Warwick Valley High School announces Class of 2016 Valedictorian and Salutatorian

WARWICK — Warwick Valley High School has announced and congratulated its Class of 2016 Valedictorian Lauranne Wolfe and Salutatorian Bria Metzger.
“The entire Warwick Valley school community congratulates these young women for their exceptional accomplishments and example,” said Dr. Larry Washington, Warwick Valley High School Principal. “Reaching this milestone demands a consistent academic focus and commitment that is not without hard choices and sacrifice. We are confident they will continue to challenge themselves to achieve their goals, and we look forward to watching them succeed and inspire.”

Lauranne Wolfe

Valedictorian Lauranne Wolfe will be attending Vassar College in Poughkeepsie to study history and math, and she plans to go on to graduate school.
Professionally, she sees herself teaching while pursuing her passion for writing fiction.
An avid reader and writer, Wolfe completed her first novel in the spring of 2015 and is planning to get it published.
Her artistic gifts also include music, and she is a flute player with the Hudson Valley Honors Youth Wind Ensemble.
She is a member of the National Math Honor Society (Mu Alpha Theta), the W.V.H.S. Writing Club, Book Club and Math Team.
Throughout middle and high school, she tutored peers and younger children in math, science, and history.
A 4-H member, Wolfe has also volunteered with “Families with Children Adopted from China” since 2006.
Perhaps her most significant contribution to the community has been her volunteer work at the Albert Wisner Public Library, helping with children and teen programs since 2009. She has been the President of the Teen Advisory Board since 2014, and the Captain of the Regional Battle of the Books team since 2011.

The daughter of Frank and Marie-Christine Wolfe, this young woman said she feels fortunate to have grown up in Warwick. She is thankful for great friends and inspiring teachers and mentors, and for a family who always believed in her.

Bria Metzger

Salutatorian Bria Metzger will be attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she plans to pursue an independent concentration of her own design in either marine biology or modern conservation methods.
Metzger is currently co-president of the local Mu Alpha Theta chapter and a member of the Orange County Academic League, Warwick Crew and Writers’ Workshop.
Displaying a multitude of interests from an early age, Metzger has explored poetry through participation in local poetry events, achieved an open water dive certification last summer and recently finished a three-year Science Research program. She presented her research paper, “Variability in the thermal threshold of the model organism Aiptasia pallida” at the Annual Science Research Symposium.
Every summer, Metzger works at Free Spirit Nature Camp, which works to promote the role of nature in the development of children and their futures.
The daughter of Veronica and William Metzger, she said she is grateful for the opportunities she has been given through her education and community, and is eager to begin her own contribution to the world.
“It’s important to pursue what makes you happy. If you follow what you’re truly passionate about, then you’ll be wholly successful.” Metzger is also thankful for friends, teachers, peers, and local poetry groups. “It’s inspiring to live in such an open and expressive community of people.”