He combines his year 13 academic course at the the East Otago High School with a range of school and community activities.
He has the support of a close-knit family, living at Flag Swamp, 6km from Palmerston.
He is studying chemistry, physics, biology, calculus and English.
He hopes to study health sciences at the University of Otago next year and gain entry to the Medical School.
He would like to specialise as a pediatrician after qualifying.
His school and community activities include teaching drums to younger students, being a peer group leader and a reading tutor.
He also volunteers in the school office before school and in the school canteen.
He is a member of the Presbyterian church youth group and teaches a Sunday school class of 7- to 12-year-olds.
He received an award of $250 for himself and $250 to be donated to a community group of his choosing.
He donated his $250 community group award to the Palmerston Presbyterian Church, which won second place in the education and child youth development awards for their Funtastic Friday after-school children's programme.
This fits in well with the involvement by Ray, his family and other members of the Palmerston Filipino community with the Palmerston Presbyterian church.
Ray is supported by his close family.
His father Ramon and mother Hope immigrated with their family of five children from the Philippines to New Zealand in 2005.
Ramon Quijano works as a site administrator at Gough Gough and Hamer, contractors at the OceanaGold mine at Macraes.
Mr Quijano trained as a mechanic and then worked as a technician in the Philippines.
Three other Gough Gough and Hamer staff members have come from the Philippines to work at Macraes.
The Quijano family came from Cebu to New Zealand.
Cebu's area is smaller than Otago and has four million occupants.
There are 67 million people in the Philippines.
Mrs Quijano said it was very crowded there in contrast to New Zealand.
The Quijanos considered having their children, who range in age from 18 to 6, educated in Dunedin.
They decided to keep them at East Otago High School and at the Flag Swamp Primary School because the children were working hard and the children did not want to change schools.
English is the first language taught in schools in the Philippines and that has helped the Quijano children adapt to New Zealand.
Tagalog, the Philippines' language, is based on Spanish, with about 20% of words being Spanish, Mr Quijano said.
The families from the Philippines have made an impact on churchgoing in Palmerston.
Up to 20% of the 90 to 100 people who regularly attend Sunday services at the St James Presbyterian Church in Palmerston are members of the Filipino community.
There are four Filipino families living in the Palmerston area with a total of 21 adults and children attending Palmerston church services.
The issue for Ray and the Quijano family now is whether he will board or flat in Dunedin when he attends university next year or whether he will commute each day from Flag Swamp.
The family has New Zealand residency and would like to become naturalised.
Citizenship costs so much for a big family at $600 per adult and $400 per child, Mr Quijano said.
They are at Macraes for the seven-year mine life of the Macraes gold fields.
If mining continues after 2016 they will stay on.
He does not plan to work at Didipio if OceanaGold raises money for that.
