Provided by Prince William County Schools
The Gar-Field High School Valedictorian, Iram Sharieff, says her computer science teacher, Larry Baker, inspired her through his patience, understanding, motivation, and belief in her abilities to learn the material. Sharieff said she progressed “because my teacher took the time, three years in fact, to truly ensure that I was learning.”
Mr. Baker’s methods of explaing real-world applications led to Sharieff’s ‘Ah-Ha Moment’ one day after school. She said, “I will never forget the day he taught me about traffic lights and how they change based on a fire truck’s siren. I didn’t believe him at first, but the next few days, rain poured and I saw more than 15 fire trucks in action in a total of 36 hours.” Sharieff observed the sirens on the trucks affecting the way traffic lights responded. The experience suddenly made Sharieff see the everyday impact of the subjects she was studying.
Extracurricular Activities:
Varsity Lacrosse – Captain
Varsity Field Hockey
Virginia Governor’s Foreign Language Academy
National Honor Society – Vice President
Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America
Muslim Student Association
Academic Achievements and Honors:
International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program Diploma
Most Valuable Play Field Hockey Athletic Award
Academic Letter
Academic Achievement Award
Athletic Commendation
Youth Salute
Summa cum Laude Scholar
Community Involvement:
Tutor for Mathematics and English
Adventure Code – teach elementary students coding
Kyle Wilson Memorial Walk
Schools Attended:
Old Bridge Elementary
Enterprise Elementary
Belville Middle School
College plans: Sharieff will attend Yale University in the fall. She is going to study computer science, applied math, electrical engineering and islamic studies.
Salutatorian, Kwadwo Tenkorang
Gar-Field High School Salutatorian, Kwadwo Tenkorang, was also inspired by computer science teacher, Larry Baker. Talking about Mr. Baker, Tenkorang enthusiastically states, “He taught the classes so thoughtfully, that he always made me grow and challenged me to improve. He always made the class an enjoyable experience.”
Extracurricular Activities:
National Honor Society
Science National Honor Society
Robotics
EDGE Club
Chemistry Club – Captain
Academic Achievements and Honors:
Summa cum Laude Scholar
Science Student of the Year 2017
Department Award for Probability/Statistics
Department Award for International Baccalaureate Chemistry
Department Award for International Baccalaureate Computer Science Standard Level
Department Award for International Baccalaureate Computer Science Higher Level
Department Award for International Baccalaureate Applied Computational Mathematics
Community Involvement:
Church Youth Executives
Schools Attended:
Minnieville Elementary
Godwin Middle School
College plans:
Tenkorang will attend the University of Virginia, studying engineering, computer science, or computer engineering.
