Pierson High School recently announced its valedictorian and salutatorian for the 2023-2024 academic year. Isabelle Caplin and Chad Federico are both set to graduate from Pierson after completing kindergarten through 12^th grade in the Sag Harbor School District as valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively. Both students are engrained in their Sag Harbor Community, participate in athletics, and have taken on leadership roles within their extracurricular activities.

Caplin has a strong interest in art and English with IB Art and IB English Literature ranked as her favorite classes this year. Caplin explained the small classes sizes at Pierson have enhanced her connections with her peers and teachers and made class material enjoyable to engage with.

In IB English Literature, Caplin shared the class involves reading a large collection of books and having in-depth discussions to follow, which inspired her to pursue her interest in English Literature post-graduation. “I’m excited to meet new people [at University] and have discussions with peers and professors from different backgrounds,” said Caplin. “I’m excited to gain new perspectives.”

Caplin is editor-in-chief of the Pierson Literary Magazine which publishes two magazines per year. In her Junior year, Caplin re-introduced the print version of the magazine to make the material more accessible to her Pierson community. As editor-in-chief, Caplin writes articles, organizes meetings and receives article submissions.

Beyond her academic work, Caplin has a strong passion for swim and youth mentorship. An avid swimmer, Caplin is captain of the East Hampton varsity swim team and participates in the YMCA’s youth swim team, the Hurricanes, which consists of around 100 participants ranging from 6-year-olds to 17-year-olds with Caplin being the oldest. To mentor her younger teammates, Caplin runs team building swim sessions at the YMCA.

Caplin is also passionate about supporting i-tri, a community-based program that fosters self-respect, personal empowerment, and self-confidence in middle-school aged girls through mentorship activities and triathlon trainings and races. After participating in i-tri as a middle schooler herself, Caplin knew she wanted to give back and volunteer her time mentoring the young girls through swim lessons.

“i-tri boosted my confidence a great deal and I’m happy to give back that same experience to today’s participants,” said Caplin. “Including my younger sister who also did it and inspired me to become a mentor.”

Being a mentor for i-tri not only includes physical training, but also weekly empowerment sessions that Caplin helps lead at Pierson.

Caplin will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall to pursue English Literature. She attributes her successes to her parents and younger sister who inspire her to be the best she can. Caplin admires her parent’s ability to teach her balance and the importance of hard work and that staying close to your family is important as you venture to new places. She is excited to say “yes” more in this new chapter with hopes that it will lead to new opportunities.

Federico balances his musical side with his analytical side and has since defined his hobbies and passions. With IB Music class being one of his favorites, Federico has since completed a portfolio exploring global music centered around musical compositions and self-recordings. Federico is skilled in the trumpet, which he picked up in 8^th grade, and the French horn which he’s enjoyed playing since 5^th grade.

Federico also enjoys his IB Math class which provides a space for him to exercise his interests in statistics and analytics. Federico plans to attend Rice University in Houston, Texas where he will major in Sports Analytics and Statistics to one day help sport teams make better decisions toward growth opportunities and increased profitability.

Having been a baseball player all his life, Federico is interested in pairing the sport with his future career.

Federico is also a veteran cross-country runner for Pierson. His dedication to the sport comes from the exercise it provides, as well as the chance to bond with his peers. On a deeper level, Federico leverages his time running to connect with music and challenge himself to accomplish new running goals and perform at his best.

Since middle school, Federico has been the lead sound designer for the Pierson theatre group. Outside of school, Federico dedicates his time to Sag Harbor’s community-based organization, SAFE, where he participates in community centered awareness programs.

Federico explained his drive to support the Sag Harbor community came from watching his older cousins do the same. Federico attributes his successes to his supportive parents and grandparents, and his many cousins, some of whom he has had the pleasure of sharing classes with at Pierson. Federico is excited to meet new people at university and moves forward with the mantra ‘treat everyone with kindness and have an open mind.”