Area high school Students of Month for January are honored

Pictured are January’s Students of the Month; Front row - Joaquin Gruber, Paloma Valley High School; Ruben Gonzalez, Heritage High School; Jordan Nguyen, California Military Institute; and Anthony Alvarez, Perris High School. Back row - Grant Bennett, Superintendent, Perris Union High School District; Dr. Jennifer Thomasian, Principal, Paloma Valley High School; Steve Spraker, Interim Principal, Heritage High School; Miles Henderson, Assistant Principal, California Military Institute; Juan Santos, Principal, Perris High School; and Councilmember Lesa Sobek, City of Menifee.

The Perris Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce recently honored area high school Students of the Month program for January. 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.

The 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.

Paloma Valley High School’s Student of the Month is Joaquin Gruber. Joaquin currently holds a GPA above 4.0. He’s taken numerous AP courses and is in Link Crew. In addition, he is a peer counselor for Paloma Valley’s College and Career Foundation and is a member of the Youth Leaders of Menifee volunteering in the community. He is also very active in the Junior Rodeo circuit.

As a student, Joaquin is highly regarded, especially by his AP Economics teacher, Dennis Raymond, who shared how he looks forward to reading Joaquin’s work. “He is able to show his maturity and understanding on a deep level,” he stated. Throughout all of his experiences, one lesson that Joaqin learned, and will take with him to college, is that our failures really don’t define us. What truly defines us is what we do after our failures. Joaquin plans to continue his education at either Cal Baptist or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, majoring in political science and pursuing a career in politics.

Ruben Gonzalez is Heritage High School’s Student of the Month. Ruben has made quite an impact both at Heritage and in the community. Along with being exceptional academically, he is involved in a number of organizations including Robotics, Mock Trial, National Honor Society, concert and jazz band, and the community organization Love 4 Life. One of his passions is the Mighty Patriots marching band and jazz band, where he serves as vice president and lead of the saxophone section, where he views everyone as family.

Another passion is volunteering, and working with the Love 4 Life organization in Menifee and Perris. In this capacity, Ruben helps other students with social/emotional life skills strategies. This is very important to him as his family has experienced challenges with mental illness with his two older brothers, who he looks up to and has been inspired by. Ruben plans to attend either UC Berkeley or Stanford and will be majoring in biology and neuroscience to become a neurologist.

California Military Institute’s Jordan Nguyen is January’s Student of the Month. Jordan is CMI’s 319th Battalion Executive Officer. In this capacity he mentors and trains other cadets and administers responsibilities within the brigade staff. He currently holds a 4.2 GPA and has been on the Principal’s Honor Roll since his freshman year. In addition to the above mentioned activities, Jordan is captain of the boys volleyball team and is part of the decision making organizations of PELI (Parent Engagement Leadership Initiative), School Site Council, and ASB.

While this might sound like a lot for a high school student, Jordan shared he learned a valuable lesson about taking advantage of opportunities, especially when those opportunities did not come easily when he was younger. Jordan shared a recent highlight in that he was accepted into University of California Irvine’s Summer Surgery Program this past summer under a full scholarship. This was an amazing experience as he plans to attend a UC college and major in biology to enter the medical field as a surgeon.

Perris High School’s Student of the Month is Anthony Alvarez. Anthony is involved in a number of activities including football, agricultural sciences, and JROTC, where he trains other cadets. Principal Juan Santos shared that it has been a pleasure to have Anthony at Perris High School and that for him personally, being able to see him develop and grow in the last four years as a leader has been amazing. “He has taken on the responsibilities to show what leadership is about in our school.” he said.

Anthony credits his family as they have been his major support system all his life. From his mom, who always pushed and encouraged him, to his dad, who taught him how to work from a young age. Two of his other inspirations have come from his older brothers, who are currently attending college and have been major influences in his life. Anthony plans on attending barber college to become a barber. He then plans to come back to the community and open his own shop and provide local job opportunities.

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