“Falcon Spotlight” has been recognized for its uniqueness and creativity as one of the best radio shows across the nation.

Jaime Roberto Flores Junior, better known as Rob Flores on campus for his radio show, created “Falcon Spotlight.”

The Intercollegiate Broadcasting System deemed his show the best Student Public Affairs Program in the nation.

The winners were announced during a ceremony on Saturday, March 5 in New York and Flores did not attend due to a prior commitment to his community.

Flores fell in love with radio after being introduced to it by a class he took at Cerritos.

He took his first courses in 2008 and became hooked.

It wasn’t until 2011 that he was a guest on three different student’s radio show, where he gained confidence to start his own.

He said,“Working at WPMD has helped me grow as a person in so many ways because I used to be the quietest student here on campus.

“It has helped push me to who I am today and from there I guess I changed as a person. I’ve become more daring and this place just gives you confidence,” he exclaimed.

His love for radio is evident, he dons a microphone tattooed on his forearm.

Flores has put in hours researching and studying past student’s radio shows at WPMD.

He spoke of Mando Ponce, Ray Martinez and Samuel De La Cruz, who all were influential to him in how he ran his show.

He said, “Mando, is an inspiration because he’s a product of Cerritos College and made it to Power 106. Samuel de la cruz, who was extremely creative and I just loved the confidence that he had.

“There’s also one more guy, Ray Martinez. He talked to me about the things he accomplished while he was at Cerritos about a year ago. One of the things he was determined to do was get an interview with Muhammad Ali,” he continued.

“It didn’t matter to him if it was a one liner but he tracked him down and actually got an interview. He got audio of it and aired it.”

Flores has created his own standard and has become the first student at the WPMD to get national recognition from this award and was inducted in the WPMD Hall of Fame.

He said, “This award is a great honor and this is my first competition. It means that the judges saw that I best informed individuals about the things that affect us all.

“Again, this is a learning process because I was inspired by the various of people who came before me. I got to study what worked for them, what stood out to me that they did, and I just incorporated it in what I do now. If it wasn’t for my peers, I might not have been able to do what I do now.”

Casey Piotrowski, Co-advisor of WPMD, said, “Rob has been our Mr. Inside. He has all kinds of really important people on his shows not only on our campus but in the community as well. He does a great job doing the show and interviewing.”

Flores interviews all types of people from clubs, administrators, faculty, student and his favorite, council members. “I enjoy interviewing council members the most because I’m learning what it takes to be a city official.

“Now that I’m a City Commissioner of Traffic Parking and Public safety in Lynwood, I like to get their stories and learn how they eventually became elected officials.”

Flores hopes to attend Cal State Los Angeles or Cal State Fullerton in the near future and maybe pursue acting.