SHS Valedictorian Ready for the Next Step

Kevin Twerago has always worked hard. Now getting ready to graduate as Southington High School's highest achieving student, it seems to be paying off.

"He's always been one of those individuals who's always had to work hard, even back to his very young days," his father Michael Twerago said. "Since he first started school, he's always been studying, bringing his books with him if he had a dentist appointment, or on vacation with us. He's always pushed himself to perfection."

Along with being Southington High School's class of 2011 Valedictorian, Twerago's grades and involvement in clubs like the National Honor Society and Project Lead The Way have earned him honors including the Harvard Book Club of Northern Connecticut for his excellence in scholarship and character, a National Merit Scholar semi-Finalist because of his success on the PSAT and the Rochester Polytechnic Institute medal of honor.

While his work ethic and academic status speak for themselves, Southington High School Principal Martin Semmel said its Twerago's personality that makes him shine.

"Kevin is so humble, and one of the nicest kids I've been around," Semmel said. "He's hardworking, but he never flaunts it - he just gets the job done. We're proud of all our students, but when you get to that top set of students in a class with more than 500 students, it's because of a lot of hard work."

Twerago has also intermingled golf and softball with his academic activities, named the school's number one golfer as well. He was chosen as one of the two Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes for SHS.

"I love golfing," Twerago said. "I was really surprised to get that honor because a lot of people have to play multiple sports, so I was excited to get that."

Between keeping up his studies, academics and working part-time at a pharmacy, Terwago admits his journey over the past four years has been a balancing act of sorts.

"I don't have too much free time, but my job has been flexible so I've made it work," Twerago said.

Twerago will take those multi-tasking skills to the University of Connecticut next fall, where he'll study actuarial science in the honors program.

"I like engineering and math, and I figured becoming an actuary would be a good job," Twerago said.

Michael Twerago said the UCONN's department head for that program told him it's a demanding program, but he has confidence in his son.

"He's a hard worker so I think he'll do well and hopefully mix some social activities in too," Michael Twerago said.

For now, Twerago will enjoy the last month of his high school career, and work on planning his speech for graduation day.

"I'm not really nervous yet, but it's still far away," Twerago said. "We're taking a family vacation to Hilton Head this summer, which should be fun."