Pierson High School Announces Their Valedictorian and Salutatorian

Pierson High School is proud to announce their Valedictorian and Salutatorian for the 2022-2023 academic year. Emily Squires, the class’s Valedictorian, and Griffin Greene, the Salutatorian, are strong community members at Pierson High School who both found inspiration in their academic successes from watching their parents.

“The motivation behind my grades came from having a hardworking family. My parents inspired me,” said Squires. She then emphasized how she knew working hard meant opening the doors to the opportunities she wanted to set herself up for. 

One of those opportunities is attending the University of South Carolina Honors College with a major in digital communications and a minor in marketing. With ambitions to focus on social media marketing and video editing, Squires explained she feels confident in taking what she has learned at Pierson into the new experiences to come.

“I am 100% going to miss the art experiences at Pierson,” said Squires, “The teachers created an amazing environment. We have 3D printers, massive scale photo printers, fashion workshops, and more.” 

While Squires looks forward to a life beyond her local community, she explained she will miss Pierson and her classmates. “I am going to miss my second family that has become my classmates. After going through COVID together and then coming back together these last two years it’s been super bonding.”

In turning to the younger grades at Pierson, Squires offered words of advice that she’s gathered from her High School career and boxing at Hill Street Boxing in Southampton: “Do as much as you can. Anything that you’re interested in and want to pursue, do it, even if you try one thing you can learn from it. Things take time and you can’t succeed if you don’t fail sometimes. The success feels so much sweeter when you know you really worked for it.”

As the salutatorian, Greene found his motivation for academic success by watching his hard-working mother. Greene explained finding the right balance between school and life was key.

Greene’s values are held in establishing good character. Through the movies he watched as a child, Greene learned themes like helping others and never giving up even if you might be underappreciated. Greene’s appreciation for film has only grown as he plans to major in film with a minor in English literature studies at Fordham University.

 With college acceptance announcements on the horizon, Greene is eager to embark on his college experience. He plans to find new communities alike and learn what he hasn’t yet been exposed to. Particularly, analyzing scripts, literature, and film are topics of excitement.

 During his four years at Pierson, Greene has run cross country and gained the title of Captain. He’s contributed to the newspaper club by writing film reviews and has even branched out beyond Pierson into film and art communities like the Sag Harbor Cinema and The Church in Sag Harbor. “Sometimes we fall into the trap that grades and school are everything,” said Greene, “but you are allowed to have a balance. It’s important to balance your community and school.”

 For Greene, he will miss his classmates and how close they’ve grown most. “Since COVID, we’ve developed a strong support system. We help each other prepare for tests and projects and have really gotten close since going through COVID together. The people feel like home.”

 Photo caption: Pierson High School proudly announces their valedictorian, Emily Squires, and their salutatorian, Griffin Greene.