Valedictorian Profile: Joshua Giambra

The valedictorian for the Class of 2011 from and the says he hopes to stay local after going to college.

Joshua Giambra, an 18-year-old New London student at the Science and Technology Magnet High School, worked his way up to the top of his class over the past four years. He said the class rank is included on the report cards, and he went from 11th in freshman year to third in sophomore year, second in junior year, and finally first in senior year.

“As soon as I saw it was three, I saw I could do this and it kind of went from there,” said Giambra.

Giambra said he worked to bring his B grades up to As to earn the valedictorian title, which is based on grade point average. His GPA came in at 4.35, with five advanced placement classes contributing to the score: United States history, government, English, statistics, and calculus. He said he also took a course taught by a professor at the magnet school and a college-level English course taught by a professor from the University of Connecticut.

From high school, Giambra will attend the University of Connecticut at Storrs and go into chemical engineering. For earning the valedictorian honor, he has received a presidential scholarship award covering his tuition at the university. He said the experience will be new to the family, as neither of his parents went to college. His father is retired from and his mother has worked in banking for several years.  Giambra said that after graduation from UConn, he hopes to stay in the region.

“There’s a lot of options within an hour’s drive from here,” he said.

During his time in high school, Giambra was part of the math team, involved in robotics in his freshman year, and a member of the National Honor Society. He said he also enjoys playing chess.

Giambra will be one of the speakers at tonight’s graduation ceremony for New London High School and the Science and Technology Magnet High School. The commencement starts at 6 p.m. at .