Things might have gotten a little tense around the Lubin house. For 4 years — ever since entering Staples — twins Eric and Todd had the highest grades in the grade.
The lead went back and forth — one semester one had a .001 GPA lead, then the other would edge in front — and as graduation neared, it was clear that one Lubin would be valedictorian, the other salutatorian.
That could have made for tense moments not only at dinner, but on the math, robotics and track teams — activities the brothers share.
Fortunately, they’re too smart to let that happen.
The final results are in. The top 2 spots — Staples does not announce ranks beyond those, and the end of first semester is the cutoff — go to Eric and Todd, in that order.
Eric Lubin, his phone and his myStaples app.
As valedictorian, Eric will speak on graduation day. Salutatorian Todd will talk the night before, at baccalaureate. In some ways, it’s better being runner-up: the salutatorian’s speech is held in a more relaxed setting than the valedictorian’s.
Plus the auditorium is air-conditioned. The fieldhouse is not.
Both young men will have plenty to talk about. Since moving to Westport in 4th grade — and attending Green’s Farms Elementary School, Bedford Middle and now Staples — they have taken advantage of a wide range of opportunities.
And done very, very well in them.
Eric is president of the computer club, a captain of the math and robotics team (which competes for an international championship next month in St. Louis), and a state qualifier in hurdles for the track team.
He attributes his academic success to “a lot of late-night studying,” the fact that he enjoys his work, and his “ability to log off AIM.”
He’s a math-and-science guy. “There’s always a right answer,” Eric explains.
AP classes like Chemistry, Calculus BC, Physics C and Multivariable Calculus are all “conceptual,” he says. “There’s a lot of problem-solving. It’s not memory.”
Eric liked AP Economics too — in part, because of the math.
“Staples definitely gave me the opportunity to challenge myself,” he says. He appreciates too the “teacher connections.” He could always meet instructors outside of class, to conference about papers or problems.
The valedictorian is perhaps best known for myStaples: a wildly popular multipurpose app he created for smartphones. It displays the daily schedule and all school announcements; helps organize homework; indicates time left in a class, and completes all assignments for every student. Well, maybe not the last.
Todd — the salutatorian — is also a captain of the robotics and math teams, and a hurdler on the track team. (He throws the javelin too.)
“We drive each other,” Todd says of the friendly rivalry with his twin. “We push each other to succeed.”
Todd Lubin
It’s an unspoken competition. And it includes not just schoolwork, but their many shared activities.
“Grades and school are important, but it’s also important to do other things,” Todd says.
“If you only do school, you’ll get too stressed out. That’s not mentally healthy.”
Like his brother logging off AIM, Todd has a time management trick. “If I have to miss a Yankee game and only get the box score, that’s okay,” he says.
Also like Eric, Todd favors math and science. “They’re tangible for me,” he notes. “I like finding the best way to approach a problem. I think in a very logical way.
“I’ve never had a class at Staples I haven’t enjoyed. And I’ve made connections with lots of teachers.”
As freshmen, Todd’s GPA was slightly higher than Eric’s. Eric took the lead later.
“In the end we would have been exactly tied,” Todd says. “But I had 2 extra A-level classes.”
In the high-stakes world of valedictorianism, A-level classes count a tad less than the higher-level Honors courses. So the fact that Todd got A+ grades in A-level Latin ended up hurting his GPA overall.
Go figure.
Though they’ve been joined in many ways — from classes and activities and captaincies and friends to their GPAs, ever since sharing a womb — the twins may take separate paths next fall.
Eric is choosing between MIT, Harvard and Princeton. Todd is deciding whether it’s Harvard, Yale or Princeton.
As with all things Lubin, it’s once again pick-’em.
