Student Spotlight: Jacob Boles is Quiet, but is Academic Star

Jacob Boles likes to keep a low profile. The third-ranked student at Los Fresnos High School focuses on two things: his schoolwork and the Seattle Mariners from Major League Baseball.

He is not your typical teenager.

Jacob is quiet, unassuming, reads fiction books. He has the special talent of being able to digest and comprehend everything presented to him. Jacob knows that other students wish they had the ability he has.

“I just feel like I could be doing more in my classes,” Jacob said. “College will be more of a challenge.”

He plans to attend Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, where his brother Jeremy attends. His grandparents are from Iowa, and he has visited Graceland during the summer months.

Jacob did not apply to other colleges, since his heart was set on Graceland. He has been awarded scholarships that currently total about 70 percent of his costs for attending. He is undecided on a major.

He is a member of the National Honor Society, and was a member of the Masterminds team during his junior and senior years. He also took part in the LFHS AMC Mathematics Team.

He has helped with summer youth programs at Los Fresnos Community of Christ Church, where his mother Darcy is the pastor. She is also the Dyslexia Supplementary Services Reading Lab teacher at Rancho Verde Elementary School. His father, Jeff, is an Instructional Technologist with the Los Fresnos CISD.

Jacob is one of those students who do not have to study very much to make good grades.

He scored 2070 on his SAT. His Math score of 740 ranks in the 96th percentile, his Reading Score of 680 ranks in the 93rd percentile, and his Writing score of 650 ranks in the 90th percentile.

Jacob, who played eight years of scholastic chess, has made grades of “A” on every subject in middle school and high school.
He is a die-hard Seattle Mariners’ fan. His mother is from Seattle, and has been to several games there. He has also seen the Mariners play in Arlington against the Texas Rangers.

He has a closet full of Mariners’ shirts, many of which were given to him by his grandfather. He wears Mariners’ shirts to school every day, but has extra shirts for special occasions.