Lucerne Valley High School seniors William Smith and Diego Orozco walked away with top honors during the 2018 Senior Academic & Scholarship Awards Ceremony on May 15. The awards portion of the event, which was held following the handing out of scholarships, was hosted by Principal Douglas Ferber.
Both Smith and Orozco earned 4.06 grade point averages and were named valedictorians. Smith was named the Best Overall while Orozco received the prestigious Crystal Mustang trophy. The duo have also shared important leadership duties this past school year. Smith was elected ASB president and Orozco served as president of the Lucerne Valley FFA.
Marlen Cortez was named the class salutatorian and earned a 3.98 GPA.
The Top Ten graduating seniors of 2018 (in alphabetical order): Yicel Buenrostro (3.74), Jasmine Cedeno (3.48), Alejandra Cortes (3.83), Marlen Cortez (3.73), Diego Cortez (3.98), Jody Evans (3.73), Diego Orozco (4.06), Joseph Salbino (3.57), William Smith (4.06), Conor Weis (3.77), Kimberlee Welsh (3.70).
Mr. Ferber also presented the Helping Hands Award for outstanding community service to Megan Nakahiro who volunteered 529 hours throughout her four years at Lucerne Valley High School.
Athletic Director Brandon Barkley presented the 2018 Gabrielson Student Athlete of the Year Awards to Ignacio Perez and Jasmine Cedeno. The award honors the region’s best student-athletes and the top regional honors will be give next month. Rick Gabrielson was an Apple Valley baseball and basketball star. He went on to a play baseball and coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. After returning to Apple Valley to coach the Sun Devils he died in 1994 of an allergic reaction to an insect bite.