Onovu Otitigbe-Dangerfield just made history as the first Black valedictorian in her New York high school’s 152-year history reported Black News.
The Albany High School senior, with a near-perfect GPA, is graduating from a school founded during the Reconstruction era in America where freed Blacks were promised educational opportunities that didn’t exist during slavery.
Onovu told WNYT how she felt about the historical legacy of her accomplishment and what it means for Black students in the future.
“I think that just being able to be valedictorian is an amazing accomplishment. I’m very privileged to be in that position but to have some historical meaning behind it,” she said. “To have a position where in my school there’s a lot of students who look like me, now I’ll have an opportunity to live by that mantra –if you can see it you can be it.”
Not only is Onovu a stellar student, but she has also been an active part of her school community through a number of extracurricular activities. She is the editor-in-chief of the school’s online newspaper, a member of the soccer team, president of the robotics team, a member of the Select Choir, plays both piano and violin for the Jazz Improv Band, and is president of the Key Club.
And on top of her busy school schedule, she works at a nursing home on the weekends.
The ambitious teen told WNYT, “I think one of the things about me is if you tell me I can’t do something, I’m going to do it.”
Ellen Hurley Green, Onovu’s guidance counselor since middle school raved about the teen she says is one of the best to have crossed her path in 30 years.
“She is definitely a treasure,” said Green. “I’ve been in the district for 30 years and honestly I can’t say I’ve ever seen someone with so much poise, so much grace, and so much humility, along with so much sparkle in everything she does.”
Onovu’s journey will not end at Albany High School. She is looking forward to attending college in the fall.
So far, she has been accepted by a number of prestigious colleges and universities, including Yale, Harvard, Cornell, John’s Hopkins, and Georgia Tech.
