Schools
Creekside Grad Overcomes; Accepts Fulbright Grant
From a struggling student who entered Murrieta's Creekside High School in 2007, Miles Ten Brinke becomes an international scholar on his way to earning a master's degree.
Miles Ten Brinke, a 2009 graduate from Creekside High School in Murrieta, returned to speak at the school's graduation this week.
His story is inspiring.
After dropping out of high school, Ten Brinke enrolled in —the Murrieta Valley Unified School District's continuation high school—as a sophomore in 2007. From Creekside, he went on to Mt. San Jacinto Community College and he then transferred to UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources where he graduated last month at the age of 20 with a bachelor's degree in Society and Environment.
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Miles was a member of Creekside’s Green Team—a student-led effort to reduce energy consumption. Green Team students were trained in how to analyze and audit energy use at their schools. Miles, a junior at Creekside at the time, took the Green School training to students at Thompson Middle School, Shivela Middle School and Tovashal Elementary and he conducted home energy audits for individuals. Several businesses and churches in Murrieta also asked Miles and the green club to audit their energy usage.
When MVUSD was recognized in March 2008 by Edison’s Alliance to Save Energy at their Student Leadership in Energy Efficiency Awards Ceremony at Sultana High School in Hesperia, Miles was invited to share his presentation.
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Miles’ experiences at Creekside sparked an interest in the environment and Miles, who is now a published author, received a Fulbright grant for postgraduate study in the United Kingdom. Miles will pursue his master’s degree in environmental engineering in the fall at Exeter University in Cornwall.
Miles told Creekside’s principal Jared Rogers in a recent email that as much as he loved Berkeley, his years at Creekside High School put him on the path to success.
He wrote: “I know how many lives (the staff at Creekside) have changed. You helped see me through the bleakest time in my life and I came out wiser for it, stronger and more compassionate. What I end up doing in this life is possible because of that.”
Mile’s speech to the 56 Creekside graduates was absolutely inspiring. He told the graduates, “Never stop chasing your passion and dreams. I have gone places I never imagined I would go.”
—Contributed by Karen Parris, spokesperson, Murrieta Valley Unified School District
