Education

SCEC Produces Largest Graduating Class In Territory With 213 Students

ST. CROIX – In between sharing rides to school every day and breaking promises to never procrastinate again, two friends snagged the top titles of the largest graduating class in the territory this year. Ali Boucenna and Chelsea Valery took extraordinary routes in order to come out on top as valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, among a senior class of 218 students. During the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Mr. Boucenna and Miss Valery didn’t let shortened school days at the St. Croix Educational Complex slow them down. The two could be found spending six hours every Saturday taking advanced placement classes in biology, calculus, and literature. Hard work paid off, and Mr. Boucenna now finds himself as the recipient of more than $26,000 a year to study mathematics at Arizona State University. The 17-year-old aspires to become an actuary one day but hasn’t cut himself off from other potential career paths in math. Ali Boucenna, 17, and Chelsea Valery, 18 pose together...