Marrufo, McBroom, Stehle and Munoz are named Students of the Month

German Marrufo, Jake McBroom and Faith Stehle of Fallbrook Union High School and Maira Munoz of Ivy High School were honored as the Students of the Month for December at the Jan. 10 Student of the Month Breakfast at North Coast Church.

The celebratory breakfast was held at North Coast Church. The Rev. Greg Coppock of SonRise Christian Fellowship served as master of ceremonies at the event, and more than three dozen leaders in the community and community-supporting groups were in attendance to help celebrate the students and their achievements.

Fallbrook High metal shop, manufacturing and engineering teacher Jacob Bagnell nominated Marrufo.

"He is one of the only students I have ever met that will 100 percent drop everything he's doing, in the middle of a weld, in the middle of the machining project," Bagnell said. "'Oh, you need help with that, all right, I got you.' He's one of the best mentors I've ever seen in our program and that's what brings our program up and makes it one of the best in the state of California."

Bagnell said Marrufo one day hopes to become a teacher in a program similar to the one he's involved in now.

"I want to start off by thanking all the sponsors and organizations that are part of this Student of the Month program, I'm just really lucky I have this opportunity," Marrufo said. "My goals after high school is to get more experience in the metal trade, so that way, after 10 years in the industry, I can pass off the trade to students like me that way they can start off in a good route."

McBroom was nominated and introduced by Lisa Tagle-Nava and Alana Milton, and they were joined by social studies teacher Bryan Romanelli.

"One of my favorite traits that I admire in Jake is his willingness to work really hard," Tagle-Nava said. "He just doesn't back down from a challenge."

Romanelli spoke about McBroom's leadership qualities.

"If you really want to talk about leadership and really want to talk about a person that is dedicated," Romanelli said, who also coaches football at the school. "We did have kind of a rough record the last couple of years. But Jake didn't get frustrated, he was keeping the players and the coaches motivated, and he'd always have a smile."

McBroom thanked the committee and the board for hosting the event.

"It really means a lot that you guys go out of your way and do the funding to put this event on for us because it shows that our hard work is taken seriously," he said. "After high school, I just got accepted into Boise State University. I will be majoring in kinesiology with the intent to pursue a career in the medical field with athletics."

Nominated by Milton, Stehle is new to Fallbrook High School as a child of a military family who moved to the town from Korea.

"She had leadership experience from her last school and Tony (Morrow) called and said 'Hey, I know your class is full, but I have this really awesome student and I think she would be really great in your program,'" Milton said. "Faith joined our class last fall, and she took on so many leadership roles right away. She volunteered for homecoming; she helped me run the homecoming ceremony. She just took on that leadership role right away and exceeded all expectations."

Milton said Stehle's service project is putting on a special prom for students with special needs.

"She's fundraising for it, getting all of the vendors, taking all of it on," Milton said. "I'm really proud of you. You're awesome; you deserve this."

Stehle thanked her family and the committee for putting on the event and Milton for welcoming her into the class.

"Coming from Korea with the school being only 500 students to coming here and it's close to 2,000, I was terrified and felt like I wouldn't find my place," Stehle said. "But, Miss Milton, you gave me that place. It's a class that I'm able to be myself and not have the feeling of being judged; it's that 'home' feeling."

She will be attending Northern Arizona University in the fall and will major in special education.

Ivy High School's Greg Keener nominated Munoz, and Principal Dr. Narciso Iglesias talked first.

"Ivy is a transformation school," Iglesias said. "Students do transform and students get a sense of redemption.

"When I look at Maira and I look at that transformation. I will say this, she has a quiet disposition but she has strong leadership traits. She may not call it a redemption, but I do," Iglesias said.

Iglesias also told the audience about Munoz taking on the challenge of creating a yearbook for the school.

"She's come to embody all the qualities that we look for in an Ivy High School student," Keener said. "If there's ever anything to be done, she's the first one to step up and volunteer. She alone has been working on the yearbook, the entirety of the yearbook.

"I just want to say that your journey has already been a tremendous success and I have no doubt that it will continue to be so," Keener said.

Munoz also thanked the committee and sponsors for the event.

"I want to thank my mom and my teachers and Dr. Iglesias for being a really great principal, and Mr. Keener for being such a great teacher," Munoz said. "If it wasn't for the teachers ... for them being super helpful for us and always being there for us. No matter what we need, they're always there. It just shows that they care."