Chenier, Wallace, Trinidad, Guzman honored as students of the month

Fallbrook Union High School's Julian Chenier, Zurisadai Trinidad, and Sophia Wallace, along with Ivy High School's Daniela Guzman were honored at the Student of the Month breakfast Thursday, Jan. 9, at North Coast Church.

Chenier was honored having been nominated by Colette Hill and Marin Pinnell.

"I have been blessed to have Julian share his heart with me for two years," Pinnell said. "He's just such a wonderful young man, he's so caring. He still comes by to say hello to me and check in with me to see how I'm doing. I'm going to miss him dearly."

Chenier's father talked about how the blended family considers itself a community.

"He is truly, truly about community, he's truly about selflessness and that's really what you're going to need as you forward in this life," he said. "I tell you; I am just as proud of any parent in here of Julian. Julian truly embodies everything that we need in this world."

Principal Narciso Iglesias read a letter from Hill as she couldn't attend.

"Julian represents the best that Fallbrook has in regards to students," Hill wrote in the letter. "Julian impresses me with his kindness, desire to learn and his leadership skills."

Chenier thanked everyone for the support and the lessons he has learned from his family and mentors. He will attend Palomar College and is hopeful he will transfer to the United States Naval Academy to study civil engineering.

Trinidad was nominated by Fallbrook High's JROTC's Lt. Col. William Wade and Pinnell.

"Very quickly, what we did is, we moved her into a leadership position which was natural for her – she's a super-intelligent young lady, you can tell, with a diverse ability to do just about anything," Lt. Col. Wade said. "She would lend her intelligence to the cadets that were struggling, she would offer to tutor them, they needed help and she gave that help."

Wade talked about putting her on the academic team and how she blossomed during competition.

"Since that moment, it's like the lights went on, this lady has been on fire," Wade said.

Trinidad said the award was special for her and thanked everyone for supporting her. She said she received an admission acceptance to Penn State and hopes to attend.

Wallace was nominated by Estay Cazares and Pinnell.

"She's just a total light in my life," Cazares said. "I see her every day, even though she's not a student of mine anymore. I usually wait for my students at the door and I always see her, and I say, 'Sophia, my darling,' and she always says hello on her way to class.

"She is all heart, Cazares said. "You can tell there's a competitiveness there, but she is just a joyful, joyful person."

Pinnel said behind that smile is a mischievous character.

"She is such a big character, such a goofball, and so much fun, and she likes to drive me crazy," Pinnel said. "Sophia's an excellent student, she's an excellent athlete, she's the captain of the water polo team."

Wallace's mother shared how proud she and her father are of their daughter and thanked the award committee for hosting the event.

"I want to study biology at a college where I hope to pursue a career in medicine or as a researcher," Wallace said. "I want to thank my parents for always pushing me to be the best version of myself."

She also thanked her brother and her teachers for always being there for her.

Guzman was nominated by Sheri Ryan, who talked about the close-knit community at Ivy and lamented the fact that Guzman has already returned to Fallbrook High.

"She came to us already with a great work ethic; her work was always wonderful," Ryan said. "If any teacher told you they loved grading papers, they'd probably be lying, but, for Daniella, her work, it was just thoughtful and you could tell that she put the effort into it.

"You can tell a lot about people in the off times, and she was always so decent to people," Ryan said. "She seemed to be well-liked by everyone and just a decent person. I think in this world we need a lot of decent people."

Guzman's mother thanked her daughter for being a good person and thanked all her teachers for helping her daughter reach her goals.

Guzman said her future plans are not yet clear, but she's proud of accomplishing her goal of recovering credits and re-entering Fallbrook High.

"I'm thankful for everyone being here and with me to be able to share this moment," Guzman said. "Thank you very much."

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