Jeff Brewer, a student at Front Range Community College’s Boulder County Campus, is a national Silver Tier Scholar on Coca-Cola’s 2015 Community College Academic Team.
Five other FRCC students join Brewer on the All-Colorado Academic Team.
The national and state teams recognize high-achieving students who demonstrate academic excellence and intellectual rigor, combined with leadership and service that extends their education beyond the classroom to benefit society.
Those named to the team are selected from a field of more than 1,700 Phi Theta Kappa students from more than a thousand colleges. Phi Theta Kappa is the international honor society for community colleges.
Brewer will receive a $1,250 scholarship from the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation.
Jeff Brewer, Silver Tier Scholar, Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team
Jeff Brewer
Boulder County Campus
Brewer, who lives in Longmont, has come a long way from four years of homelessness in Colorado. From the time he was 16 until he was 20, he lived “going from house to house, staying with friends, doing what I could by any means I could. I travelled some and stayed in youth shelters.”
While living in Missouri, Brewer earned a diploma in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC).
“When I was an HVAC tech, I noticed that while I was up on a roof in the cold, the engineers were sitting in heated vehicles,” he said.
That was motivation enough to return to college. Brewer came to the Boulder County Campus in 2013, and he will graduate in May with an Associate of Science degree and an Associate of Arts degree. He plans to study environmental engineering at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Brewer is president of the Student Government Association, a founding member of Equality for Everyone and a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success. He is a student employee in the Science Department and Student Life.
His service to the college was recognized in 2014 with the Boulder County Campus Vice President’s Service Award and the Outstanding Club Member Award. In 2015, he was named the campus Rising Star, a Colorado Community College System recognition of students who have made outstanding contributions to college activities and community service.
In the community, Brewer volunteers at FEED – Friends Encouraging Eating Daily, a Boulder group that provides clothing and food for the homeless.
“I volunteer partly to give back,” he said.
Brewer also is working with others on a Take Back the Night event for the campus, scheduled April 13. The event, part of an international movement, has a mission of ending all forms of sexual violence.
Brewer doesn’t know how far his study of environmental engineering will take him – graduate school, research into climate change are possibilities – but he is firm on one thing. “When my engineering days are over,” he said, “I’m determined to be a math teacher for students in alternative settings.”
Deisy DeLuna, All-Colorado Academic Team
Deisy DeLuna
Boulder County Campus
DeLuna graduated in December with a 3.94 GPA and transferred to the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, majoring in accounting and considering management or finance as a second major. Born in Mexico, she came to Colorado at age 11 knowing no English. She works full time as a service clerk agent at IBM in Boulder. Working her way through FRCC, her first year paying out-of-state tuition (before Colorado ASSET), DeLuna found time to be president of the Latino/a Club and be a member of SGA, PTK, and the National Society for Leadership and Success. She lives in Longmont.
Andrew Esquivel, All-Colorado Academic Team
Andrew Esquivel
Larimer Campus
Esquivel is in his last semester at FRCC, planning to transfer to Colorado State University for business with a concentration in marketing. He started college at Dixie State (Utah) but withdrew to care for his ailing mother, whose health has improved. Esquivel worked construction, graduated from barber school, and served a two-year mission in Mexico City with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He views his stage in life – marriage and academic success (4.0 GPA) – as his greatest accomplishment at FRCC. Andrew is vice president of PTK. He volunteers with Odyssey of the Mind. He lives in Fort Collins.
Leah Griess, All-Colorado Academic Team
Leah Griess
Larimer Campus
Griess is majoring in elementary education for transfer and plans to finish at the University of Northern Colorado. She has a passion for working with children, as demonstrated by her six years as a volunteer and employee of the Colorado Foundation for Conductive Education, which works with children with muscular disabilities. Griess is a FRCC Foundation Scholar with a 3.86 GPA and a member of Phi Theta Kappa. A graduate of the Loveland Protestant Reformed Christian High School and member of the church, Griess has been a member of a steering committee for an international young adults retreat. She lives in Loveland.
Samantha Eugenio, All-Colorado Academic Team
Samantha Eugenio
Westminster Campus
Eugenio transferred her 4.0 GPA to Regis University where she is a psychology major with a minor in criminology. She plans to attend graduate school and become a child therapist who works with children who have been abused. A child of parents who work for the Defense Department, Eugenio moved frequently, attending high schools in Colorado and Alaska. She was a member of Phi Theta Kappa at FRCC and volunteered as a story-time reader at the Butterfly Pavilion. She also works as an assistant manager at the Steve Madden fashion boot store at Flatirons Crossing. She lives in Westminster.
Yen Vo, All-Colorado Academic Team
Yen Vo
Westminster Campus
Vo arrived in Colorado from Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Vietnam, three years ago. She knew little English, so she studied every day. Today, she has a 3.8 GPA with a course load this semester of Calculus III with Engineering Applications, Differential Equations, Organic Chemistry, and Calculus-Based Physics. She plans to transfer to the University of Colorado-Boulder and major in applied mathematics and chemical engineering. She aspires to be a chemist in health research. Vo works five hours a week in the campus Math Lab. “I love helping people to love math like I do,” she says. She lives in Thornton.
About Front Range Community College
FRCC offers nearly 100 degree and certificate programs from locations in Boulder County, Larimer County, Westminster, and Brighton, and online.
FRCC is a member of the Colorado Community College System, the state’s largest system of higher education. CCCS serves more than 162,000 students annually. The system oversees career and academic programs in the 13 state community colleges and career and technical programs in more than 160 school districts and six other post-secondary institutions.
