Academy Charter School student makes history

A senior at Academy Charter School in Hempstead with a wide range of academic achievements and community involvements can add a new accolade to his resume: being the school's first student accepted to an Ivy League school.

Kimani Panthier, who has been accepted to Harvard University, is ranked No. 1 in his class and this spring will be part of his school's first-ever graduating class. Academy Charter School has added one new grade level every year since opening for grades K-2 in 2009.

Panthier's achievements at the school include being student body president, co-captain of the speech and debate team, and president of the National Honor Society. He also has been named every semester to the Principal's List and has received the school's Herodotus Historian of the Year Award for having the highest cumulative average score in the subject of global history.

Panthier credits his success to his parents, who are immigrants from Dominica and Jamaica.

"They propelled me forward and accepted nothing less than excellence," Panthier, 17, said. Of his love for community service, he said: "We cannot survive without helping our brothers and sisters. I'm passionate about people and seeing change in their lives."

Panthier's other involvements include volunteering at Calvary Tabernacle Church in Hempstead, where he organizes weekly youth services and has served as a counselor in the summer recreation program.