Ellenville High School announced the Class of 2025's top students on Friday, April 2. Gabriel Julca is this year's valedictorian, with a weighted GPA of 99.6, and salutatorian Kayla Barbieri is close behind, with a weighted GPA of 99.3.

Gabriel, the son of Luz Mahecha and Eleodoro Julca of Ellenville, attends Ulster BOCES' P-TECH Cisco Cybersecurity program in addition to Regents and college-level classes at EHS. He is president of the Media-Arts Club, a member of the National Technical Honor Society and a first-place winner in the 2025 New York SkillsUSA Regionals competition's Internetworking category.

At BOCES, Gabriel has been committed to community outreach, creating projects to raise environmental awareness. He put together an educational book for elementary schoolers all about invasive species and designed a website about pollution. Gabriel is Ulster BOCES' salutatorian this year, as well as the valedictorian at EHS.

"He's a bright, disciplined, and motivated young man, and phenomenal human being as well," said EHS Principal Carl Pabón.

Kayla, the daughter of Dana and Geovanni (John) Barbieri of Ellenville, is on track to receive an Advanced Regents diploma, with Honors in Mastery in Science. She has also taken AP and college-level classes, including the SUNY New Paltz Writing and Rhetoric course, in which she was one of just three students to receive an "Exceeds" rating. She is involved in the Art Club and the Drama Club at EHS (Grease is her favorite production), as well as the ECSD Mentorship Program. Outside of school, Kayla works part-time at Barthel's Farm Market and Creamery and volunteers at the Borscht Belt Museum.

Principal Pabón praised Kayla as "a creative, talented, and smart young lady who will have a major impact in her field."

Looking back on their high school careers, both Gabriel and Kayla had teachers to thank. Gabriel gave shout-outs to P-TECH teachers Dawn Birnbaum (Math) and Noelia Santiago (English), as well as School Counselor John Paulsen and School & Community Engagement Coordinator Frank Mulhern for their support.

Kayla thanked her art teachers Jonathan Villegas and Rowan Kunz, and English teachers Rhiannon Fagan and Jennifer Meyer, saying that they "always encouraged me to follow my passions."

After graduation, Gabriel will continue on the P-TECH Cybersecurity path to an associate's degree from SUNY Ulster, after which he hopes to move on to the University at Albany for a Bachelor of Science in cybersecurity. Kayla plans to study graphic design at a SUNY college and continue to hone in on her artistic passions.

Congratulations, and best of luck to both!