The Mayor's Award was given to Christian Santos, the valedictorian of Riverside High School.
Santos was diagnosed at the age of 5 with autism spectrum disorder and was in special education classes throughout his schooling until he went to Riverside High School.
At Riverside High School he was mainstreamed into "regular" classes with all of the students.
Santos was one of many on hand who had reason to be proud.
Christin Rodriguez was very proud and happy for her daughter, Angela Ortiz.
"I feel excited, but I am probably going to cry," said Rodriguez, who moved to Yonkers from the Bronx so that her daughter could have a better education.
Rodriguez is a middle school math teacher in the Bronx and was very impressed with the Yonkers School System.
"I am so proud of my daughter and so happy that she is graduating on time," said Rodriguez.
Santos will be attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the fall to study Video Game Design and Development and Computer Science.
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