During the four years they spent at Salem High School, Will Donovan and Sarah Yunes never received anything other than A’s on their report cards.

And both students accomplished that while taking some of the school’s most rigorous courses and taking part in several school activities.

Now they share the honor of being the co-valedictorians of the class of 2008, graduating at the head of some 540 seniors.

“They’re two (students) who managed to keep that 4.0 up the entire four years,” said dean of guidance Heidi Greenlaw. “It’s definitely an accomplishment.”

Both students plan to pursue careers in science. Donovan, 18, will attend Brown University, an Ivy League school in Providence, R.I., where he will major in biochemistry. He was drawn to Brown, he said, because of the university’s open curriculum system. He hopes to work in research, perhaps in the biotech industry.

“I love all my subjects so I’m going to have a well-rounded schedule, but I like the fact that I can choose what I want to take, when I want to take it,” said Donovan, who lives in Windham.

Yunes, 17, will leave her Salem home this fall to attend the University of New Hampshire in Durham, where she plans to major in chemistry as a member of the school’s honors program. She aspires to work in medical research or forensic science.

“(UNH) just felt like a place where I could spend a lot of time,” said Yunes. “I felt comfortable there when I first went there. They have an excellent research facility, and I like being close to home. I felt I would be able to get hands-on experience and do what I would like to do.”

When she wasn’t in class, Yunes performed in marching band and winter percussion, and served as secretary of the biotechnology club.

Donovan is a member of the National Honor Society and performed community service work as a member of the Key Club. He also belongs to the Young Democrats Club and has volunteered for several candidates, including Barack Obama.

Donovan has extended his education beyond Salem High. He took a an introduction to biochemistry mini-course at Brown after his sophomore year, and last summer studied molecular biology at the Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School in Concord.

Those experiences, along with good science teachers he’s learned from at Salem High, set him on his career path, Donovan said.

“If I get things like B’s on tests, I feel like I haven’t really learned the material,” he said. “I just have a drive. I love to learn. I’ve spent my summers doing it. I love school. That drive to learn – even things I don’t like – that need for me to absorb everything I can in a class makes me get the grades I do.”

Yunes also enjoys learning, and she felt the need to prove to herself that she could do well academically.

She also credits her involvement in band, which consumed a lot of her time, for her classroom success.

“You spend so much time and you do have to push yourself,” said Yunes. “I think band teaches you to get determined and keep trying and keep thinking of new ways to do things.”

The “brains of the bunch” among her friends, Yunes was the person they turned to when struggling in a class. She credits band director Marty Claussen for being a father figure who supported her, and like Donovan, she credits several science teachers, including Mark Hillner, for helping turn her on to science.

For both Yunes and Donovan, their Friday, June 13, graduation will be bittersweet. Yunes will miss her “little family” of friends, and Donovan will miss the other students he’s gone to school with. But both said they are ready to move on.

“I’m definitely going to look back fondly on Salem High School, all the people I’ve met here,” Donovan said. “I can’t wait to be challenged further, and to learn more, and take my education into my own hands. But it is bittersweet.”