Westport’s Staples High School announced today that Naveen Murali has been named valedictorian of the Class of 2010, and Morgan Patrick is the class salutatorian. 
Naveen Murali (l) has been named Staples High School valedictorian of the Class of 2010, and Morgan Patrick is the class salutatorian. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
Naveen will give a speech at graduation, which is scheduled for Wednesday, June 23. Morgan will deliver an address the night before at Baccalaureate.
Naveen’s academic and extracurricular achievements are far reaching. A recipient of the American Pharmaceutical Scientists first place award and the U.S. Biology Olympiad Physical Science Grand Prize, Naveen has been heavily involved in the sciences at Staples and beyond.
He has also participated in the Columbia University Science Honors Program, the Chemistry Olympiad, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair – where he earned the second place Grand Team Award – and the Synopsis Silicon Valley Science and Technical Fair where he placed first.
Naveen was involved in mathematics at Staples in various ways. He participated in the Moody’s Mega Math Challenge, the American Mathematics Competition, and the American Regions Math League.
He is a National Merit Scholarship Winner and a Connecticut Governor’s Scholar semifinalist.He is recognized by his peers not only as a scholar, but a leader in and out of the classroom.
He has been a three-year Math Team co-captain and a leader on the 2008 regional finalist and 2009 semifinalist teams for the Siemens competition.
Naveen was a staff writer and business manager for Inklings, a WWPT-FM radio show host, and a violinist during his four years at Staples.
He is the founder of BooksEd, Inc, an online site for collecting donated books for schools in need, domestically and abroad. Naveen’s senior internship is with the Commonfund in Wilton.
Morgan Patrick was the recipient of many academic awards during his tenure at Staples, including the Fairfield University Award for Outstanding Math and Science, the Bucknell University Book Award, The Freshman Award for Biology, gold and silver medals for the National Spanish Exam, and Italian 1, 2 and Spanish 2, 3, 4 and Advanced Placement Awards for Excellence.
He was also the winner of the 2010 Staples Key Award, an honor for which he was nominated by the Staples faculty and selected by the senior class.
Morgan has been a prominent member of the music community at Staples. He was the Class of 2010 Honor Musician and placed first in the state for musical composition in the PTA Reflections program.
He has played in the Chamber and Pit Orchestras, was Ensemble president and principal cellist for the Sophomore and Symphonic Orchestras, and served as vice president of the Tri-M Music Honor Society.
Morgan’s service to the community spans several major clubs and organizations. In addition to Tri-M, as vice president of the National Honor Society, he helped chair and run various school service events.
He has been a longtime member of the Staples Key Club and represented the school at two New England conventions.
Morgan has served the community coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts for more than two years as a part-time employee. He is currently interning at the Westport Public Schools central office.
