Friendly competition drives top two students

“They told me they knew I could do it … but I kept it quiet because I didn’t want to get their hopes up,” Ozaukee High School senior Tessa Thomas said about telling her family she was in the running to be valedictorian.

She won the top spot with a weighted grade-point average of 4.277. 

Throughout high school, Ieva Juodeikis kept an eye on Thomas, climbing from No. 5 to No. 2. She was named salutatorian with a weighted GPA of 4.267. 

“(Being salutatorian) wasn’t really a goal in the beginning,” Juodeikis said. “Once I made it there, I was like, ‘Well, I might as well stay here.’”

Locked into a friendly competition, the students were on the same page about what the ranking meant to them.

“We always made sure that the other knew it was our own personal thing,” Thomas said. 

The two became good acquaintances since they participated in many college-level Advanced Placement classes together, often partnering up on projects. Each completed eight AP courses.

Thomas said AP calculus, taught by Steve Akin, was both her favorite and yet the most difficult course she’s taken. 

“(Mr. Akin) was super supportive. He was always there to help you, and it wasn’t serious all the time,” Thomas said. “You were able to just be you.”

Thomas was inspired to work hard in the classroom after watching her parents experience stress about a sibling’s academic performance.

“My family was always there for me and super proud,” Thomas said.

She comes from a blended family with four parents — Sara and Andy Vandeboom and Chris and Jenny Thomas — who have all supported her academic journey.

Thomas also enjoyed AP chemistry and will attend the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse to study biochemistry. She worked as a water laboratory apprentice for the Village of Fredonia for the last three years and wants to become an oncology researcher — a career inspired by her aunt and grandmother, who both battled cancer.

“I got to see the effect it had on them firsthand,” Thomas said. “I just want to help people.”

Juodeikis’ favorite AP class was AP literature. This year the class read several books, including “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr, which Juodeikis said was her favorite.

She has a love for languages and enjoyed  AP Spanish. Her parents, Jurate and Raimundas, immigrated from Lithuania in 2003. The family speaks Lithuanian at home. 

Frequent trips to see family and multiple “caminos” — month-long walking pilgrimages across Spain, Portugal and France — filled Juodeikis with a love for traveling she hopes to carry into her future profession.

Juodeikis hopes to attend a college somewhere in Europe to study international relations or political science. Her goal is to work as a foreign service officer or an English instructor.

“My parents never instilled any sort of limiting beliefs in me,” Juodeikis said. “Whatever ambition I expressed, they always supported and never shot it down or told me it wasn’t possible.”

Juodeikis has been a member of the dance team and participated in school musicals for four years. She also ran track for three years. She also loves to crochet — she even crafted the dress she wore at graduation, which took around a month and a half to complete.

Thomas was also an athlete, playing two years of junior varsity volleyball and two years on the varsity team as libero. She often brought homework when she watched the JV team play in order to stay on top of school work.

She hopes incoming freshmen get comfortable making mistakes and build strong relationships with their teachers, who are usually willing to be flexible with students.

“They are always there for you,” Thomas said. “They will always help you when you need it.” 

Juodeikis warned against letting others’ opinions dictate your self worth.

“Most of these people that you’re surrounded by are just a small blip in your life unless you want them to be more,” Juodeikis said. “You shouldn’t give their opinions weight unless the person matters to you too.”