Superintendent's Spotlight: Abigail Yurchuk

Warwick Valley High School senior Abigail Yurchuk is one of five students to be designated as Commended Students by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) this year. To earn this recognition, a high school senior must achieve exceptional scores on the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (aka the PSAT). It’s estimated that, nationwide, more than one and a half million high school students take the test every year; only 34,000 qualify as Commended Students. That means Abigail’s efforts earned her a place among the top 3-4% of all test-takers.

“I wasn't really expecting to get that, but it’s very exciting to be recognized in that way,” she said. “It’s especially rewarding knowing how many hours I spent drilling so many practice tests.”

Abigail estimates that, Since her sophomore year, since her sophomore year, those efforts are somewhere in the ballpark of 70 hours of exam prep!

“I had like a gazillion review books and took every practice test available on the app,” she said. “I was constantly testing myself, over and over again, seeing where I needed to improve.”

That kind of dedication and proactive approach to learning is also how Abigail manages to be a perennial Summa Cum Laude Honor Roll student, which also led to her 2025 induction to the Warwick Valley chapter of the National Honor Society. She actively participates in the high school’s Orange County Academic League (OCAL) team, debate team, and math club. She is also a member of the national math fraternity, Mu Alpha Theta, and serves as a math tutor for younger students as part of the organization.

During her freshman and sophomore years, Abigail applied her enterprising approach to complete a set of online courses in music theory offered by New York’s renowned Juilliard School. That autodidactic effort resulted in a perfect score on the AP Music Theory exam she took during her junior year. Being a practitioner of the arts as much as a committed academic, Abigail found it interesting to discover the similarities between two of her favorite subjects.  

“The cool thing about music theory, is how connected it actually is to math,” she explained. “When I was learning to compose different phrases, I realized the structure is very similar to mathematical functions. There’s a sense of order and process similar to both math and music.”

In the spirit of a true lifelong leaner, Abigail also said that taking that deep dive into music theory and reflecting on her new knowledge changed – and even enhanced – the way she performs, a craft she's been honing since she was five years old!

“When I sing, I think about why certain chord progressions feel satisfying or surprising,” Abigail said. “It helps me emphasize notes that carry more weight and tell the story better. It’s made me a stronger performer.”

Her ability to balance artistic and academic pursuits is one of the many reasons Abigail stands out as a well-rounded student. She approaches everything she does with both creativity and precision.

“I feel like exercising both the left and the right brain is something that I do all the time,” Abigail said about her dual passions. And she looks forward to every math meet and musical for just the challenges they present, but also for the camaraderie they provide.

“Being surrounded by other students who are so committed to academics is really motivating. It makes you want to keep pushing yourself,” she said, making sure to point out that she finds the artistic and academic parts of her schedule equally rewarding. Ultimately, Abigail measures success by much more than scores and award letters.

“Being academically successful is fulfilling, but it’s not just about test scores,” she said. “It's about knowing that I gave something my all. I want to make an impact and inspire change in some way, so every achievement feels like a small step toward that.”

Abigail has been a performer her whole life, and has grown into an active member of the local theater scene. She directs the children's choir at St. Stephen Church and helps lead the Warwick Reformed Church Theater Company’s junior troupe. She is also a four-year member of the WVHS Drama Club and president of Meistersingers.

“This year, I’ve had a bigger role than most presidents,” Abigail explained. “I’ve been helping Ms. Hansen plan our itinerary for a Disney World trip and organize performances at different festivals. We’re also preparing to perform our annual Christmas mash-up at Radio City Music Hall. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s so rewarding to see everything come together.”

Read more about Abigail’s artistic accomplishments in this Artist of the Week profile from last year.

Beyond academics and the arts, Abigail also takes pride in the ways she’s been able to give back to her community through civic engagement. Whether she’s tutoring fellow students in math, mentoring young drama club students or leading local youth choir and theater programs, she finds joy in connection and service.

“I've been able to interact with my community in a lot of different ways, and that’s really important to me,” she explained. “We live in a small town community, and I’ve delved into that and found really great people from different walks of life. That’s very cool to me.”

With college on the horizon, Abigail is applying to several schools and varying programs. Depending on how the responses come back, she plans to major in math, economics or music. As she told us last year, she’s got so many interests that she’s “applying for music at some colleges… something like business at others schools… another place for pre-law.”

And the lifelong learner stands by the positive, go-for-it advice for younger students that she shared last year:

“You’ve got to just put yourself out there. Don't be afraid to try new things or to make mistakes along the way,” Abigail said. “I'm still trying new things. I'm still making mistakes. It’s the process itself that can be so rewarding. Even if you’re someone who’s still figuring things out, there is a lot of joy in that, a lot of fun to be had. I certainly have found a lot of fun in the things that I've done and continue doing!”