Division Avenue High School has named seniors Nish Keer and Andrew Zhao as the Class of 2026 valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively.

Keer, Division’s valedictorian who achieved an impressive GPA of 105.51, is a leader in several academic extracurricular groups.

As the co-president and co-captain of the Science Olympiad team, Keer is regularly among the top scorers amongst all New York State teams, having earned medals each year since ninth grade. His senior year is the second year as the president of mathletes, which holds fierce in-school competitions where Keer also performs highly.

In the Junior Chamber of Commerce, for which he is the president and cofounder, Keer collaborates with the Levittown Chamber of Commerce to invite local entrepreneurs to the school to speak with students.

Keer works with peers in the World Language Honor Society, for which he is the president, to organize schoolwide cultural diversity events that promote cultural awareness.

Keer takes a high interest in quantitative mathematical modeling, having worked with a Hofstra University professor before starting his junioryear to uncover underlying patterns in natural and man-made data sets. After his junior year, his research consisted of coding an automated algorithmic stock training bot, which has led to successful investments.

Additionally, Keer is a National Merit Scholar, earned the National Spanish Exam gold medal and has achieved a score of five on all 10 of his AP teststaken so far — a trend he hopes to continue with the five he will take this year.

Keer is committed to the Stony Brook University Honors College, where he will double major in applied mathematics and either pure mathematics, physics, economics or computer science.

Zhao, Division’s salutatorian who holds a GPA of 102.75, is a musically gifted student. Beginning as a clarinet player, he challenged himself to take up the saxophone and has soared. In both the marching band and jazz band, Zhao has performed a saxophone solo. He has also played clarinet in the pit orchestra for a production of “The Addams Family” and played the saxophone for “Lost Boy.”

Zhao credits his music teacher, Christopher Rossi, for supporting him in expanding his musical skills by playing the saxophone.

Source: LI Press