Banning Student Makes All-California Community College Academic Team

A Mt. San Jacinto College student from Banning has been selected for the 2012 Phi Theta Kappa All-California Community College Academic Team, school officials announced Monday.

Samuel Fall of Banning is one of four Mt. San Jacinto College students who earned selection through academic achievement, according to Nick Reeves, associate professor of biological sciences and Phi Theta Kappa faculty advisor.

Fall, along  with Amy Bartel of San Jacinto, Stacie Macias of Lake Elsinore, and Thomas Morrissey of Hemet, will be recognized Wednesday March 7 in Sacramento by the Community College League, college administrators, and state legislators, school officials said in a statement.

They are scheduled to receive medallions of honor and certificates for their accomplishments during a luncheon Wednesday at the Sacramento Convention Center. More information about the event can be found at www.ccleague.org/.

Judges for Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society for community college students, used grades, leadership, and community service accomplishments to make selections to the All-California first, second, and third teams, school officials said.

Fall, 31, is a California native. Before coming to Mt. San Jacinto College, he earned his GED at College of the Desert and scored in the top 2 percent national class rank, school officials said. He plans to become a nanoscale engineer specializing in micro electromechanical systems.

Since coming to MSJC, he has completed 15 units of honors classes, competed in the UCR STEM Wind Turbine Competition on the MSJC team, where they won for best innovation, and presented twice at the HTCC Student Research Conference held at University of California Irvine, school officials said.

One of his papers "Implications of Robotic Capitalism on Global Demography" was published in the University of California Irvine's Building Bridges Journal, school officials said.

Fall currently has a 4.0 GPA, is a Phi Theta Kappa public relations officer, and a Supplemental Instruction Leader for Intermediate Algebra at MSJC, school officials said.