All-School Awards recognizes student excellence throughout the 2021-22 school year
School programs, like Pepper Bough, Welding Pathway, and PBIS are given time to spotlight students
Members of the Pepper Bough Staff receive honors for their journalism in the 2021-22 school year. (Featured from left: Briana McMullen, Myles Garza, Emmanuel Ramos, Erin Dallatorre)
Colton, CA—Excellence isn’t just about a GPA. On Saturday night in the Hubbs Gym, Colton students were honored at the All-School Recognition Awards, hosted by Renaissance.
Students involved in a number of school programs, like PBIS, HEAL, the English Language Development program, the Welding Pathway, and the publications department, were honored for their contributions and success during the 2021-22 school year.
Renaissance’s Daniela Garcia Hernandez and Alessandra Bille started the ceremony with the Pledge of Allegiance, and introduced the awards.
Up first was the Crimson & Gold yearbook and Pepper Bough awards. Presented by adviser, Mr. Jeremiah Dollins, these awards recognized the efforts of the writers, photographers, and graphic designers responsible for school publications. Yearbook staff members Annaleigha Hernandez, Jeremy Ortega, and Jacob Rivera were honored with plaques and copies of the yearbook.
According to Dollins, the first annual Pepper Bough Awards were voted by the community on the Pepper Bough website. All nominees were recognized with certificates. Winners in each of the six categories were awarded engraved plaques. The big winner of the night was Erin Dallatorre, who walked away with awards for Outstanding Feature Story, Outstanding Opinion Story, Outstanding News Story, and Story of the Year. She also received a plaque for her Best of SNO story, “TOP teaches adults with special needs how to adult.”
Sadie Larios won the Pepper Bough’s biggest award for Journalist of the Year, celebrating her 42 credits this year as well as her ambitious six-part series “Second Chances” that ran in December about the men of Mary’s Village.
The Welding pathway students were also honored for full completion of their program. Mr. Andrew Vidal announced the names of the 10 seniors who completed all requirements for the Welding Pathway. Vidal followed this by recognizing the Welding Pathway students who found success in this year’s SkillsUSA competition. Gabriel Galindo was awarded a gold medal for his first place finish at the regional competition, and Ellis Wright-Bradbury received the silver.
Eight students from the HEAL pathway were recognized for passing their Certificated Nursing Assistant (CNA) exam. This exam tested the skills, knowledge and ability levels of the students in order to receive accreditation by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.
CHS Honor Guard recognition was also bestowed on the students who will be escorting the class of 2022 at graduation. They received flowers in honor of their accomplishment. Honor Guard represents the top students in the class of 2023.
For the final act of the ceremony, Principal John Abbott announced the names for all the PBIS award and Student of the Month award winners. Teachers, counselors, and classified staff at CHS chose students to honor for exemplifying Colton’s PBIS motto: “Be Responsible. Be Respectful. Act with Integrity.” Students were awarded medals and certificates.
Among the night’s most decorated students were seniors Jonathan Alvarado (four awards), Ashley Cardona (four awards), Diana Escarrega (three awards), Kevin Gonzalez (four awards), Elizabeth Lara (three awards), and April Nuñez (three awards); juniors Annaleigha Hernandez (three awards), and Samay Ramachhita (three awards).
Recently, the CHS Publications Department experienced a major theft as over $20,000 in photography equipment was stolen from our studio over Spring Break. This included all cameras. Any amount you donate will help rebuild our program. Thank you!
Senior Myles Garza is a staff writer for the Pepper Bough newspaper. His interests are in music, film and sports. He is an avid reader, writer, and athlete...