The Sidney Central School District has announced the valedictorian and salutatorian for the class of 2016.
The valedictorian is Jillian Hornbeck and the salutatorian is Brianna Miner.
Valedictorian: Jillian Hornbeck
A highly motivated and conscientious student, Hornbeck is organized and detailed in her work and has always been academically independent and self-reliant. Throughout high school, she has taken the most rigorous coursework offered at Sidney, including accelerated and college-level classes.
Hornbeck’s cumulative GPA is 100.694.
Outside of school, she balances sports and clubs with a part-time job at the town library. A varsity tennis player for six years, she has played singles and doubles, winning the Section Four Class C doubles championship in 2014, and placing second this year. She also served as captain on the team.
Hornbeck has held leadership positions throughout high school, including president of the National Honor Society. During her junior year, she attended RYLA, a Rotary sponsored youth leadership forum. This experience pushed Hornbeck out of her comfort zone, teaching her a lot about being a strong leader.
She also had the opportunity to attend a national youth leadership conference in Washington D.C., which helped solidify her goal of pursuing a career in the health field.
Hornbeck is dependable and level-headed, and is seen as a leader by her peers and by faculty. She’s also fun to be around, kind, and caring.
This fall, she plans to attend Vassar College and study pre-med. She is the daughter of Jeff and Debra Hornbeck of Sidney.
Salutatorian: Brianna Miner
An intelligent, creative, and extremely diligent and hard worker, Miner understands the value of goal-setting and realizes that success can only be obtained through hard work and approaching each task with a positive attitude. Miner is soft-spoken, caring, compassionate, and treats everybody with respect.
Throughout high school, she’s taken a rigorous course load, including accelerated and college-level classes. Her cumulative GPA is 96.832.
She’s active outside of the school day as well, juggling sports, clubs, community service, church, and employment. A four-year player on the tennis team, she earned a spot on the No. 1 doubles team during her senior year.
A member of the National Honor Society, Tri-M, the Spanish Club, Varsity Letter Club, and Interact, she also serves as president of the Art Club, and was secretary of her class. Miner is also an accomplished vocalist and artist. She was selected for all-county and also earned the highest averages in her drawing, painting, and photography classes.
Miner is actively involved in her church and has dedicated more than 100 hours to community service.
This fall, she plans on attending SUNY Oneonta or Cazenovia to major in fashion merchandising. She is the daughter of Dale and Denise Miner of Sidney.