Seniors honored at Awards Night
Valedictorian and Salutatorian are named, Mr. and Ms. Yellowjacket are honored, scholarships awarded, and academic medals given to the Seniors at the ceremony
Ethan Polo fist bumps CHS Principal John Abbott at the 2023 Senior Awards celebration on May 17.
Colton, CA—Last night in the Whitmer Auditorium, the Class of 2023 were honored at the annual Senior Awards ceremony. At the two-hour ceremony, hundreds of seniors received awards in a number of categories, including academic honors, medals, and even scholarships.
Valedictorian and Salutatorian were officially named at the ceremony. Elijah Rosales is Colton High School’s 2023 Valedictorian. Salutatorian is Michael Duke Medina. Both will deliver speeches during the graduation ceremony on Thursday.
Mr. and Ms. Yellowjacket were also named at the event: Julio Jauregui and Allison Favela.
Favela was shocked. “Honestly, I was shocked and surprised. I didn’t think I was capable of reaching such heights since I know there’s so many great people in this school that I just didn’t think I would be able to compete.”
Julio Jauregui felt the same. “I didn’t think I was going to get the Yellowjacket title, but when Buskirk told me there were overwhelming responses with my name on them, I was shocked.”
In addition to the night’s biggest prizes, a number of students were awarded academic medals for their performance during the 2022-2023 school year. Many were also the recipients of scholarships, including San Bernardino Valley College’s “Valley Bound” scholarship, which pays for books and tuition for the students’ first year.
The night also saw the awarding of the Seal of Biliteracy, which acknowledges students who have studied and shown proficiency in two or more languages.
Prior to the awards show, the Seniors invited did not know what awards they would receive, which created a little pre-show jitters. Jasmin Almazan said, “I felt nervous because I didn’t know what kind of award I was going to get until they called my name.” Almazan received the Biliteracy seal, an academic letter, and a medal for achieving a GPA of 3.5-3.9.
“I was nervous, excited, and proud of myself that I was able to get an award,” said Kimberly Emilio, who also received the Biliteracy seal, academic letter, and the 3.5-3.9 medal.
The Seniors parents were quite proud, as expected. Antonia Anaya, mother of Isaiah Medrano, shared, “He’s done so, so well. I’m so proud of him. I’m glad he’s finally graduating and moving on to a new chapter in his life.”
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