Four named Students of the Month for October

Emiliano Corona, Audrey Gillcrist, Logan Sim and Bayron Miguel Lux were named Students of the Month Breakfast at North Coast Church Thursday, Nov. 7.

Corona, nominated by teachers Shawndra Bird and Marin Pinnell, was honored first and has the distinction of earning a perfect score on his ACT test.

"Only 2% of the national population that takes the ACT actually gets a perfect score," Pinnell said. "Fallbrook High has one of the nation's top individuals. He has a great GPA, but Emilio is more than just the numbers.

"What I love about Emiliano is I can sit there and have a real-world conversation with him. He's not an immature high schooler. He's not all caught up in Tik Tok. He's not desperate to get on his phone. He's just humble and chill and relaxed and so smart that we can sit there and we can talk about the day's events.

"And I would love that. I would love discussing what's going on in the news and the different political things that were happening. And it wasn't surprising to me when I found out that he wanted to major in political science," Pinnell said.

Corona's mother and father thanked the committee and teachers for honoring their son and Corona did as well.

"It's truly an honor to be up here," Corona said. "Just hearing all the nice things people are saying up here, it just makes me feel good inside. I do this because I want to see other people succeed. I don't want to bring other people down. I want to bring people up and that's really my, the motto to live by.

"It's truly heartwarming to be up here and I just want to think everyone here," Corona said.

Gillcrist, nominated by Pinnell and retired Lt. Col. William Wade has a 4.63 GPA and wants to attend the United States Naval Academy in the fall.

"This is a pretty auspicious moment," Wade said. "I've had the opportunity now to work with Miss Gillcrist here for almost four years. She's a plank holder in the company started from the first year we started; she's gonna be running all the way through. The first exposure, honestly I had been looking inside, I think we were talking to the San Diego County Office of Education. I asked you to come and talk about what the JROTC program was like.

"She got up and spoke and spoke like a 35-year-old, and I'm like, 'I'm in trouble. How am I going to keep this young lady engaged, challenged and ready to go?' When she graduates, she's going to be a burgeoning leader, there's no doubt."

Gillcrist thanked the audience and the committee along with others.

"Thank you to the school administration," Gillcrist said. "Dr. I (Narciso Iglesias) thank you for all you do and have done over the past four years and thank you to Dr. (Anthony) Morrow who is not here in this case because you really have helped solidify what I know I want my future to be going forward not only for myself but for the 2,000 students at Fallbrook High School.

"And then Erin, Madeline and Luke – Madeline and Luke are my biological siblings, and Erin, I consider to be my second sister, and they are my best friends in the entire world. I just wouldn't be who I am without them. And then mom, dad and Nomi without you three, I wouldn't be here. You have really shaped my moral compass and helped solidify my faith in the guy upstairs," Gillcrist said.

Sim, nominated by Alydia Aguila and Pinnell was recently named Senior Boy for 2019 at the school and intends to study something within the technology fields at a University of California school in the fall.

"Every time I would run across a student on campus and they would know him and be like, 'Oh my God, he's so great.'" Aguila said. "He's just so nice and everyone had such wonderful things to say about him, and it just shows so much of the person he's becoming and the person his parents have helped him become.

"I'm just so grateful that I've crossed his path and also seen his great photography this ability to capture beauty and everything around us, because that's so important to get through life and accomplish things. And I can't wait to see what you accomplish."

His sister Jasmine also praised her older brother.

"I appreciate him so much and everything that he does for me, and he's just such a great mentor and a role model," she said. "I just, I find myself wanting to be just like him."

Sim thanked everyone for the recognition.

"Thank you to the Student of the Month committee and this great community that we have here," he said. "We're so tight-knit that without it. I would feel like a small fish in a big pond, and I am really grateful to have this recognition.

"My dad has inspired me to pursue a career in STEM; I've always had a tick for technology," he said. "So I hope to attend a UC hopefully and pursue a career, maybe work for NASA or JPL. I just want to be a part of some kind of technical, technological feat. And I want to push the boundaries of human capabilities."

Lux was nominated by the entire staff at Ivy High School and said he wants to go on to work on cars as a mechanic.

Mr. Gage spoke first about Lux.

"I've known him for a couple of years at Ivy," Gage said. "He's been in my classes. He is phenomenal. He just comes in and does his work, puts his head down, and I never would have to worry about him – he never speaks – but I never have to worry about him."

Gage said Lux completed almost two years of work in one year during the 2018-2019 school year.

"We have three trimesters, and he completed almost 20 courses in one year because he just sat there, went to the learning center, and he got As and Bs," Gage said. "So, talking about turning things around and he has turned his life around and it's been so wonderful to see that."

Lux thanked everyone for the honor.

"First, the most important things is thanks to God; he's helped me change my life," Lux said. "And I am just grateful to every one of you; this is support too.

"I'm not a young boy of many words, like they were saying, but may God bless America and all of you.

"My future plans are to become a mechanic. Because I like doing problem-solving, and I like working with cars," Lux said.

Jeff Pack can be reached by email at [email protected].