The Class of 2019’s valedictorian Allison MacLeod left a legacy behind at Abington High School. The Green Wave Gazette’s Editor-in-Chief graduated on Saturday, June 1 with her class of 102 peers. She will be heading to Dartmouth College in the fall. She was a great role model student and newspaper member during her time here at AHS.

MacLeod was extremely involved in the activities at AHS. She was the president of the National Honor Society, a flute player in the band, participated in numerous musicals such as Oliver and Grease, was accepted into the 2017 Senior Southeastern Massachusetts School Bandmasters Association (SEMSBA), was a class officer for the class of 2019, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Green Wave Gazette!

Not only was she involved in activities at AHS, but with her 4.0 G.P.A. and rigorous AP classes, she obtained many awards. She holds two banners which hang in the AHS cafeteria. These banners are for top juniors, funded by the AEF (Abington Education Foundation) and include the subjects of English and Music.

This year MacLeod was the recipient of the Certificate of Academic Excellence presented by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, the Grossman Scholarship, along with fellow senior Lauren Nelligan, and MacLeod was in the top percentile nationally as a junior and freshman in the WordWright Challenge. As a sophomore, she was selected to attend the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) seminar.

MacLeod was also a National Merit Scholar and was given a scholarship of $2,500. The original qualifiers were eligible because of their PSAT scores. Those National Merit qualifying students were Madisen Caferro, Julia Do, Allison MacLeod, and Allison’s twin Neil. Then the semifinalsts were narrowed down to Do and MacLeod.

Becoming a semifinalist for a National Merit Scholar is based on your junior year PSAT scores. Although three Class of 2016 students, Andrew Johnson (currently at Clemson), Michael Nickley (currently at UPenn), and Tyler Moulton  (currently at Harvard), were accepted into the National Merit Scholarship Program, only this year’s MacLeod and Do were named semifinalists, which is a very rare accomplishment, because in 2017, there were only 373 semi-finalists in all of Massachusetts. To become a finalist and Scholar, MacLeod said she had to “submit an application that included my grades, activities and an essay, a lot like a college application.” She added that becoming a National Merit Scholar was, “a culmination of all my work throughout high school.”

Preparing for the SAT’s was something MacLeod did for awhile, but not for the reason you may believe. She says, “I started doing the SAT question of the day when my older brother Ian was in high school and studying for his PSAT because I was competitive and liked to see if I could get the questions right, so I had been preparing for a long time.” MacLeod’s older brother Ian, an AHS alumni, was also the Editor-in-Chief for the Green Wave Gazette. He graduated in 2016 and is currently at Stonehill College.

MacLeod will be majoring in computer science and minoring in human-centered design at Dartmouth. When asked what she is excited about for her freshman year of college, MacLeod said, “I’m excited to explore new topics that I haven’t had the opportunity to study in high school: engineering, design thinking, anthropology, linguistics, and whatever else catches my eye.” She also is curious about her future, and said, “I’m not sure exactly where my path is going to lead, but I’m excited to try new things, do hands-on work in the subjects I’m interested in, and figure out what comes next for me!”

With MacLeod’s heavy involvement in school, she left a strong imprint that will be missed. When asked what she will miss about AHS, she said, “I am going to miss the music and drama programs the most. The band room and drama club rehearsals have always been refuges for me.” She also added that the drama and music programs did a lot for her. She said, “It didn’t matter how tired or stressed I was because I had rehearsal to look forward to, and I could go spend time doing my favorite things with my favorite people.”

Not only did she make an impact on the music programs, but she also played a huge role on the Green Wave Gazette. Her hard work, advice, and encouragement always made younger members feel heard and welcomed. Her work and dedication will be missed dearly.

As for what MacLeod will miss about the GWG, she said, “I originally joined the GWG because I liked grammar and editing, but now my favorite part is facilitating student voice. The reporters have covered such important and interesting topics, from school news to national movements, so I’ll miss helping students share what matters to them by getting their articles ready to publish.”

We thank you so much Allison for all that you have done for the GWG and Abington High. We wish you the best of luck next year and in all of your future endeavors. You will be missed!