The 2021 Salem Community High School Salutatorian started school only knowing a few words of English.
That’s because Peter Haung came to Salem from China where his grandparents raised him for the first five years of his life after he was born in Kankakee.
“Going into kindergarten and preschool it was hard since I barely knew any English but I had a summer school session that improved my English alot so here I am. I speak pretty fluently.”
Haung says by the time he started second grade he felt comfortable with English thanks to summer school and then continued help from several teachers.
“Going back to elementary years it was hard to find people to relate to because I am in a way different. But I managed to find a really good group of friends and they were here with me throughout middle school and high school so I was very thankful for that.”
Haung’s parents run the China King Restaurant in Salem where he could often be seen studying early on and helping with the family business as he got older.
Haung was active in high school activities, including the band where he earned the John Philip Sousa Award. Band Director John Randolph says Peter was an excellent student who became trumpet section leader and was looked up by other students as he lead by example and was a very hard worker.
Haung was also an officer of the Student Council and was named outstanding Math student of the senior class.
As far as his future plans.
“I plan to major in Actuarial science and potentially minor in computer science depending on how it goes.”
Haung says it was quite a surprise when he was told he was the Class Salutatorian. It also meant putting together a speech which he admitted when giving the address is not his favorite thing. Haung says over the years he has found the people of Salem to be very welcoming.
