When Leflore County High School’s 33 graduates cross the stage during ceremonies Friday, the Class of 2022’s valedictorian and salutatorian likely will be feeling gratified.
Commencement will begin at 8 a.m. at the R.W. Harrison HPER Complex at Mississippi Valley State University. Valedictorian Alejandro Ortiz, 17, and salutatorian Tevin King, 18, both of Itta Bena, say they are excited to have earned the honor of leading the class and addressing the gathering.
Each has been a student at Leflore since kindergarten. Ortiz, son of Rebecca McCain and Gumaro Ortiz, is graduating with a 4.05 GPA. Ortiz said he has been motivated to work hard to achieve academic goals. It wasn’t just that he wanted to do well in school. He considered it a necessity. “I needed to do well in school. I have always known that I should.” Over the years, he made paying attention in class and keeping up with assignments personal priorities. “I learned to manage time well,” he explained.
Ortiz said he enjoyed doing well in all of his course work. “I never had a reason to prefer one course over another,” he said.
As a result, he’s received three significant scholarships to Mississippi State University, where he will enroll. “I am excited about being able to attend,” Ortiz said, but he, like other upcoming freshmen, is feeling nervous about going to college. “I am awfully anxious,” he acknowledged.
He is considering a double major in zoology and computer engineering. He likes animals. And, he explained, “I felt zoology would be a good fit for me.” Computer engineering, he said, would add “a necessary skill.”
Meanwhile, Ortiz is looking forward to commencement. “I believe I will have fun doing it. I have worked for it,” he said.
King, the son of Terrol King and Margetta Johnson-King, said he was in elementary school when his brother, Kamberlin, graduated from Leflore as valedictorian in 2014 and gave a speech during commencement. That opened Tevin King’s eyes to what he might be able to achieve.
“Seeing him go on that stage and speak — it motivated me throughout school,” King said.
Now, it’s 2022 and King will address the crowd at his own graduation with a speech expressing his gratitude to all of those who helped him to reach his educational goals.
During his years at Leflore, King was good at math and he liked it. Then, “in the 11th grade, I found a love for history,” he said. The course was American history and “it opened my mind to new things,” he said.
He’ll take that feeling of discovery and challenge to Mississippi Valley State University, where he expects to major in engineering technology along with electronics. He still loves STEM studies and wants to pass his knowledge to others by volunteering to coach kids in these subjects so they eventually can achieve higher scores on the ACT.
Wanting to help others improve their lives through gaining skills and knowledge reflects his understanding of the help he received along the way.
“I really liked being in my high school, and I learned a lot of lessons throughout high school that I can take along through life,” King said.
- Contact Susan Montgomery at 581-7241 or smontgomery@gwcommonwealth.com.
