BOSTON -- Every two weeks, NewsCenter 5 presents a high school senior who has taken the lessons of the classroom and applied them to life.

This week's A Plus student is City On A Hill Charter Public High School’s Efrain Morales.

Meet Tonight's A Plus Student

NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that Efrain wanted to make sure that diversity wasn't just a concept at his high school.

“I try to focus on kids who are more like the minority," Efrain said, "And [giving] kids a chance that feel like, since they are a minority, they can't have it."

Efrain became a recruiter his freshman year. He sacrificed countless hours for prospective students and their parents. Thanks to his efforts, the mostly African-American student body has increased its Latino population by more than 20 percent.

"He has really helped with parents' questions in the very beginning to help them feel that they can come to the school with questions because he's so open and so warm,” said admissions representative Jessen Langley.

"You can often mistake him for one of our faculty members," said English teacher Heidi Crean. “He's just got this amazing presence. He's always smiling. He's very professional.”

Efrain hasn't stopped there. He mentors six students from a program that he helped create.

“I care a lot about people,” Efrain said. “I'm a very caring person, so I try to make sure that they care about themselves, too.”

Efrain's concern is rooted in his own past. He’s experienced firsthand the effects of poverty and a tumultuous childhood.

“A lot of my friends are in jail because of drugs and alcohol or doing something,” Efrain said. “I'm not trying to go to jail or trying to ruin my life.”

Instead, Efrain wants to go to college to study veterinary medicine.

"He just kind of eats up everything we teach him here and starts applying it immediately,” said Crean. “He just gets the whole relevance of education, which most teenagers don't get.”

"I feel like I have a lot of potential, and I know other people do,” Efrain said. “And I try to help them find it.”

If you know a special student who truly makes a difference in his or her classroom, e-mail us your nomination. Please include your phone number.