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Chester County Press

Oxford Rotary Club honors February Seniors of the Month

03/03/2015 01:21PM ● By Richard Gaw


Oxford Area High School students Braise Alexander and Rebecca Portugal were honored as Oxford Rotary Club Seniors of the Month for February.

Braise, daughter of Michelle and Michael Alexander, is a member of National Honor Society, the Tri-M Music Honor Society, the Helping Hands community service club, the art club and the staff of the WOHS morning news broadcast. She is a cast member of the high school’s musical production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella which was presented on February 20 and will return for two performances on Saturday, March 7.

Braise is a member of the school chorus, choral ensemble and women’s chorus and also sings in her church choir. She volunteers with the music department team in the annual Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society, a two-day event held in June at the high school football stadium.

Braise has taught vacation bible school for kindergarten through fifth grade students for the past five summers. This fall she plans to attend West Chester University to study for a degree in middle level education, and would like to teach special education students.

Rebecca, daughter of Lorie and Howard Portugal, is a member of National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, the school chorus and women’s ensemble, and the art club. As a senior she was captain of the high school team in the Chester County Academic Competition.

As a member of the high school’s chapter of Future Business Leaders of America, Rebecca will attend the FBLA State Leadership Conference from April 12 to 15 in Hershey. She will compete in Spreadsheet Applications after placing second in that category at the FBLA Regional Competition.

Rebecca is a leader of the music department‘s Relay for Life team, which she joined in her freshman year. That year she contributed $200 to the team’s overall donation by selling candy at Critter Care Veterinary Hospital, her mother’s veterinary practice in Thorndale.

As a sophomore Rebecca was instrumental in increasing participation in the Relay for Life team and helped raise a total of $3,000 for the American Cancer Society. She assumed a leadership role with the team in her junior year and told the Rotary members how the services provided by the American Cancer Society have benefitted members of her family.

Rebecca began working at Critter Care as a receptionist and office assistant, and is now a veterinary technician. After graduation she plans to study chemical engineering at either Virginia Tech University or Drexel University, and then hopes to attend the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine.