The Weekly Newspaper of Inglewood
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 69, No. 21 - May 21, 2020
Centinela Hospital Medical Center
Jonny Felker Reaching His Goals
By Gregg McMullin
The El Segundo high school class of 2020
is just a few weeks from graduating. I’ve had
the opportunity to meet some of the class’ top
students and athletes. Jonny Felker is not only
one of his class’ top students scholastically but
a standout runner on the cross country team
and is an Eagle Scout.
Jonny is one of those extraordinary individuals
who have leadership qualities to go along with
a strong work ethic to achieve his goals. He
has had tremendous success in the classroom
and is helped motivated by his desire to be
the best he can be. During this time of on-line
classroom learning he says, “Staying current
with all of my classes is really tough. It’s
harder to focus at home, so homework takes
longer than it should. You just have to force
yourself to not be distracted until whatever
assignment is finished.”
Naturally Jonny misses his friends as on-line
schooling prevails and says, “It’s weird from
seeing your friends everyday, then going immediately
to not seeing them at all. So, I miss
seeing all the people I went to classes with.”
He says he stays in touch with social media
outlets and the old fashioned way, the telephone.
Jonny’s success in the classroom has translated
into one of the tops in his class. He has
a 4.5 GPA with three AP classes that has made
it a challenge. During the week of finals he
found it necessary to block out all distractions
to concentrate. He says that his favorite class
this year is, “Biomed with Mrs. Tucker. It’s
easily my less stressful class. I had a really
good table of classmates which makes it that
much better.”
With Jonny’s leadership skills, personality and
his high standing in his class he was selected
as an OSS cabin leader. He was in charge
of 11 sixth graders for a week and admits at
times it was a challenge. His brother Mathew
was a camp leader as a junior and senior so
he wanted to follow in his footsteps.“While
we were up there, we were working basically
the whole day. It was always super rewarding
when they’d just say how cool I was out of
nowhere.” It was an experience he says he’ll
never forget.
With his grades Jonny could attend just about
any University in the country. He will attend
the University of Utah in the fall majoring in
Biology. He says ultimately he’d like to be a
doctor and has an interest in Anesthesiology.
“I feel like I would be good at that. I’ve also
looked into physical therapy as a backup.”
Jonny has had many influential people in
his life. He says his father, brother, his cross
country coach and two cousins Brandon and
Bryce have all had a part in who he has become
and what his future is shaping up to be.
His father, Todd, was in Boy Scouts as a boy
growing up and made it to the rank of Life
Scout. Only a family tragedy prevented him
from becoming an Eagle Scout. Todd says it
was important for him to see that his sons reach
the pinnacle of Scouting. Jonny says some of
his best memories were Scout camping trips
with his father. His Eagle Project was building
a large shed for the Friends of the LAX
dunes which restore the areas between the
airport and the beach. Jonny’s project taught
him how to lead a group of people, organization
and planning.
He says his cousin Brandon, a former Air
Force Thunderbird pilot, was someone he
looked up to. At family gatherings Brandon
would encourage him to be the best he could
be in whatever he decided. His cousin Bryce,
who is a few years older than Jonny, is also
interested in going into the medical field.
“He’s been able to tell me a lot about what I
can expect in the near future.”Jonny’s brother
Mathew was a big influence since they went
through scouting together and achieved their
Eagle rank the same year.
Jonny got into running thanks to his P.E.
teacher in his sophomore year. There was
a run each week and Jonny impressed his
teacher so much he related his thoughts to
the cross country and track coach Marcos
Bolanos. Coach Bolanos talked to Jonny and
the rest is history.
Jonny started his cross country as a junior.
“Cross country changed my life a ton since I
joined. I think the biggest lesson I learned was
how to set and work towards long term goals
as well as dealing with failure.” At the start of
each season, for track and cross country, the
whole team would do goal setting. For cross
country Jonny’s goals were less time-focused
and more aimed at becoming a better runner
in general. On the other hand his track goals
were much more defined.
In his first season running cross country as
a junior Jonny was named the team’s Most
Valuable Runner. He says it wasn’t something
he envisioned but something he takes pride in
since it was an award voted on. As a senior
he was one of the team’s top seven runners.
Heroes Honoring Heroes
Centinela Hospital Medical Center’s frontline staff of doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers, honored our hard-working first responders who are part of the expanded team. The event kicked off with a celebratory caravan followed by lunch donated by authentic Italian
cuisine, Gardena-based Eatalian Cafe, as part of their Feed the Heroes LA effort. Photo City of Inglewood.
Jonny Felker heads to the University of Utah in the fall with
his 4.5 GPA
See Jonny Felker, page 7
Jonny Felker saved his best for his last race. He bettered his 3200 meter time by 23 seconds.