Photo of the Day: Commack Native Named Salutatorian of LIU Post

LIU Post has named a Commack native as their salutatorian for its Class of 2012. 

Melissa Yonelunas, 22, of Commack, is an English adolescence education major and salutatorian of the Class of 20120 at LIU Post, formerly known as C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. She has a perfect 4.0 grade point average and will receive the Association of Parents & Friends of LI Post Salutatorian Award for her academic achievement. 

Yonelunas said she hopes become an English teacher. Through her student-teaching placements, the Commack resident said she has found confidence in her future career. 

"Having spent four years sitting behind desks in various classrooms listening to educational pedagogues, developmental philosophies, classroom management techniques, teaching strategies, the importance of teacher-student relationship and anything else that you could imagine a future educator might need to know, I was finally about to put theory into practice as I took all that knowledge and actually made something of it by devising lesson plans which helped my new students learn and grow," Yonelunas said. 

While at LIU Post, Yonelunas was a member of the honors program, the pep band and played for the flute ensemble. She also served as a note taker for the Learning Support Center, providing class note for students who need additioanl assistance. 

"Melissa is very perceptive and her sensitivity to her reading, delivered in lucid prose, was all that an educator could want from a student," said James Bednarz, a professor of English at LIU Post, in a statement. 

Commencement exercises for LIU Post will be held May 4 at 11:30 a.m. on the campus's Great Lawn.