By Angelita Delcido
On March 29, 2017, during 4th period (and first lunch for some), Pueblo’s CTE Graphic and Web Design teacher, Mr. Ernesto Somoza, gathered all of the spring sports girls’ teams—including soccer, basketball, volleyball, softball (as well as Cheer)—to celebrate their upcoming “AIA Tony Komadina Award” with a group picture.
This picture was taken a little unusual; in fact, a drone snapped the picture in effort to “stay in the current world,” Somoza explained. “[The drone] is a fairly new consumer product,” he added. “A year ago, the drone wasn’t as prominent as now.”
Freshman (Class of 2020) Jacquelyn Gutierrez, a member of Cheer this season, was part of the crowd. “It was exciting to be part of this event,” Gutierrez said. “I felt inclusive with Pueblo—like I was a member of this great school, like I was really connected to the school. As a freshman, this is a great feeling because I think we all come into high school and feel a little left out. But, that’s all changed now.”
Another freshman (Class of 2020) Alina Cuen, member of cheer, also took part of the crowd photo and said, “I felt special and proud to represent Pueblo. The drone was definitely a unique way to take our pictures. Mr. Somoza was brilliant to have thought of this approach.”
Sophia Shivers, a freshman (Class of 2020), was on this season’s girls’ JV basketball team said, “Even though it was really hot that afternoon, I felt cool to represent Pueblo’s girls’ sports programs. The drone was cool, too, and I think that this is how future group pictures should be taken.”
Sophomore (Class of 2019) Yazmin Almazan, a member of the girls’ JV volleyball team this season, said that she felt a sense of unity with the other girls at Pueblo, and she loved the drone!
“The drone took some very unique shots of us—pictures that a person would never be able to take. I hope that the drone is used again to take more interesting pictures,” Almazan said.
Some of our Female Warrior Athletes gather at Farber Field to celebrate our 2016-2017 AIA #TonyKomadina Award! ????#DroneShots #Recognition pic.twitter.com/pzVXm4CMDC
— Pueblo HS Athletics (@PuebloAthletics) March 29, 2017