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Page A2 • April 25, 2013 • Inland Empire Community Newspapers • Colton Courier COURTESY PHOTOS Angels Cheer Minis (kindergarten through second grade age) were first place champions in their age category at Nationals at the Sharp International Tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 20. COURTESY PHOTOS Savannah Medina, 11, of Angels Cheer was named Cheerleader of the Year by her coach Patty Ro- driguez, for trying hard not complain- ing and her wilingness to try different moves. Senior housing project work officially underway COURTESY PHOTO Though sad to see the old house go, city officials were very excited on Wednesday, March 20 dur- ing the demolition of the last structure on the property where the new senior housing complex will be located. From left: Interim City Manager Stephen Compton, City Clerk Eileen Gomez, Wyn Holmes of Eagle Colton 55, project developer, Councilwoman Susan Oliva and Randy Friend, Eagle Colton 55. Standing behind Oliva, on tractor, is Mayor Sarah Zamora and very top, from left, Councilman Frank Gonzales and Councilman David Toro. COURTESY PHOTOS Colton Joint Unified School District Board member Patt Haro, left and state and national wrestling champion Derrick Jones. Haro is one of the biggest fans and supporters of the Bruins Wrestling Team and now more than ever; Derrick Jones finished first in CIF Championships and went on to win the FLO National title as well, making him the first CJSUD wrestler, if not other sports, to win state and national titles. As a coach, Schaefer couldn’t be prouder. “It’s a great experience,” he said. “I strove for that my whole life [as a wrestler] and never achieved it. To see someone I trained succeed feels just as good as if I had. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer kid.” Schaefer describes Jones as very social and positive and a young man who’s always willing to help people out. Schaefer says that although col- leges haven’t formally started calling yet, he expects that Jones will be a top recruit, especially since he’s still not as his peak and can still develop more as a wrestler. “He’s on the map,” Schafer said. For the team as a whole Schae- fer says he’d like to work more on how to win very close matches, where 1 point makes a difference between win or lose. He also hopes the team can finish in the top 10 next season. For Jones, the win and the fact that he’s wrestling at all was very unexpected. His freshman year he was encouraged to try wrestling and at first, he wasn’t too fond of the idea. But he tried it and was hooked. “After my first win I thought, ‘I can do this,’” he recalled. Jones credits great teammates as one of the reasons he stuck with wrestling. “They make it fun,” he said. He says that the state and na- tional wins gave him a huge boost of confidence and a push to keep training hard for next season. “The big target’s on my back,” says Jones. Academically, while he’s not sure where he wants to go to school yet, Jones said he’s like to major in forensic science or pos- sibly kinesiology. As he’s overcome some his own challenges to succeed, Jones shares some tips for success with his peers. “I’d push them to the limit to be the best they can,” he says about what he’d do and say to encour- age others. Congratulations to the entire Bruins Wrestling team and their coaching staff for their hard word that paid off big rewards and made their community very proud! The three age groups were the Minis, for girls kindergarten through second grade, Little An- gels for third and fourth grade girls and Angles for girls fifth through seventh grade. There are a total of 19 girls between the three teams. The girls competed against hun- dreds of girls and teams nation- wide. Angels Cheer is led by Patty Ro- driguez, who also teaches gymnas- tics for the city of Colton at the Gonzales Community Center. She has coaching cheer for 12 years. “I never go to any competition worried about winning,” Ro- driguez says. “I feel if the team has fun then my job is accomplished. But I was very happy to hear they won first place. They worked hard this year and have accomplished a lot.” Apart from winning, Angels Cheer stands out in other, very im- portant ways as well. Parent Diane Medina, praises Rodriguez for the great job she does with the girls, selecting appropriate music and modest dance uniforms. “I put my daughter in cheer be- cause she was shy and didn’t have a lot of confidence,” Medina says. “It really helped her a lot. Patty does a great job with the girls.” The work paid off for Savannah Medina, 11. Apart from being on a winning team, she was also se- lected by Rodriguez as cheerleader of the year on her team. “I gave out cheerleader of the year to the cheerleader who always tried hard, never complained was always willing to try anything from flying to basing to dancing,” Rodriguez said. Savannah was very excited about the recognition and the team’s win as well. “It didn’t feel like it was real,” she said about the ‘unrealness’ of the wins. “Things like this don’t usually happen to people like us,” [understood to mean ‘normal’, everyday people]. For her hard work, Savannah re- ceived a giant trophy, one almost as tall as her. “We work together really well and we listen to our coach,” she said about the team’s win. “And we have a good attitude and good spirit with the crowd.” For more information on Angels Cheer, contact Rodriguez by email at [email protected]. She also teaches gymnastics at the Gonza- les Center Monday through Thurs- day from 3 to 7 p.m. codes of the City of Colton in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community; and, where violations occur, to work with citizens to achieve compliance through an efficient and fair process. The ultimate goals of the Code Compliance Division are to... *Maintain an attractive, safe, and healthy environment in order to provide a high quality of life for our residents and visitors; *Improve both the appearance and value of residential and busi- ness property; *Provide prompt, courteous and professional service to the citizens of the City of Colton; *Encourage responsible property maintenance; *Seek voluntary compliance with the provisions of the City Code; and *Maintain open communications and continuing education with the community. *While these goals may sound simple, cooperation and support from businesses, property owners and residents are necessary to make them attainable. The City of Colton is not only fo- cused on improving the quality of life for residents but also working with businesses to succeed within the city. The City of Colton wants to find ways to say “Yes” to local businesses, including new busi- nesses, instead of saying “No”. The main goal is to promote a positive image to the community and allied City Departments fostering a cul- ture that is helpful, approachable, and knowledgeable and of the highest integrity. Please feel free to contact the City of Colton at (909)370-5555 or City of Colton Code Compliance division to dis- cuss code compliance issues at (909) 370-5114. Code, cont. from front Bruins cont. from front Cheer cont. from front
