TUPPER LAKE — Samantha Higgins is the valedictorian of the Tupper Lake High School Class of 2021, and Alexis Staves is the salutatorian.

Samantha Higgins is the daughter of Kim and Steve Higgins. In school, she has been a part of National Honor Society, yearbook, soccer and basketball. She has received many awards throughout her middle-high school years including several scholar-athlete awards, Section X Athlete of Distinction Award, Clarkson University High School Leadership Award and Academic Promise in Pre-Calculus. While juggling school work, sports and volunteering, she has maintained High and Highest Honor Roll throughout middle and high school. She has always enjoyed helping out where she can in the community and has spent almost 25 hours volunteering for the local figure skating club, almost 14 hours helping the local police department with the Bike Rodeo and about nine hours helping out other organizations while in high school. After high school, she plans to attend Rochester Institute of Technology to get her master’s degree in business. She is entering as a business exploration major and has early acceptance into the Honors college and the 4+1 MBA program.

Alexis Staves is the daughter of Jamie Amell and Travis Staves from Tupper Lake. Alexis has strived to achieve high academic achievement and be actively involved with her school and community. She has been a captain of the varsity soccer team and a distance runner for the outdoor track team, and has most recently chosen to try out her talents on the softball field. As a member of National Honor Society, she participates in community service for organizations such as the Family and Friends of Jamie Rose Martin, assisting senior citizens at the Adirondack Adult Center, and several others. Alexis has received many awards throughout her high school career including the Congress of Future Medical Leaders Award of Excellence and the University of Rochester Bausch Lomb Honorary Science Award. This fall she plans to attend SUNY Plattsburgh to pursue a degree in nursing.