Attleboro High Seniors Honored

The Attleboro School Committee honored several Attleboro High School seniors Monday night for their academic achievements and "stories of success."

The recognized students were Tania Barzola Amante, Analia Cuevas-Ferreras, Keith Drucker, Ali Jenson and Bobby McCluskey.

Jenson, a vocational student, is a high achiever in the culinary arts.

"She's definitely going to be on Top Chef," Superintendent Pia Durkin said. "We're going to be hearing from her in a few years. All I ask is that when you have that restaurant, you put me on the top of your reservation list."

Jenson said of the school's culinary program, "It's definitely boosted me up to be better than I ever thought possible. We do all kind of work together to boost each other up to push ourselves to be the best that we can be."

She added, "The culinary program has been excellent to me in every way possible. It's definitely helped me to become a better person," she said. "I will be moving on to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. It's a really big thing because it's where I wanted to go to since eighth grade."

McCluskey, an AP student, will be studying international business at Massachusetts Maritime Academy after he graduates from Attleboro High.

"I think I really owe my success in Attleboro to the teachers and especially to the foreign language department," McCluskey said. "The AP programs and the foreign languages have taught me so much about myself. I'd love to travel the world and meet interesting people, do interesting things and speak Spanish."

Amante, who is from Peru, will begin studying nuclear engineering at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in the fall.

"I'm very proud to know her, as to the challenges she overcame to come here," Durkin said.

Amante said she believes in her own potential because of her time at Attleboro High.

"In my four years, I've learned studying academically, anyone can accomplish it," she said. "But in life, some things can really bring you down. I want to thank Attleboro High School for helping me."

Cuevas-Ferreras, a Quest scholar, will attend Yale University on a full scholarship.

"She is going to Yale and is going to show what Attleboro High School is about," Durkin said.

Cuevas-Ferreras said she would not be a Quest scholar without the Attleboro High experience.

"I came from a school that was completely different from Attleboro, where teachers didn't care," she said. "It was very difficult to get any feedback from teachers. Coming here, it was completely different. Teachers are absolutely devoted to their students."

Drucker will attend Boston University in the fall.

"He'll take BU by storm," Durkin said.

Drucker said he attributed his success to Attleboro High and its faculty.

"It has been incredibly instrumental into getting me into BU next year," he said. "The school system as a whole is only as good as the people who exist inside it."