The banning star athlete allowed nothing to stop him

Despite being deaf and hard of hearing and suffering from a spinal cord injury, Marquis Stewart excelled in the classroom and on the field.

May 8, 2024 at 6:23 p.m. PDT | Update May 8, 2024 at 6:24 p.m. PDT

Banning, Calif. — Star students can be found in classrooms, on concert, theater and debate stages, and in the community, doing good things to make life better for us all.

At Patch, we launched an initiative to help recognize star students, and we strive to tell the stories of these exceptional children to their neighbors.

This submission comes from Darlene Stewart who nominated Marquis of Banning, California.

Name of Featured Local Student

Marquis

What class is your local star student in?

11th

How do you know the local star student?

It’s my son

Why do you think the local star student should be recognized?

Marquis is deaf and hard of hearing. He uses a hearing aid in his right ear and cannot hear at all in his left ear. During high school, he took general education classes where he maintained a 3.7 GPA while being a multi-sport athlete.

He is also part of the ASB. Marquis is trilingual. The first language is English, the second language is ASL, and the third language is Spanish. He participated in several community events, including a few where he helped clean the parks and paint their equipment, as well as fences. He also finished his two years of career by taking courses in automobile mechanics.

Marquis is one of the starting pitchers, as well as the 3rd baseman, for his high school varsity baseball team and helped his team win their 2nd division league title. He has been playing Varsity since his freshman year. He is also the quarterback of the Banning High Varsity football team, but during this season he suffered a spinal injury that kept him out for 8 weeks. And right after he recovered from his injury, he went to play college football.

I believe my son deserves recognition because despite all the adversities he faced, he never allowed himself to knock it down or quit. Even at a young age, there was no stopping him, like when he was 18 months old and broke his leg. Even then, with a cast up to his leg, he still managed to get around and didn’t let it affect his daily life.

High school was definitely a change from junior high and elementary because he was still in a total communications class, where the other students were deaf or hard of hearing. The way he pushed himself and became so empowered despite his obstacles is why I think he should be recognized.

What’s the one thing you want everyone to know about the local star student?

Marquis is deaf and hard of hearing

Congratulations on your achievements and best wishes for the future, Marquis!

This content is brought to our community in partnership with T-Mobile.

Do you know an exceptional student who deserves recognition?

Name them here.