Arellanes Junior High students gathered on campus June 14 to honor former student and Olympic boxer Carlos Balderas, unveiling a new banner that reads “Home of Olympian Carlos Balderas.”
The students in the Builders Club fundraised and planned for the event since Balderas competed in the Olympics last year. Balderas was scheduled to appear before the banner was unveiled, but he canceled due to illness.
Tiffany Fife, counselor at Arellanes, helped organize the event. She has known Balderas since his time at Arellanes and said she was “very proud” of his accomplishments.
“We wanted to honor him,” she said, “and inspire other hawks.”
Fife said the banner would serve as a constant reminder to the students that someone from their school made it to the Olympics.
The students of the Builders Club, like Alexis Chavez, were excited to see Balderas and hear about his accomplishments. Chavez said the boxer inspires him.
“He proved that you can come from a small town and still be part of something big,” he said.
Arellanes eighth grader Monica Novoa said that Balderas “inspires us” and is a “good example” for students to follow.
Without any time left in the school year, Fife was unable to reschedule the event, but she said she will plan for it next school year.
“Hopefully the banner will already be up,” she said.
The Builders Club plans to place the banner in the gym, underneath the words “Home of the Hawks,” Fife said.
This article appears in Jun 22-29, 2017.