BERNE — Valedictorian Thomas Fisher believes his grade-point average was between 96 and 97 during his high school years at Berne-Knox-Westerlo.

But he’s less interested in his own credentials than in extolling the virtues of the school he loves.

His family moved to Berne after a chimney fire destroyed their Clarksville home, so Fisher has been a Berne-Knox-Westerlo student since kindergarten.

His sister, Michaela, was the BKW salutatorian two years ago and is now a student at Northland College in Wisconsin, studying environmental science.

The two weren’t competitive with each other, he said, but each was self-competitive for good grades.

Their mother, Tamara, teaches elementary students at Berne. “She instilled the idea in us that school is important,” said Fisher.

Their father, Eric, drives a big truck and operates a crane, installing foundation panels for new homes. Both of his parents, Fisher said, are “very proud” of him.

Fisher said he enjoyed the “tight-knit community” at BKW. “A lot of people said, at a small, rural school, you’ll miss out on opportunities. But,” Fisher said, “BKW gave me opportunities to excel. I had excellent teachers.”

Fisher found a slew of opportunities opened for his wide variety of interests.

One of his favorite BKW teachers was Coriellen Travis, who coordinates the school musicals. “She made the musical and band a great time,” said Fisher.

Fisher started his band career playing the clarinet, and then moved to the bass clarinet, and finally to the contra alto clarinet. He was inspired by two of his friends who started playing a lower register of the saxophone.

Fisher is also an athlete and played varsity soccer for BKW all four years of high school.

“We won the WAC championship for the last two years,” he said of the Western Athletic Conference. He enjoyed playing soccer with his friends.

Another favorite teacher was Audra Rys, who taught Fisher American literature. One of Fisher’s favorite books is “The Lightning Thief,” the first book in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympian series.

Fisher likes fantasy books and the Percy Jackson books have the added attraction of exploring the ancient Greek culture, he said.

Fisher also has high regard for teacher Robert Bentley, who taught Fisher Advanced Placement, which is college level, United States history. “He was very passionate about his job,” Fisher said of Bentley. “He helped me get a top score on the AP exam.”

Bentley also pointed Fisher to the New Visions program for his senior year, which was a highlight of his high school career. In the Board of Cooperative Educational Services program, Fisher, under the tutelage of attorney Richard Bader, studied law and government. “I went to the capitol every day,” he said.

As part of the New Visions program, Fisher observed cases being tried in Albany County Criminal Court and also had an internship in the State Senate, working in the office of Gustavo Rivera, from the northern Bronx, in which he read pending legislation, “summarizing what was happening,” he said, and observed committee meetings.

Fisher’s class, led by Bader, entered the “We The People” competition. They won the regional competition and were the first Capital District team in the history of the competition to win at the state level, he said, which sent the team to Washington, D.C.

“My team placed 10th and the entire team placed 17th,” said Fisher, noting that 56 teams from across the country participated.

The trip wouldn’t have been possible, Fisher said, without funding and support from local groups like the American Legion and the Teachers’ Association, said Fisher.

In the fall, Fisher will attend American University in Washington, D.C. He received one of 23 honors scholarship at his first-choice school, said Fisher, who plans to graduate in three years, focusing on criminal law.

He wants to go to law school after he graduates, and has his eye on a career in government.

In high school, Fisher served on a Youth Advisory Board for the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, which helped design a webpage and did outreach on an anti-bullying campaign.

Fisher said he was also asked for advice on sentencing in a case where high school seniors had written graffiti with “some very offensive language.” Reading over the case, Fisher advised that the students be sentenced to community service to clean up the graffiti and that they be fined rather than serving time in jail.

He explained his reasoning: “The criminal justice system has two purposes for punishment — one is rehabilitation so they won’t do it again, and the other is incarceration so they can’t do it again.” He said it was unlikely the high school seniors would be repeat offenders.

“They did end up paying a fine, with no jail time, I believe,” he said.

Fisher wrote his valedictory address well ahead of the June 27 ceremony and summed up its theme this way: “You get out of life what you put into it,” he said.

That seems to sum up his life as well.