Meet Your 2022 Kings and Queens

“I was unsure if I wanted to run,” said Stephanie Alvarez, who was surprised when she was nominated by Link Crew to run as Homecoming Queen.  “I just decided to go for it.” At first she was unsure what her plan was for running, but she took a leap of faith. She ran together with Samay Ramachhita, one of her best friends in Link Crew, and they put together a campaign to drum up interest ...

Sports are in Gabriel Aparicio’s blood. Captain of the football team, member of the basketball and baseball teams, Gabriel likes to be the move. He’s always doing something. Now he’s running . . . for Homecoming King. Running for King gives people a chance to get to know Gabriel better “because I like campaigning myself well, I think it's cool . . . A lot like, from sports and everything, that people know me as a quarterback,...

For Vincent De Anda, being nominated as Homecoming King is validation for the love he has for Colton High and the surrounding community. It’s this love that kept him here for his Senior year, even as his family planned to leave the state and move to Arizona. It was a tough decision to move in with extended family, to put all his eggs in one basket, so to speak, but when that rose was delivered ...

Not only is Katelynn De La Torre running for Homecoming Queen, she’s also kickin’ through goals and pursuing her dreams as a soccer player. Kate found a passion for soccer at the age of three when her dad first introduced it to her. Ever since, she hasn’t stopped with what she loves to do the most. Initially, she started playing soccer with her little brother and created her soccer life from there. �...

For Denise Diaz, winning Homecoming Queen is all about legacy. Last year, during halftime of the game against Grand Terrace, Denise’s older sister, Dannya, was crowned Homecoming Queen. It was a special moment for Dannya, but also for Denise. Originally, Dannya didn’t want to run for Queen. She wasn’t deeply active in CHS culture at the time, and wasn’t sure she should do it. Denise saw somet...

Marissa Lopez is happy where she is right now. That might sound like an easy thing to say, but it’s not. How she got to this point, the fight she had to put up, has made this happy place hard won and completely satisfying. To look at her is to see someone that looks perfectly put together to be a Homecoming Queen. She has an easy, bright smile, a popular presence; she is active in ASB, was a chee...

Making Homecoming Court wasn’t supposed to happen this way for Nathaniel Martinez. What was supposed to happen was that Nathaniel and his girlfriend, fellow senior Allison Favela, were to win spots on the Court together. From the moment they accepted their nominations, the idea was that they would run together and if one of them didn’t make it, the other would drop out. Nathaniel was nomi...

Duke Medina wants to change Colton.   There’s a strain of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment within the Colton community, even at times blatant homophobia, and Duke has some things to say about it. This iconic green-wearing, ASB President, Honors/AP scholar, and queer student spends most of his time either at school working to make sure school events go smoothly, or at home doing homework.  Otherwi...

Samay Ramachhita is the guy. Think of nearly any organization on campus, and he is probably involved. ASB? Check. He’s the ASB secretary. Link Crew? Absolutely! Samay has been involved with them for the last two years. He’s also involved with AVID, boys volleyball, and the FIDM Fashion Club. Samay is definitely the guy. Most everyone knows this about Samay. The Pepper Bough alread...

Axel Vasquez is excited he made the cut. Axel is a nominee running for Homecoming King this year. He’s a self-taught barber that works in the comfort of his own home. Always working. whether he has clippers in his hand, at home, or at a restaurant working part-time.  “My daily routine is going to school, then to football, and going home to shower, and then I take any clients that want a cut.�...

Destiny Verduzco is so much more than a high school student. She’s an entrepreneur. Despite being so busy with a jammed packed school schedule that includes involvement with ASB, Renaissance, and HEAL, Destiny still finds time to run a small business. During her sophomore year, the year defined by stay home orders, Destiny started a business customizing cups, frames, shadowboxes, and shirts ...