February 3, 2012 • www.myvalleynews.com • The Valley News


13 Education Murrieta Mesa achieves record high in number of honor roll students


JP Raineri Staff Writer / Multimedia Editor


MURRIETA – With 2012 being


the first year that Murrieta Mesa high school will be graduating a senior class; the school has given many of the other local schools in the valley a run for their money when it comes to their academic standards. Administrators and teachers take pride in the well-rounded school that focuses on offering students an excellent 21st century academic program. Their goal is to give students the guidance to be able to choose five college and career path options through their high school career, while at the same time offering an excellent student activities plan and competitive interscholastic athletic program. Of course it sounds like an easy enough goal to maintain, but Principal Mary Walters likes to keep the students coming back for more.


Principal Walters started a program when she was the assistant Principal at Murrieta Valley High School which revolved around giving honor roll certificates to each student in her class that had a 3.0 or above, which of course is of the norm, but what made


her approach different was that she did it for every student in her classes, for every report card and progress report. “When I became the Principal at Murrieta Mesa I introduced the program to the staff, but I wanted to make it school- wide and that’s exactly what we did,” exclaims Principal Walters. After every progress report all the students that earn a 3.0 or higher now get a certificate and a Snack, “and every certificate is personally signed,” adds Walters. The students and staff at Murrieta


Mesa call her Mama Ram, and the rapport she has with her students is one that is to be admired, but Principal Walters knows the tasks that come with being in the position she is in now aren’t to be taken lightly. Murrieta Mesa strives to have at least half of the student population on the honor roll with a 3.0 or above and would like to see 70% have a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5 and above. The totals came in last week and with 1,007 students out of the almost 2200 that are currently registered making the honor roll after the first semester report cards were distributed, they are not only just about at the 50% mark for honor roll, but as a school, their overall


GPA was at a 2.8. “This is a pretty phenomenal accomplishment for us and needless to say we are very proud of all of our students,” said Principal Walters. She is known as a perfectionist and a principal that strives for the top and “the kids know I’m competitive, so we always talk about grades and test scores and about doing their best. Sometimes they might not get that recognition they need at home so these rewards are a great way to show them that somebody is watching out for their success. Then they can take these certificates home and show their families how well they are doing. Who knows, maybe it might get them a trip to the movies or something,” she adds. The school orders the snacks


by the truckload for the delivery day of all the certificates and the overall distribution takes about an hour and half out of the day. Since all the grade levels are divided evenly amongst the school administrators the competition gets pretty heated. Principal Walters is in charge of the Senior class, Assistant Principal Steve Ellis is in charge of the Juniors, Assistant Principal Martina Beach-Hedges delivers to the Sophomores and


Principal Walters and her staff delivered snacks and honor roll certificates to over 1,000 students earlier this week. Principal Walters is pictured here with Seniors Kyler Morris (right) and Vanessa Romero.


Dean of Students Ken Goltara is in charge of the Freshman. After the first semester, the Seniors have the highest GPA with the Juniors and freshman tied at second, and in a very close third are the Sophomores. As the students head into the home stretch of the school year, it seems fitting that


JP Raineri photo


the Seniors are out in front of the race. Of course, with the dedicated group of school admins that are in charge of the final reward--which has yet to be determined--well, it will be worth checking back in to see how the Murrieta Mesa classes rank towards the end of the school year--good luck to all you Rams!


Law library services make new addition to Temecula Public Library TEMECULA – City of Temecula


Mayor Chuck Washington is pleased to announce that, through a partnership between the City of Temecula and Riverside County Law Library, the Temecula Public Library is now providing law library services. Mayor Washington stated, “Currently, the closest law libraries are located in Riverside or Vista. We are very proud that we are able to add a Law Resource Center at a local level that provides both written and electronic law sources. The Temecula Public Library remains the busiest library in the Riverside County system since it opened over five years ago, and this addition will further enhance the services provided to


the community.” The Temecula Public Library


is located at 30600 Pauba Road, between Margarita and Ynez Roads. Sarah Eggleston, Library Director


of Riverside County Law Library stated, “With more and more people representing themselves in court and facing everyday legal issues, we understand that easier, more convenient access to legal materials and information is critical.” The Law Library collection


consists of 50 core reference sets and free access to five legal databases. The databases will be accessible in-house via library computers or through the library’s wireless connection. In addition,


there will be a law librarian, Beverly Chavira, on-site who will be available on Thursdays between 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ms. Chavira will be able to assist by referring patrons to appropriate sources and materials but will not be permitted to provide legal advice. City Council Member and


Temecula Community Services District Board President Jeff Comerchero stated, “In conjunction with the assistance provided by law librarian Beverly Chavira on Thursdays and Fridays, the Temecula Public Library’s staff has had training and will be able to assist our citizens during business hours.”


The Temecula Public Library is open: Mon. – Thur. 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.


Sixth grader takes first place in spelling bee


MSJC sees more than 15,000 students on first day of semester SAN JACINTO – More than


15,000 students were enrolled for classes on the first day of the Spring 2012 semester at Mt. San Jacinto College, filling nearly all of the seats in courses needed to transfer or obtain a degree. Anthony Watson said it was his


second semester at MSJC and he knew he was vying against scores of other students for seats in key classes. He said he had to get in the game early. His mantra for getting classes? “Get in. Get it done. Get out,” he said. Jan. 23 marked the first day of


MSJC’s Spring 2012 semester. Watson was one of 15,383 students


who enrolled. Ninety-three percent of seats were full district wide on the first day. Of that number, nearly all of the courses students need to get into a four-year university or graduate with an associate’s degree were full. At the Temecula Education Complex, seats were 96 percent full; 93 percent of the seats were full on the Menifee Valley campus; the San Jacinto Campus was 91 percent full; and 90 percent of the seats were taken on the San Gorgonio Pass Campus. Britney Willis said she secured


seats in English, reading, and computers, but was in line early to make sure her financial aid was in order.


“I want to become a surgeon,”


she said. “I know the economy is getting bad, so I just want to get my education in while I can.” The lagging economy has resulted in a high demand for college courses across the state. While state funding for education has dropped, MSJC continues to serve more than 1,000 students above the amount for which it receives state funding. For more information on how


state budget cuts are affecting MSJC and other state community colleges, go to http://www.msjc. edu/PublicInformationOffice/ Pages/Board-Highlights-January- 2012.aspx.


2012 Spelling Bee champion Derek Vu (right) and runner up Justin Viveros faced off for 13 rounds.


LAKE ELSINORE – Congratu-


lations to Lakeland Village School sixth grader Derek Vu for winning LEUSD’s Gordon Keifer Memorial Spelling Bee, held Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the Lakeside High School Rotary Theater. Derek correctly spelled the word ‘altarpiece’ after 23 elimina- tion rounds.


Courtesy photo First runner up was Justin Vi-


veros, grade 7, Elsinore Middle School, who alone matched Vu for 13 rounds. Participants included 34 finalists


and first runners up, grades 4-7, from 18 schools. Derek will compete in the Riv-


erside County Spelling Bee in March.


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