian is a quick learner, a hard worker. Things come easy to him,” Saylor said. Saylor had both Harmuth and Veltre for physics.
“Even though we know they’re more intelligent than us, they never made us feel that way,” quipped science teach Bryan Woods, who taught Harmuth for AP chemistry, and Veltre for AP biology. According to Woods, having Harmuth in his class was like having a teaching assistant.
Heading north
Both students will be heading to the capital district this August to pursue medical careers.
Harmuth – like his brother before him – will be heading to the Albany College of Pharmacy to begin the school’s six-year Doctor of Pharmacy program. Veltre, inspired by his mother, who is a nursing administrator, and football injury which lead to surgery, will study medicine at SUNY Albany.
“I’ve known Alex and Brian since they began high school,” said Poughkeepsie High School principal Margaret Pineiro. “The school is very proud of their dedication to excellence, they are not just students who ‘do the books;’ they are involved in other activities outside of class – they’re good citizens,” she said. “I believe they will both be successful at the next level, and I’m looking forward to following their success.”