VOORHEESVILLE — When asked his fondest memory of his Voorheesville education, this year’s valedictorian, Matt Lombardi, said, "My whole senior year as a class."
"We had so much success, so many doing well academically — going onto great colleges and, the baseball, volleyball, and basketball teams had great years with a lot of students going out and supporting that as well," he said.

On the afternoon of graduation Lombardi told The Enterprise that the ceremony would make for "a really tough night," reflecting on the years, but also realizing "this will be our last moment all together."
Lombardi had the highest grade-point average of his class and a regorous schedule full of advanced classes. His two favorite classes at Voorheesville were AP chemistry and AP economics, because they had great teachers "who were passionate about the subject and I liked the subjects alot, so it was really fun," he said.

The chemistry teacher was Anthony Thanopoulos, and Pat Kuritian was his economics teacher.
Lombardi is going to the University of Pennsylvania in Philidelpia in the fall, with intensions of studying economics. "It’s a nice campus but within a city still," Lambardi said, highlinght a few of the reasons he chose this Ivy League liberal arts school.

At Voorheesville, Lombardi was the editor of the school newspaper, part of the mock trial team, and went to the model United Nations club’s conference at Yale this year.

Lombardi played volleyball and baseball for the Blackbirds. He’s been playing baseball since he was a child and this year his team won the Colonial Council. He started playing volleyball his junior year, he said, and then the team went on to win the Regional Championship this year.
"I’ve always loved athletics. I like competition; it’s fun and I think it brings out the best in people," Lombardi said.
It was the small close-knit community of Voorheesville that helped his classmates and himself graduate, Lombardi said. He appreciates the way that the community and school interact and consequently grow together, he said. And, he said, "I couldn’t have gotten were I’ve gotten without the teachers and staff that make Voorheesville."