Aspiring engineer, CEO lead Mendon grads

Over the past four years, Trevor Burns and Brian Adams have led their classmates at Pittsford Mendon High School in different ways. Trevor served as the all-school president, and Brian founded the school’s engineering club.

The two will be the student speakers at the Mendon graduation Saturday morning.

Trevor, the son of Don and Kathryn Burns, enjoys public speaking and is excited about the opportunity to share his thoughts and memories. He will attend Northeastern University in Boston in the fall to study business in hopes of possibly becoming a company’s chief executive officer someday.

When he’s in Boston, Trevor said he’ll miss all of the people at Mendon.

“I’m going to miss the ability to know almost everybody in the school by name, but I’m excited to meet some new people,” he said.

Over his four years at Mendon, Trevor was involved in student council, DECA club and Link Leaders. He played saxophone in a few of the school bands, and also started a non-profit organization against texting while driving.

Main-office secretary Una Kennedy got to know Trevor well as he helped with the morning announcements the past two years and stopped by every day after school just to chat. “I will miss him as much as I miss my own kids when they went off to college, and I’m not alone in that feeling,” Kennedy said.

She noted that Trevor has become a larger-than-life personality in the school. One thing he was known for was his sense of humor.

Trevor and other seniors organized “dress like a lumberjack” day and a Thanksgiving feast for anyone who came by their table. On Halloween, Kennedy said Trevor spray-painted himself silver from head to toe and posed as a statue throughout the day. Last year, he was part of a committee that ran into classrooms presenting a fake oversized check for $25 million to staff members and taking their pictures.

“They got away with a lot, but that’s because it was always good-spirited,” Kennedy said.
Brian, the son of Bill and Ellen Adams, will study engineering at Penn State University.

While Trevor was selected to speak because of his role with student council, Brian was chosen by his fellow honor graduates.

“It’s going to be a look back at the previous four years; how we can say, ‘Wow, we’ve made it,’” Brian said.

In the fall, Brian said he’ll miss his friends, but isn’t going to miss the rigid structure of high school classes.

He is hoping the engineering club he started will continue in future years.

“I was looking for a club to join, and there wasn’t really any I wanted to join,” Brian said. “I thought, maybe I should start a club, so I decided to do that.”

The group did several engineering experiments and projects around the school.  
Technology teacher Todd Benz said Brian is like a second son to him because he hangs out in the technology rooms so much.

“He’s an exceptional student, inquisitive, not afraid to ask questions, and has always been one of the top students in our college-level program here at Pittsford,” Benz said.
Brian also enjoyed supporting his friends on the school’s sports teams.

He feels high school has helped prepare him for the next stage of his life.

“I think I always was an outgoing person, I think I may be even more outgoing now,” Brian said. “I always try to make conversation with everybody and get to know them.”