Colton, CA—On Saturday Oct. 5, Kyle Koperski, his friends, and family gathered at Aroma De Cafe in Colton. The event was open to potential voters and people around the Colton community.
They sipped on coffee, had sweet treats, and got to know Kyle Koperski a bit more.
Who is Koperski? He’s running for city council and will be on the Nov. 5 ballot.
According to him, he’s ready to make a change in the City of Colton, and is determined to take the next step.
Koperski is a Colton High alum from the Class of 2018. During his time in high school, he was an actively engaged student, taking part in Link Crew, ASB, and National Honors Society.
“Kyle is the type of student every teacher would want to have in class.” says Roxanne Berch, Kyle’s math teacher at Colton High. “He is an amazing young man and was an incredible math student.”
Koperski’s greatest love in high school, though, was baseball. He played baseball all four years at CHS, and varsity in his junior and senior years.
After graduation, Koperski attended San Jose State University and majored in Political Science. He also grew his passion for baseball by playing for the Spartans. He graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in 2022.
Since then, Koperski has taken on a community leadership role by serving as the head coach for Colton’s JV baseball team.
Now that he has taken a step forward in his life by running for City Council, Koperski has decided to take a step back from baseball.
But not completely.
He’s taking a break right now, but still loves the experience of working with youth. “I think the leadership of being in charge of young individuals is definitely an eye opener and humbling experience.”
Not only is Koperski teaching youth to succeed in baseball, he is also a substitute teacher for the Colton Joint Unified School District. “I have a passion to be a leader,” he said, “whether that be when I was in school or now.
Koperski has always had a desire to run for office. Back in April, his grandfather Ken Koperski passed away. Ken was a council member for three years. The two of them had several conversations involving a lot of what was happening around Colton, including political topics, and also about working on the City Council.
Ken Koperski’s life and passing had a big impact on Kyle. It motivated him to do more for his future, like following in his grandfather’s footsteps.
Although his process seems easy, Koperski has faced the challenge of “How do I connect to people that may not have the same ideas, or not always agree with me?”
To work on this, Koperski has been campaigning by going door to door, putting up posters around town, and even hosting pop up events at local businesses.
Koperski’s goal is to have an impact on young people and encourage them to run for office and serve their community, too. “We’re not going to be president tomorrow or whatnot, but you could inspire yourself to make a change in your community no matter your age, and whether you win or not.”
