Chambers of Commerce honor February Students of Month

Front row, from left: An Khang Nguyen, Perris High School; Chelsea Linares, Paloma Valley High School; and Edem Sedor, Heritage High School (not pictured, Yuridia Villagrana, Perris Lake High School). Back row: Sally Myers, Founder; Kirk Skorpanich, Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce; Grant Bennett, Superintendent, Perris Union High School District; and Mayor Bill Zimmerman, City of Menifee.

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The Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce and Perris Valley Chamber of Commerce recently honored local high school Students of the Month for February.

The students are nominated by their teachers and staff at their respective school sites and are chosen for their character, integrity, love of learning, ability to persevere and overcome challenging circumstances, community service, and how they make a difference on their high school campus.

February’s students and their families attended a breakfast sponsored by the Perris and Menifee Chambers of Commerce along with local businesses and organizations. Principals and teachers from each high school shared stories about the students and they each received certificates of recognition, numerous gifts, congratulations and encouragement from local, county, state and federal dignitaries.

Heritage High School’s Edem Sedor is February’s Student of the Month. Edem currently holds a 4.2 GPA and is involved in a number of organizations, including AVID, French Honor Society, FFA, and competing in track and field. Edem is described by staff as humble, gracious, respectful, and hard working. His former AP Language teacher and now Assistant Principal, Mr. LaRochelle, indicated that Edem is the epitome of integrity.

Edem shared that one lesson he has learned, and will take with him to college, is to know yourself. He said that it’s important to know your strengths and weaknesses so you could supplement those, especially as he prepares for college and being on his own for the first time in his life. Edem plans to attend UC Santa Cruz, majoring in arts and design in media, to become a video game concept artist.

Chelsea Linares is Paloma Valley High School’s Student of the Month. Chelsea currently holds a 4.0 GPA and takes multiple AP courses. She has a love of nature and animals, and she volunteers at the Animal Friends of the Valley shelter. Chelsea is a peer tutor and was in Mr. Walsh’s classroom last year.

Mr. Walsh described Chelsea as a friend to the students at Paloma Valley. As a peer tutor, she was instrumental in creating a calm presence in his classroom to both him and his students. Chelsea is also very passionate about veganism. In fact, she has started the My Kind of Life club for students and staff who are pursuing a plant-based lifestyle. The club educates and promotes different kinds of eating styles, one of which is veganism. Chelsea plans to attend UC Irvine and major in business. Her goal is to create a fast food restaurant to promote veganism.

Perris High School’s Student of the Month is An Khan Nguyen. An Khan and his family migrated from Vietnam to the United States in 2016. In the three years he has lived here, he has been amazing, not only learning how to speak English, but taking multiple AP courses as well.

An Khang shared that he was quite intimidated when he first came to the U.S. The environment, the people, and the culture were so different. He admitted that the most difficult challenge was getting to know people. Which is one reason why he is involved in a number of clubs on campus.

His passion for learning has him not only taking rigorous courses but also getting involved in various school organizations including AVID. One of An Khan’s AVID tutors, Ms. Ceja, commented that he doesn’t want just the answer, he really wants to learn and asks the “whys”. An Khang plans to attend UCSD or UCR to become a civil engineer. His wish is to create machinery and products that are less toxic and more environmentally friendly.

Perris Lake High School’s Student of the Month is Yuridia Villagrana. Unfortunately, Yuridia could not attend the event so Dr. Charles Newman, Assistant Superintendent for the Perris Union High School District. read a statement on her behalf expressing her gratitude for those at Perris Lake High School.

Yuridia shared in her letter that moving to the United States at the age of 7 created some language barriers that she had to struggle through. It was a few years later that she started experiencing extreme anxiety, which led her to being transferred to Perris Lake. While at the Lake, Yuridia felt the support from staff to help her work through her anxieties and become a better student and person for which she is very thankful for. Yuridia plans to join the army after completing her citizenship this year and then attend college to obtain her B.A. in psychology.

If you wish to learn more about the Student of the Month Program, please contact founder Sally Myers at 951-506-8024.