LBHS val and sal look toward the future

Posted

Long Beach High School will be hold its 95th annual commencement ceremony at 5 p.m. on Friday at the Long Beach Middle School on Veteran’s Memorial Field.

The school announced in November that Dillon Razler and Patrick Morris were named the Class of 2018’s valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively.

Both students are National Honor Society members and International Baccalaureate Diploma Program candidates, the school said.

Razler, 17, is the president and founder of the high school’s Future Physicians Club, which connects students with doctors who can offer insight into the medical field. He is a member of the school’s marching band and volunteered at youth soccer and baseball clinics. Razler also served as the co-coordinator of the American Cancer Society’s Spin Rides for the Cure and as an advisory board member for the Gavin’s Got Heart Foundation, he said.

Razler said he is the Key Club treasurer and belongs to a number of different clubs, including the Class of 2018, Math Travel Team and Math Club. He also played on the school’s varsity soccer and baseball teams and volunteers as a physical therapy assistant at Perform Physical Therapy in Oceanside.

Razler has recently received a series of scholarships including the Wendy’s Heisman Scholarship, the Larry Elovich Scholarship, the Long Beach Christmas Angel Scholarship and the NEFCU Scholarship. Last year, he earned the Excellence in Spanish award from Circulo De La Hispanidad and the Gaelic Quatrain Prize. He will be attending Cornell University in the fall as a biomedical engineering major on the pre-medical track, he said.

“If you believe in yourself, you can do anything you set your mind to,” he said.

Morris is the delegate chair of Model Congress, as well as a member of Key Club, Student Organization, Trivia Club and Future Physicians Club. He is the French Horn section leader in the school’s marching band and played in the pit orchestra for school musical productions. He was awarded the Spanish, History and Science departmental awards for his high achievement and dedication to each subject, he said.

Morris earned an Award of Excellence at the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists. He brought P.S. I Love You Day, dedicated to suicide prevention, to the high school, assisted with Relay for Life, co-organized the Color Run fundraiser, offered free tutoring services and provided volunteer construction work. He will be attending the University of Virginia in the fall as a biology and Spanish double major, he said.

Both Morris and Razler agreed that extracurriculars were instrumental to the high school experiences.

“I definitely think that Long Beach provides the building blocks for your future, but it’s still up to you,” Morris said. “Future students should get involved in extracurriculars because they provide a break in your academic life that also maintains your social life.”