Education

Meet your 2011 Mattituck High School Val and Sal

Lillian McCullough and Colin Keil

Lillian McCullough, Valedictorian

GPA: 97.68

Lillian McCullough has done it all in her time at Mattituck High School. From her work as secretary of the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society to her mastery of AP classes to her work as captain of the varsity volleyball team and co-captain of the softball team, to her participation in the school’s Mock Trial, Chess and French clubs, her time at Mattituck has defined well-roundedness.

Lillian plans to attend Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., where she intends to study psychology and Arabic. She hopes to one day work in the field of forensic psychology, perhaps for the FBI.

Lillian said that she was never interested in class ranks, but she’s known since last year that she had a shot at being named valedictorian. But while her classmates were being given cars and gifts in exchange for good grades, something else was driving her.

“My parents never pushed me to do my schoolwork, but they expect me to do it,” she said. “I was good at taking tests, so I thought, why not try to be the best at it.”

She advises the underclassmen at Mattituck who will be seniors next year to take their senior year seriously.

“Don’t get too lazy, she said. “It can be very easy to do. But the thought of not graduating is the worst possibility.”

Colin Keil, Salutatorian
GPA: 97.12

Colin Keil’s interests run the gamut from wind power to theater, art and sailing. He’ll be attending Cornell University in the fall as a biological engineering major.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to graduate with. It’s a newer term. It can cover biomedical, designing prosthetics and artificial heart valves to building wind turbines, green energy and genetic engineering,” he said of his planned degree program.

Colin has been a member of the Student Council, DECA, Mathleague, Mattituck Mentors and the Physical Fitness Club and has played varsity soccer and tennis at MHS.

He has been teaching sailing at the Old Cove Yacht Club in New Suffolk for the past three summers.

Colin has also been involved in several dramatic productions at Mattituck and was one of the students who pushed the district to produce “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” its first musical since 1989, this past year. He also has participated in Art Partners, Art Portfolio Workshop, the Art National Honor Society and the New York State Art Teachers Association’s portfolio evaluation.

“Cornell has a fine arts school and a really good architecture program,” he said. “I hope I can take some classes there, but I don’t know how busy I’ll be.”
He urges students who will return to Mattituck next year to “get involved in as many things as you can. You want to have the memories.”