Valley News • www.myvalleynews.com • October 16, 2015
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Education
Murrieta Chamber announces students of the month The Murrieta Valley Chamber of Commerce High School Student of the Month Recognition Program was held Oct. 1 and five students were recognized. Murrieta Valley High School senior Amrik Kang is the top student in his class with a 4.76 GPA. He has taken nine AP classes and four International Baccalaureate classes and he is knowledgeable, caring and a thinker who looks for challenges and pursues uncharted territory to take advantage of every opportunity to acquire more knowledge. Kang has a passion for science. He has competed in Science Olympiad for three years and this year he is president of the club. Kang is a great role model for his peers. He is compassionate and kind and he said his knowledge would go to waste if he didn’t give w w w. m y v a l l e y n e w s . c o m
ANZA VALLEY OUTLOOK Serving the communities of Temecula, Murrieta, Wildomar, Menifee, Sun City, Lake Elsinore, and Anza weekly. JULIE REEDER, Publisher ROBIN THAYER, Publisher’s Assistant LISA HASLER, Accounting
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back. As a member of National Honor Society, Kang gives back by tutoring students who struggle in school. Kang plans to attend one of the University of California campuses and study medicine. He has aspired to be a pediatrician since he was a child and he is also interested in going into medical research. Although River Springs Charter School senior Joelle Sanchez is now an exceptional student, after failing several classes in her first year of high school, she questioned her ability to complete high school. When she started at River Springs, she worked hard to catch up on her credits and then she began to reach out and encourage other students who struggle in school like she did. Sanchez has flourished in River Springs’ independent study program. As a result of her hard work and determination, Sanchez turned things around and is now a straight A student who inspires other students at her school. Her goal after graduation is to attend college and become a veterinarian technician. Murrieta Mesa High School senior Karma Richards is fourth in her class with a 4.17 GPA. Richards has spent four years in the Naval JROTC program and this year, as the highest ranking student in the program, she is the commanding officer. In addition to taking seven AP classes and being a member of the National Honor Society, Richards is a three-year member of the varsity golf team, a threeyear member of P.O.W.E.R club, an accomplished pianist and an amazing artist. She is a member of Riverside County’s youth advisory council and she volunteers at her church. Richards has impeccable character. She is humble, quiet, respectful and kind to all yet she has a commanding presence and she is an effective leader. Her aspirations for the future include attending the U.S. Naval Academy and then serving her country for 20 years as a commissioned surface warfare officer. Richards said with elevation comes separation and she knows that following her calling to serve in the U.S. Navy will mean being separated from her comforts as a civilian, yet she is ready and willing to make those sacrifices.
Shown standing from left to right are: Founder Sally Myers, MVUSD Superintendent Patrick Kelley, Chairwoman Margaret Jones and Murrieta Chamber of Commerce Director Patrick Ellis. Shown sitting left to right are: Amrik Kang of Murrieta Valley High School, Karma Richards of Murrieta Mesa High School, Joelle Sanchez of River Springs Charter School, Julianna Corona of Creekside High School, Kyla Vela of Calvary Murrieta Christian High School and Jason Masanque of Vista Murrieta High School. KC Photography photo
Creekside High School senior Julianna Corona is Creekside’s student representative to the district’s Board of Education. She is actively involved with the student advisory group on campus and is she is on track to finish high school early in December or January. Two years ago Corona was diagnosed with epilepsy. She also struggled through her first two years of high school. Corona started attending Creekside in her junior year and she had her work cut out for her to recover lost credits. Although Corona thought she would never graduate, the teachers and program at Creekside were a good fit for her and she did the work she needed to do to be on track to graduate early. Corona plans to attend college and her goal is to become a registered nurse. Calvary Murrieta Christian High School senior Kyla Vela is an amazing young lady who is committed to her faith and to serving others. She has been on several mission trips to Haiti and orphanages in Mexico. Vela said her world came to a halt
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The Temecula Valley Woman’s Club sent 11sophmores to the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar at Chapman University. Pictured (l to r) are Mary Lou Rothacher, TVWC Immediate Past President, Jan Emde, TVWC Committee Chair, Havelynde LaBomme, Samantha Amy, Taylor Blumenthal, Jaden Hjelmstad, Nicole Held, Shelby Price, Courtesy photo TVWC Committee Chair.
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TEMECULA – The Temecula Valley Woman’s Club was privileged to send 11 sophomores to the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership seminar at Chapman University this past June. Recipients were Samantha Amy and Havelynde LaBomme from Chaparral High School, Taylor Blumenthal and Jaden Hjelmstad from Great Oaks High School, Oran Farkas and Sean Chevalier from Murrieta Mesa High School, Amanda Scanlon from Murrieta Valley High School, Marissa Bell and Gabriella Landes fromTemecula Valley High School and Samantha Acosta and Nicole Held from Visa Murrieta High School. Impower, Lead, Excel is the theme for the seminar encouraging the young leaders toward responsible citizenship, including community service and volunteerism. Many find that they become leaders without knowing it is hap-
pening. Some even return to the seminar during or after college and even marriage to help as instructors. Thus, using their leadership knowledge and experience learned from their first seminar. Students who were able to attend the Temecula Valley Woman’s Club general meeting shared their experiences. TVWC has been supporting HOBY since 1984 by sending two students from each of the six high schools in Temecula and Murrieta. Funding for the HOBY program is generated from the Temecula Valley Woman’s Club annual Gala scheduled for Nov. 7 and Home Tour scheduled for Nov. 14 and 15. More information can be found at www.tvwc.com or by calling (301) 302-1370. For more education news or to comment on this story online, visit www.myvalleynews.com.
Mt. San Jacinto College leads the way to a bright future in college classes and for careers
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Chairman of his school’s PTSA. At home football games Masansque helps out with the Golden Broncos, local senior citizens who attend the games. Masansque said his greatest challenge has been maintaining his 3.87 GPA while taking seven AP classes and being involved in multiple extra-curricular activities. Although he worked hard academically, Masansque said he cared more about being of service to others and seeing how he could influence his classmates and make their lives better. Masansque said, “People who change the world are the ones who care about others and who inspire them with their words and actions.” Masansque plans to go into the Air Force ROTC and attend college at UCSD, USD or Cal Berkeley. His goal is to go into the medical field after college. If you wish to learn more about the Student of the Month Program, please contact Sally A. Myers, Founder at (951) 506-8024. For more education news or to comment on this story online, visit www.myvalleynews.com.
Local students attend leadership seminar
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when her 5-year-old cousin died after battling cancer. At the time Vela was scheduled to leave on a mission trip to Haiti. In spite of her own grief, she went on the trip and says that experience helped deepen her faith and reliance on God. Vela said she learned that life is too short to allow yourself to get caught up in the small moments of life when there are hurting people who need someone to come alongside and help them.Vela is a member of her school’s ASB and she is the National Honor Society chaplain. In addition she teaches kindergarten at her church. After high school Vela is exploring the possibility of teaching in China and she plans to begin taking college courses online towards a degree in nursing. Vista Murrieta High School senior Jason Masansque has made excellence a habit for himself. He is the Cadet Commander responsible for the 280 cadets in his school’s Air Force JROTC program in addition to being President of Make a Wish Club, Vice President of the Rocketry Club, and Legislative
Courtesy photo
MENIFEE – An Olympic gold medalist will join Mt. San Jacinto College next month to kick off a program designed to prepare young students across the region for college and careers. Dain Blanton, a former Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball, will join MSJC at Temecula’s Chaparral High School on Oct. 14 for an assembly on the Get Focused … Stay Focused!(GFSF) program. The assembly is the first of 10 that MSJC will sponsor at high schools in the region to talk about the GFSF program, said Lori Benson, a career and technical education specialist at MSJC. She said she sees the
program making groundbreaking changes in young lives. “With Get Focused…Stay Focused!, by the time a student leaves high school, they’ll know what they want, and they’ll have a plan on how to get there,” Benson said. “It might be a community college, a four-year school, an apprenticeship and training, or it might be the military.” MSJC is able to facilitate this program thanks to a $1.4 million grant to the Desert/Inland Empire Region to build career pathways and alignment between secondary and post-secondary education. To meet that goal, MSJC is promoting the GFSF program to help create college- and career-ready students by working with a dozen colleges and many local high schools. MSJC serves as the lead for the regional CTE Pathway Project (SB 1070) effort. The GFSF program is used across the region from the Alvord Unified School District in Riverside to Indio High School in the Coachella Valley. It’s offered to school districts by a private company, Academic
Innovations. In addition to working with Chaparral, Benson said she has plans to work with other k-12 school districts in MSJC’s 1,700-square-mile boundary. Youngsters first learn about Get Focused … Stay Focused! in eighth grade. Ninth graders are immersed in the program for the entire year. Each student ends the year with a 10-year career action plan that guides them into the workforce. During the 10th, 11th and 12th grades, students spend 16 hours a year on Get Focused … Stay Focused! A community college version of Get Focused … Stay Focused! is offered for those who did not get a chance to take the program earlier. It’s called Career Choices and Changes. Get Focused … Stay Focused! and Career Choices and Changes start by asking students to ponder three crucial questions, Who am I? What do I want? How do I get it? Get Focused … Stay Focused! has appealed to students from middle school to college since it was introduced in the 1990s. Since then, research has shown that many
students involved in the program earn higher grades and score higher on standardized tests. While involved in the programs, students prepare personal profiles that describe their passions, their skills, their aptitudes – even their work styles. Students are also encouraged to find happiness through a balanced lifestyle. They’re taught to examine several ideal careers, learn about budgeting and finance, gain work experience, and study how to make good career decisions. Students also learn about the value of setting goals and solving problems. That includes getting the education and training they need and embracing many careers over their lifetimes. “Life is what you make it,” Blanton said. “Always has been, always will be. Won’t you join me, so we can make every young person a champion?” For more information, contact Benson at (951) 487-3438 or lobenson@msjc.edu. To comment on this story online visit www.myvalleynews.com.