7 LEUSD Students Honored For Character, Perserverance

Seven high school seniors from the Lake Elsinore Unified School District were recently honored by the Student of the Month program under the auspices of the Lake Elsinore Valley Chamber of Commerce and BMW Management, which owns and manages Sizzler restaurants. Students are individually nominated by teachers and selected for their character, love of learning, leadership, community service, and perseverance.

October ‘Student of the Month’ Honorees:

Elsinore High School

Shane Pico – Shane plans to attend Claremont McKenna College to pursue studies in Chemical Engineering.  Campus activities include football, track, student advisory committee, AVID, and Relay for Life. In face of adversity, the greatest life lesson he has learned is not to doubt, not to give up, but to persevere.

Hailey Price – Haley is a valedictory candidate who plans to attend BYU Provo as a Biomedical Engineering major. Year-round varsity sports include tennis, water polo, and track. She has a reputation as a competitive scholar-athlete, with a generous heart for others.

Lakeside High School

Baldomero Vargas Jr. – Baldomero will study either at UCLA or UCR, and plans a career in Electrical Engineering. Campus involvement includes tutoring, Calculus Club, AVID, NHS, and serving as captain of his varsity basketball team. His biggest life lesson is to make the best out of every moment.

Christina Villarreal – Christina has set sights on attending either Tufts University or Yale. Her interests include International Relations/Mediation and Chemical Engineering. She is currently active in Keystone Club, Interact, NHS, Calculus Club, band, and the Athletic Trainers Club. Her life lesson is acceptance and tolerance, and making a difference in the world though the foreign services.

Keith McCarthy Academy

Faith Leonards – Faith is set for early graduation in December; afterwards, she plans to enlist in the US Navy, where she wants to work in a VA hospital on the surgical staff. She is inspired by her older sister, and comes from a military family with a long history of service. Her biggest life lesson is choosing the right priorities. She credits KMA for the one-on-one support that has enabled her to be successful.

Temescal Canyon High School

Quentin Pestner – Quentin’s goal is attending Stanford or Harvard one day, though he also plans to study abroad and see the world on his journey. Campus life includes varsity basketball, AVID, CSF, peer tutoring, and concert and marching band. His philosophy of life is to fight for what one believes in, which shows in his classroom discussions and through his curiosity about what it takes to change the world.

Madeline Cowan – Madeline plans to study biology and enter the field of medicine. She wants to apply to Stanford to fulfill her dreams. Academic and athletic pursuits include the IB Programme, varsity cheer, NHS, CSF and Calculus. Her biggest life lesson was realizing that hard work pays off. Her inspiration and drive comes from the autobiography of American neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson. --Contributed content