By Eric Wasserman

Besides having the top three GPAs in the school, Elizabeth Kanovsky, Tamar Honig, and Jesse Goodman have unique academic and extracurricular interests. Their early and varied accomplishments indicate that they will become some of the finest leaders in their respective fields. 

While Elizabeth excels in math and science through AP Chemistry, AP Physics, and AP Calculus BC, her real passion lies in the arts such as music, dance, and literature. Kanovsky is a devoted member of the Steffi Nossen Dance Company, attending a four hour dance rehearsal every Sunday in order to prepare for an annual performance choreographed by professionals. As for music, she plays the cello in the school orchestra and taught herself how to play the guitar and ukulele. Elizabeth enjoys listening to recorded music and loves attending live concerts. Her dream job is to work in the music industry or for a musically involved nonprofit organization. Kanovsky held a full time job at the beach last summer and is the president of Poetry Society. After AP exams, Elizabeth will be interning at Gilda’s Club Westchester to help create a welcoming community of free support for people affected by and living with cancer.

The focal points of Tamar’s interests are dance, art, writing, and foreign language. Tamar takes dance classes and performs at pre-professional schools in ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, and lyrical. She has participated in eight productions of Westchester Ballet Company’s The Nutcracker and performed for international delegates at the United Nations. Tamar has consistently ranked near the top in the nation in the National Spanish and French exams. She has studied French with Language Studies Canada in Montreal. Tamar is a talented writer and is the Editor-in-Chief of Briars and Ivy, BHS’s literary magazine, and is the News Editor for the Briarcliff Bulletin, the school newspaper. Tamar even came in first place in the American Legion Essay Contest. She is also the President of the BHS chapter of the National Art Honor Society. She participates each year in “The Memory Project” in which she creates portraits of children from developing nations. Over the summer, Tamar is a counselor at Camp Kinderland.

Although Jesse has a wide range of academic ability, his favorite fields are math and science. Jesse has advanced beyond high school mathematics by completing Multivariate Calculus and Differential Equations at Westchester Community College. He has also attended the Columbia University Science Honors Program on Saturdays in which he takes enrichment science classes such as Organic Chemistry. Jesse placed in the top 150 chemistry students in the United States in the Chemistry Olympiad administered by the American Chemical Society. He spent the last two summers doing chemistry research at Yale University. He and his research group recently published a paper on their findings in a scientific journal. Jesse is also president of the Chemistry Club at BHS and is a member of the varsity lacrosse team. Not only is Jesse good at balancing his activities, but he literally has good balance as he enjoys snowboarding and skateboarding.

Elizabeth, Tamar, and Jesse have already had extraordinary accomplishments, but keep an eye out for them as they continue to amaze.