Family and community led the way for high school valedictorian

This year’s high school graduates have faced upheavals unlike any class in memory, but Tatiana Mendez, the valedictorian of Boston Preparatory Charter Public School in Hyde Park, believes the challenges she and her peers have endured are preparing them to build a better future.

“I feel like our generation is just going to be picking up the slack for this entire moment. . . . It’s just about going beyond this, just being those leaders for the future,” said Tatiana, 19, as she smiled and chuckled through a socially distanced interview last week.

Having overcome early learning challenges that had her left behind in first grade, Tatiana has gone on to an impressive academic record that she largely directed herself, devoting long hours to her studies while her single mother worked several housekeeping jobs to support their family.