by David Flint
Ency Burhans, daughter of Jennifer and Derek Burhans of Berlin, will be the Salutatorian of the Berlin Central High School Class of 2009. Ency has been active in sports, the National Honor Society, Student Council, Drama Club, Science Bowl and the Family, Career & Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). She has been on the varsity track and cross
country teams for four years and is currently captain of both teams, specializing in long distance running and the discus throw. She has enjoyed playing the lead role in two of the Drama Club’s musicals, Guys & Dolls and The Boy Friend, as well as supporting roles in Honk and in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
The FCCLA has been one of her major interests. In the summer before her junior year she was selected to represent the local chapter on a trip to Japan where she spent six weeks living with a host family and attending the local Japanese school. She described it as an intense but great experience. There was a language barrier but Ency felt she at least was able to help the Japanese students with their English. Most of Ency’s community activities at home have also centered on the FCCLA – including the Relay for Life, the Rockathons for muscular dystrophy and cancer and the days spent helping senior citizens fix up their homes. In one activity unrelated to FCCLA, Ency enjoys singing with the Senior Ensemble of the Bennington Children’s Choir. “I like to keep busy,” Ency said.
Ency has been attending The Questar III New Visions program in Math, Engineering, Technology & Science (METS) this past year on the RPI campus. The program includes a lot of hands on experience, interesting speakers and field trips to visit experts engaged in actual engineering and science projects in the Capital District – and to do all this with other students who have a real interest in what they are doing. She has found it “a really great experience.”
Ency will attend SUNY-Binghamton in the fall, majoring in Industrial Engineering. She has always liked math, science and design and has always wanted to work in a field related to engineering. Industrial engineering she believes combines all of her interests and is a broad field that includes all of the engineering branches and looks to ensure that entire systems are working properly. Besides that, her uncle and grandfather were engineers.