This article is part of a series of profiles of 2025 graduating seniors in Salem high schools that will be published over the coming week. See the full series here .

Edgar Duran Alvarez distinguished himself by actually doing the calculus homework his teacher assigned.

He was such a reliable student at McKay High School that teacher Emily York teared up recounting his hard work in her class.

The respect is mutual.

“I would not be where I am at if it wasn’t for the teachers that I have,” Duran Alvarez said. “I love every single teacher that I’ve had. I love them. And I appreciate the work that they put in with their students.”

York began tearing up.

“I’m not crying,” she said.

It was York, Duran Alvarez said, that pushed him to excel in his Advanced Placement calculus class, earni

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