North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
By Ruben Lowman
As the season begins to change to summer, it has been a banner month for schools and local students in the Loris area.
Students across the Loris and Green Sea Floyds education clusters are capturing national spotlights, breaking international records and securing premier healthcare pipelines, proving that big dreams and major accomplishments are alive and thriving in our local classrooms.
Leading the charge at Loris High School, seniors Caitie Black and Alastair Wriglesworth achieved a historic milestone by being named premier National Merit Scholars.
Out of a fiercely competitive national pool of over 16,000 semifinalists, Black and Wriglesworth advanced to the absolute apex tier, placing them among only 2,500 students nationwide recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for superior scholastic excellence.
And remarkably, that wasn’t the only national stage where Loris High made its mark.
The school’s DECA business competition team traveled to Atlanta, Ga., for the prestigious International Career Development Conference.
In a school-first achievement, the dual team of Caitie Black and Luke Martin advanced completely through the preliminary rounds to the global finals. Their sharp analytical performance placed them in the top eight percent of 240 elite teams competing in the Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making event.
Fellow Loris competitors Miranda Cuison, Natalie Contreras and Madelyn Singletary also delivered strong competitive runs at the international event.
Closer to home, the next generation of local medical professionals is already hard at work.
Loris High partnered with the Horry County Schools Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department and McLeod Health Loris to offer paid, 60-hour professional clinical internships. Eight local students successfully completed the program, gaining invaluable, real-world experience under the guidance of hospital leadership, including CEO Scott Montgomery and Dr. D’Addario.
Meanwhile, just down the road at Green Sea Floyds High School, standout student Hayes Clark was named the first-ever recipient of the Ronald Fowler Next Generation Healthcare Scholarship.
Clark, an active volunteer at McLeod Health Loris who already holds a basic lifesaving certification, plans to major in biological sciences at the University of South Carolina on his journey to medical school.
Rounding out this season of achievement, the Sheriff’s Foundation of Horry County gave a major boost to several local graduates at its annual philanthropic gathering.
Horry County Sheriff Phillip Thompson personally presented higher-education scholarships to seven deserving students across the county, with Green Sea Floyds High School celebrating two winners in Jackson Shelley and Cole Forbus.
From international business stages to local hospital floors, these exceptional young people are making their communities incredibly proud. Congratulations to all the outstanding local students on a phenomenal and well-deserved season of success.
