Jake Richeal is the class of 2016 Salutatorian, though it was not always a goal for him. Jake said, “It just kind of happened. I just took my classes and got my grades.” Jake also said that he is glad that PR is getting rid of class rank because he doesn’t “want to be remember[ed] as the guy who’s one short of being better than everyone in his class.”

During high school Jake participated in marching band, Gay-Straight Alliance, WYSE, and pit orchestra. [Jake: Shout out to the trumpet section!] Music played a large role in Jake’s high school experience. Jake’s favorite memory was with the marching band when PR won Marengo sophomore, junior and senior years, but especially sophomore year. He said, “we were all pleasantly surprised that we won Marengo. It was awesome.”

When asked about his favorite classes, Jake answered Band because “I could just decompress there, play trumpet and just relax. It was something I was actually
good at.” He also liked Freshman Honors English and AP Literature. He said that Mrs. Hartnett, Mrs. Sullivan, and Mrs. Fuerholzer would “actually ask about important things and dig deeper into thematic elements.” He said that they “encourage[d] you to share what you think about the text and not what you’re supposed to think to get the right multiple choice answer.”

Jake took Introduction to Computer Science and AP Computer Science his freshman and sophomore year, and he plans to continue with computer science in college. Next year he will attend the University of Illinois.

When asked about a life lesson he learned during high school, Jake said he learned that, “I need to get out of myself every so often whenever I am confronted with something I don’t agree with or something I don’t understand. I need to actually stop and think about it before reacting.” Jake encourages everyone to “try and understand something before making a judgment on it.”