Cutline: Honor students from all Orange County high schools listen as keynote speaker Mickey Smith Jr. shares wisdom during the Honor Student Luncheon held recently at the Shahan Center at Lamar State College Orange.

Dave Rogers

For The Record

Orange County honor students had the honor of some sage advice from a saxman with local ties and lofty credentials.

Mickey Smith Jr., a Grammy Award nominee and nationally recognized education enrichment speaker from Westlake, Louisiana, was keynote speaker at the Honor Student Luncheon hosted by the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, May 15, at the Shahan Event Center at Lamar State College Orange.

Smith, a former band director at West Orange-Stark Middle School, is president of MusicMakers2U, which has donated more than 400 instruments to deserving youth, and he’s taught both students and fellow educators how to discover “The Sound.”

“This is one of my favorite events of the year,” Stephen Patterson, the Orangefield schools superintendent and Chamber chairman of the board.

“It’s great to recognize all of the kids from throughout the county who are honor grads. It’s great to hear all the things they are going to do.”

The event to recognize Orange County’s top grads has been held each year since 1981, according to the Chamber’s Lauren McGee.

McGee said much credit for the banquet’s success goes to Daniel Moreaux, the Chamber’s education chairman.

“It was a great turnout,” McGee said. “We had some pretty good parent involvement.”

Entergy headed the list of sponsors for this year’s luncheon.

Area superintendents, including Patterson, Rickie Harris of West Orange-Cove, Stacey Brister of Little Cypress-Mauriceville, Todd Lintzen of Orangefield, Keith Jones of Deweyville, Macey Jackson of Community Christian and Jay Killgo of Vidor, participated in the program, which included presentation of gift cards to the soon-to-be graduates.

Sabine Federal Credit Union provided the gift cards.

Bridge City honor students included Brandon Curl, valedictorian; Michael Tran, salutatorian; Catherine Alvarez, Brinley Bell, Meagan Bigler, Cameron Brooks, Jacob Cunningham, Elizabeth Doan, Taylor Fountaind, Brendon Hoffman, Hannah Huff, Hayley Lyons, Macie Moore, Nicholas Pfister, Ivonne Prosperie, Trystan Soileau, Peyton Trapp, Carlee Weeks, Hannah Wiegreffe.

Honor students from Community Christian are Jacob Carter, valedictorian; and Kalli Core, salutatorian.

From Deweyville, Caden Browning, valedictorian; Levi Wright, salutatorian; Allyson Bean, Maddison Bean, Alyssa Haney, Linsey Malone, Garrett Shannon, Cecil McCollough, AG; Savannah Linscomb, Family & Consumer Science; K’Leah Simmons, Business Management; Nathan Henson, HVAC; Dillan Marcantel, Science; Lance Reider, Building Maintenance; Chase Williams, Auto Mechanics; Joseph Williams, Electrical.

Honor students from Little Cypress-Mauriceville are: Kara Olson, valedictorian; Morgan Dollar, salutatorian; Jackson Baeza, Rachel Belcher, Sophia Boyd, Zachary Casey, Kati Foskey, Brianna Frenzel, Brandon Garrison, Rylie George, Julia Iles, Krystal Lester, Michelle Olsen, Nyah Patel, Eli Peveto, Karly Rogers, Ty Shugart, Shelby Smith, Daisy Sutton, Jordan Switzer, Akhil Tejani, Renna Toomey, Krystal Lester, Health Science; Ricky Rodriguez, Welding; Kara Olsen, Engineering; Derrick Martin, Computer Science; Ailania Mathews, Agricultural Mechanics, Nicolette Stoma, Veterinary Medicine, Destiny Trower, Business & Technology, Family & Consumer Science.

Honor students from Orangefield High School: Madison Taylor, valedictorian; Landen Tomlinson, salutatorian, Adriana Francis, Emily Havens, Jonah Landry, Lacy Leach, Augustus Longron, Trang Nyvyen, Ngoc Phan, Logan Risinger, Jennifer Tsan, Abby Overman, Human Services, Megan Gryder, Health Science, Kylie Williamson, Agriculture, Logan Forse, Welding, Kathy Nguyen, Graphic Design/Video Game Design, Miranda Y’Barbo, Audio Visual Production, Alexis Brown, Career Prep, Macie Adrio, Education and Training.

Vidor honor students are Kailie Cardona, valedictorian; Qin Heidi Huang, salutatorian; Kaylin Willis, Mallory Chilton, Kelsie Droptini, Kinleigh Balla, Megan Hatton, Chriseline Quirante, Jillian Simmons, Joseph Harris, Gabriela Garcia Martinez, Dylan Van Metre, Ashlyn Davis, Brittany Maniscalco, Julian Sanford, Mitchell Allen, Hayley Kinard, Bailey McDowell, Brittany Wofford, Nathan Trinkle, Lian Soto, Kyle Prak, Grant Holden, Emily Wilhelm, Gianna Maida, Elizabeth Hoffpauir, Erik Hauver, Baylie Bradley, Health Science; Zakary Letney, Computer Maintenance; Macy Hebert, Education & Training; Joni Ledeaux, Morgan Croft, Business; Audrey Kohn, Agriculture; Daryl Evans, Automotive Technology; Tanner Mitchell, Culinary; Greyson Burroughs, Construction Trades; Justin Denson, Welding.

Honor students from West Orange-Stark are: Abigail Stephens, valedictorian; Alexya Lafleur, salutatorian; Shane Brandao, A’niah Dugas, Ja’Coven Hinson, Jordan Johnson, Aliyah Mims, Jonatan Ramirez, Jay’zn Robinson, David Sargent, Makaila Simmons, Malena Warnell, Kalia Wilson, Shae Bradley Business Management and Administration; Carolina Arreola, Arts, A/V Technology & Communication; Ja’Coven Hinson, Precision Metal Manufacturing; McKenzie Lewis, Health Science; Damioun Apodaca, Construction; Ridge Chavis, Transportation.

Sponsors for the event include: Gopher Industrial, Sabine Federal Credit Union, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Granger Chevrolet, Port of Orange, International Paper, Arlanxeo, Akrotex, Invista, Lamar State College Orange, The HT Group, Total Petrochemicals, Heather Montagne State Farm, Moreaux Transportation Services Inc., The Houseman Company, Entergy, MCT Credit Union, Lutcher Theater, Nine+ Weddings, Pass Assured, LLC, Clyde V. McKee III, Casey & Leah Stark, Wellspring Credit Union, Johnson Mini Storage, Sabine River Authority of Texas, Golden Triangle Emergency Center, Dow Sabine River Operations, Bridge City Chamber of Commerce, Vidor Chamber of Commerce, City of West Orange, Kiwanis.