GROSSMONT COLLEGE — For 50 years now, this school has been recognizing students, staff and faculty for outstanding performance.  Here are some of this year’s highlights:

Bobby Morris received the Division Honor Award in the Career Technical Education/Workforce Development Department.  He worked as a mechanic in the U.S. Navy for 20 years and decided to learn a new trade.  He is now pursuing a degree in the Forensic Technology program and hopes to use the skills in real crime scenes someday.

The English and Social Behavioral Sciences Division Honor Award was given to Daniel McKay. Formerly homeless and a drug addict, he rehabilitated himself and maintained a 3.96 GPA in honors classes.  During this time he wrote a research paper on bipolar disorder and presented it to the California Honors Research Conference at the University of California, Irvine.  He has since conducted a pilot research study about student stress, alongside Psychology Prof. Teresa Jacob.

Carlos Paz received several awards, including The Division Honors Award for the Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Exercise Science/Wellness.  He was forced to drop out of SDSU due to his mother’s cancer diagnosis on three separate occasions.  He returned to school in 2010 at Grossmont and has especially excelled in Calculus II.  Today, he is known as “one of the most valued mathematics tutors” in Math Study Center.

Tennis captain Guadalupe (Lupita) Sandoval-Garcia and water polo captain Tyler Ormsby were recognized for exemplifying “what the Grossmont College Athletic Department stands for.”   They stand out in the classroom as well.  Both hold well over a 3.0 GPA.

International Student of the Year Akashi Panchal, originally from India, has been at Grossmont for two years now.  She currently holds a 3.68 GPA in Science and Quantitative Reasoning while working at the International Student Counseling Office.  She had earned in India a Bachelor’s Degree in Physio-Therapy and worked the field for three years.

Concurrently, the 13th Annual Recognition Awards were held to recognize outstanding faculty and staff.

President Sunita V. Cooke’s Leadership Award was presented to Pat Murray, a laboratory technician, volunteer on numerous campus-wide committees, and just this month one of five people throughout the entire statewide system of community colleges to receive an award from the chancellor.

Sodexo Manager Lisa Gibson was honored by the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges for her leadership in developing a campus food program that has won compliments from the students.

The Innovator of the Year Award recipient, Sara Glasgow, has been with Grossmont for just a year now and was cited for helping to energize over 40 student clubs, and presenting a varied schedule of on-campus events.

Glasgow is the founder of the Week of Welcome (WOW), which kicks off each semester by welcoming new and returning Grossmont students and introduces them to some of the programming the college offers.

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Quijas is editor of the GC Summit.  He may be contacted at [email protected]