Alysa Manuel

Me

By: Alysa Manuel

My curiosity runs free in new situations with all new types people. Having a deep passion for the freedom of others to be who they genuinely want to be. In my mind, I believe it’s okay to dress, talk and act how you please, with some constraints. Those are the rules of society, as bullying is a big part in our prime days of growing to be adults. I truly don’t believe, just because someone is paying bills on time or holding up a steady job, means that you’re grown. I aspire to be someone who can help others, only when they choose they need it. I do enjoy helping others to find their purpose, only until they contradict themselves. 

As I grew up, I gave my heart out many times to many different groups of people. It always came back more damaged and hurt than before. Never stopped me from being the person I was born to be. You know when you have two very good friends, and they don’t quite like each other? I’ve had many of those type of conflicted friendships with people. Today I try being friends with everyone regardless how they feel about each other. Some days I have friends who need to rant about somebody. I won’t necessarily “stir the pot”, but I hope to be able to talk to both sides and shed some light on the situation. Nowadays people say things to mess with others emotions. Which is very natural, most times hypocritical. 

So that being said, I am a people person. Under certain circumstances where you find the best in a situation. I had a friend who I’ve grown up with, not naming names, but she has always had a severe depression. Everyone else brushed her off in times where she was thinking about giving up, and I stayed up almost every night talking her through it. People wanting to attack her because she is different. Me being me, I went after those people who didn’t like her. Not because I hated them or anything, I was friends with every individual who was saying bad things about her. That point of them judging her behind her back, and to my face. I wasn’t going to just be a bystander. I took action on those people, for the sake of someone who couldn’t stick up for themselves. I will never forget the day my so called ‘best friend’, stigmatized my other friend for what she did in her free time. Now I loved my best friend for who she was behind closed doors, but just because her secrets were hidden, doesn’t mean that she gets to make others feel less than for who they are, or what they like. Eventually the tension was gone, because a spotlight was put on their issue. 

Overtime, I started finding more people who were like me, in their own ways. Broken families, with no thought of what we are supposed to be when were older. When I was younger, I always had adults asking kids “what do you want to be when you get older?” And my mind always drew a blank. Although, I did know, I was a social butterfly with social anxiety. More after I started making friends, I opened my entire life to them. I gave them a place to sleep, eat and love others for who they are. Some days were hard, being that we were a bunch of teenagers with no supervision. You kind of had to figure out how to cooperate with people on your own. My ‘friends’, soon became my family. We all looked out for each other. If someone was getting in some trouble just a few miles up the road an we were all at the house downtown, we would rush to meet them half way. But we didn’t always encourage the fall back system. It can be a learning lesson, as I’ve learned from all of those kids “It’s not our job to change people, just to point them in the right direction.” Even if the kids I grew up with, grew apart, I still have never given more of my passion. ‘Til now. 

Although it was fun having our descriptions on the ‘Lake Stevens Criminal’ page, I’ve grown to be much more than a little hood rat. I’ve seen the living do their thing, to a point where it only can bring them death. I’d much rather experience the exciting things in life, while genuinely living it to the fullest. The fear of missing out, no longer controls me. As my surroundings keep me preoccupied. I’d like to end this with a quote by Robert Kennedy, “ Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” 

My curiosity runs free in new situations with all new types people. Having a deep passion for the freedom of others to be who they genuinely want to be. In my mind, I believe it’s okay to dress, talk and act how you please, with some constraints. Those are the rules of society, as bullying is a big part in our prime days of growing to be adults. I truly don’t believe, just because someone is paying bills on time or holding up a steady job, means that you’re grown. I aspire to be someone who can help others, only when they choose they need it. I do enjoy helping others to find their purpose, only until they contradict themselves. 

As I grew up, I gave my heart out many times to many different groups of people. It always came back more damaged and hurt than before. Never stopped me from being the person I was born to be. You know when you have two very good friends, and they don’t quite like each other? I’ve had many of those type of conflicted friendships with people. Today I try being friends with everyone regardless how they feel about each other. Some days I have friends who need to rant about somebody. I won’t necessarily “stir the pot”, but I hope to be able to talk to both sides and shed some light on the situation. Nowadays people say things to mess with others emotions. Which is very natural, most times hypocritical. 

So that being said, I am a people person. Under certain circumstances where you find the best in a situation. I had a friend who I’ve grown up with, not naming names, but she has always had a severe depression. Everyone else brushed her off in times where she was thinking about giving up, and I stayed up almost every night talking her through it. People wanting to attack her because she is different. Me being me, I went after those people who didn’t like her. Not because I hated them or anything, I was friends with every individual who was saying bad things about her. That point of them judging her behind her back, and to my face. I wasn’t going to just be a bystander. I took action on those people, for the sake of someone who couldn’t stick up for themselves. I will never forget the day my so called ‘best friend’, stigmatized my other friend for what she did in her free time. Now I loved my best friend for who she was behind closed doors, but just because her secrets were hidden, doesn’t mean that she gets to make others feel less than for who they are, or what they like. Eventually the tension was gone, because a spotlight was put on their issue. 

Overtime, I started finding more people who were like me, in their own ways. Broken families, with no thought of what we are supposed to be when were older. When I was younger, I always had adults asking kids “what do you want to be when you get older?” And my mind always drew a blank. Although, I did know, I was a social butterfly with social anxiety. More after I started making friends, I opened my entire life to them. I gave them a place to sleep, eat and love others for who they are. Some days were hard, being that we were a bunch of teenagers with no supervision. You kind of had to figure out how to cooperate with people on your own. My ‘friends’, soon became my family. We all looked out for each other. If someone was getting in some trouble just a few miles up the road an we were all at the house downtown, we would rush to meet them half way. But we didn’t always encourage the fall back system. It can be a learning lesson, as I’ve learned from all of those kids “It’s not our job to change people, just to point them in the right direction.” Even if the kids I grew up with, grew apart, I still have never given more of my passion. ‘Til now. 

Although it was fun having our descriptions on the ‘Lake Stevens Criminal’ page, I’ve grown to be much more than a little hood rat. I’ve seen the living do their thing, to a point where it only can bring them death. I’d much rather experience the exciting things in life, while genuinely living it to the fullest. The fear of missing out, no longer controls me. As my surroundings keep me preoccupied. I’d like to end this with a quote by Robert Kennedy, “ Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” 

Brooklyn Bogart

Hi my name is Brooklynn Bogart. There’s not that much about me. I love doing things to make this world better than the day before, I try to pick up trash when I can, which is really hard considering how much trash there is on the sides of the roads. It hurts knowing that this is our world and our animals’ world and this is how people decide to treat it. I don’t want to be one of those people who complains about pollution or global warming, I'm going to be someone who changes it. I want to wake up every day, knowing that I have made the world a beautiful place for not only me and my future, but for the futures of all the species on this amazing planet. I would love to pursue a career in my near future on making plastic free packages. I'd preferably want hemp made products. I just hate plastic, it's just so convenient for today's society. My mom told me stories about how at grocery stores there used to be canisters where you could get your cereal or anything and put it in a mason jar back when there was little to no plastic. I would love to somehow make all stores go back to that, or somehow get them to end their carbon footprint.

I can’t believe I am graduating this year, finally and on time thanks to my amazing teachers if I didn't have them I would have failed all my classes and I'm nervous about this year but I know I will pass with flying colors and I will make myself proud. I'm in culinary this year which I'm really excited about. I love making food it is one of my favorite things to do. I'm thinking about maybe pursuing cooking as a career also. I'm honestly not sure what I want to do yet. I just know that there are things that I love doing but I don't know what I want to spend the rest of my life doing and being dependent on that for my income. I hope that by the time I graduate I'll have it figured out, I remember thinking that in middle school. How the time has flown by, it seems like just yesterday I was starting my freshman year anxious about how these four years were gonna go by to slow, and here I am, a senior.

Aiden McNeil

I absolutely love music. I’ve been playing the drums since I was about one or two but the farthest memory I have is me playing on a tin bucket with whatever I could find for drumsticks and play along with a live Green Day concert. I would play it over and over and just try to copy what the drummer was doing. I grew up on mainly hard rock and metal. As baby I remember listening to bands like Slipknot, Pantera, Avenged Sevenfold, etc. I don’t listen to any other genres besides anything metal or rock related. I still play the drums to this day and when I was about 12 I got into guitar and recently I just got into piano. I’m trying to work on vocals as well. 

One thing I do a lot second to music is gaming. I’m on the PlayStation side and I stick around FPS games. Other than that, I love to hike, explore new places, go to restaurants and coffee shops, working out and helping people. I am big into grooming and cosmetology. I’m considering being a barber after high school if I don’t do music and also start a grooming company that sells beard and hair products and eventually I’ll hopefully grow into products outside of grooming like candles, wood workings, etc. I want to take after companies like Cremo and Hawk + Hatchet but also just do my own thing. 

Another thing I would like to start is an organization that’s dedicated to help people mentally and physically. The idea would be to motivate and inspire the pursuit of happiness and becoming the best person you can be and learn about life together as a whole. I’m hoping this organization will really take off and there’s a lot I’d like to do with it down the road. I’m hoping the same for everything else too, I like to keep myself busy. Overall I’m pretty laid back and I typically enjoy having time for myself, I’m not very social. I’m contempt with playing music and games and work on anything else I need to.  Honestly, I’m just ready to get out of high school and start it all!

Jude Jackson

I’m Jude! A sixteen year old boy with massive dreams. My family is full of non graduates. None of my siblings made it through highschool, and my mom and dad were both drop outs. It feels like I’m expected to make a mistake and not make it too. But I believe in myself! My birthday is Nov. 16, so I’m turning 17 in a couple months. It’s pretty exciting because as I age, more opportunities open up to me, which makes the vast future in front of me a lot brighter. 

My mom and dad are in their late 50s and 60s, so it's hard for me to feel understood. Being a boy who wasn’t born correctly is hard, and it’s even harder when they don’t understand and aren’t very willing to try. The newer generations are more likely to understand but being myself is a struggle. That’s why I’m so glad to be at crossroads. They try harder than any other school I’ve been at! 

I have lots of siblings, but I’m the baby. Sisters all 25 and older, with one brother who is 30. I feel like the odd one out but they still care for me. It’s just hard when they're old enough to be my parents. I have two dogs! Oscar Myer Weiner, my dachshund, and Poncho, my chihuahua. They’re the sweetest dogs. I have one cat as well, even though I’m rather allergic. Her name is Say-Say Summer. She’s a tortoise shell kitty.

Hobby wise I really enjoy art! I draw a lot. My dad thinks I inherited it from him. He’s a painter. I think I made it my own. My art is... silly. It is happy drawings of boys in the sky or me at my first day of school. It is cartoon-y and not a thing like realism. It is mine. I also write, as you can tell. It’s something that I can get lost in, but I don’t have the skill to carry all my ideas yet. I hope to make something wonderful someday. 

At the moment I’m trying my best. It’s not always enough. Yet my best is what I’ll give, no matter what. We all have different situations going on. Different things we have to deal with. I have so much that I’d never tell someone what’s going on. Even though, Crossroads makes me want to try my best, even if my best isn’t always enough for anyone else. I hope to one day have a ‘best’ that’s very strong. That trying my best is better than today. That I can fight harder for others and I can bring more joy than I do now. Only time will tell, but I’m excited to grow into myself! Just watch me, maybe one day I’ll be larger than life.

Xavier Swanson

At the beginning of summer I asked if I could move to Granite Falls and live with my dad. I moved around a couple of times but Sedro was my home for the longest time. Since my parents got divorced in 7th grade, it seems like Sedro has been getting less and less welcoming and more and more estranged. 7th grade to 10th grade was very dark time for me, often times there were days where it felt like I wouldn’t see tomorrow, but after moving to Granite during the summer I can say for a certainty that I haven’t been this happy and productive in a very long time.

Often times I focus on the negative things and my life will seem hellish, but in reality my life is balanced. I’ve got some good and some bad but who doesn’t? Life is what you make it and if you make it bad then guess what it’ll stay bad. A balance between realism and optimism is the only way to live, pessimism takes control over your thought process and senses so you only experience bad.

I don’t have any biological siblings anymore but I am a proud older brother to 5 step-siblings and I have one older step sister. I have 3 step siblings at my dads house, 2 that switch from my moms house to their other moms house, and one in Alaska(if you couldn’t tell my family situation is nice and complicated). My younger and more dramatic siblings live with my dad: there's Kennedy who is the youngest at 5 years old, and she is the cutest goddamn thing on the planet she just melts my heart everyday. There’s Kara; 8 years old and tries to act like a 14 year old, she’s super head strong and just like her mom. Kaden who’s 14 and the most sarcastic kid I have ever met this guy is really smart, whitty, and clever in all the right ways.

The two that sometimes live with my mom and the one that lives in Alaska are by far the ones I have the closest relationship with, they were with me right after my real brother died and they mean a lot to me. There’s Johni who’s 12 and is very wise for someone her age(no that is not a typo her name is Johni), she grew up on the rez and was taught by the reservation elders about shamanism and communicating with the dead, she’s unlike any 12 year old I’ve met. Lily is 14 years old and she’s a hoodlum just like her older brother, but is also extremely musically talented and one of the kindest souls I’ve ever met.

Then last but not least is CC, who originally lived in Alaska then she moved to Washington cause her guardian wanted to move down here to be with her boyfriend family but then was forced to come back to Alaska by order of OCS. She’s 17 years old and she is super caring towards her family and loved ones, just like me would do just about anything for her family.

Hobby wise I have all the teenage cliches: listening to music, scrolling through social media aimlessly, and walking around town but the one thing I am very passionate abouT is being with family. If you’re someone I care about I will fight for you and do everything in my power to make sure that you are safe. Being a protective big brother is something I take very seriously.

During the week after school I usually spend my time either lounging or working. I got my first job at 10 years old at my grandmothers's pet shop and I worked there for 6 years. Since then I love putting in as many hours as I can so I can get the most out of my job, plus those nice big paychecks. Weekends are my days of rest and freedom, sleeping in and doing whatever I want  is priority number one. Besides being very passionate about being a family man I do love me some freedom. I take very serious pride in being independent and being unrestricted because the land of the free really isn’t that free so doing things my way and doing what I want when I want is very important to me. Because if you aren’t free you're not experiencing life to the fullest, and if you don’t live life to the fullest then what’s the point?

Jake Crystal

Hey I’m Jake. I enjoy a lot of different things such as playing football for the High school. I also enjoy running, soccer, photography, video creating and editing. Writing and creating music, Playing the piano, keyboard, ukulele and guitar.  Above all, I enjoy sitting around being lazy binge watching Netflix with a tub of ice cream. You will never see me without headphones in my ears cause I’m constantly listening to music, it's what I practically live for. I really dislike school for I was a middle school drop out in seventh grade. Not because I was a bad student, I had a 4.0 GPA all years of middle school. It was because I got bullied and picked on so much. After a while I couldn't take anymore and I dropped out and took that time to do home school and teach myself what I was interested in such as photography, poetry, and the environment. 

  This is officially my first year playing football and I really like it so far. I play Corner, punt return, outside wide receiver, X, and H. If you Don’t know much about football, let's just say I’m the guy who catches the ball when it’s thrown and then just book it to the endzone. Surprisingly I’m taller than most guys on the team and more aggressive even though I’m one of the youngest. Ever since I’ve been playing my bench press went from 125 to 185 and I’ve become better and better with every practice. You may notice that all the positions I’m play in football involve a lot of running. That is because I played select soccer for 7 years and I played outside mid and they never stop running, so I’m used to running for long periods of time. To help maintain that I try to run 10 miles per week in my own time. 

Photography is my passion and what I’m best at out of all the things I do. I always have my camera with me, any money I get it goes towards camera equipment or one of my many other hobbies.  Photography has always stuck with me because the only limits are your imagination and my imagination is freaking bonkers! I’m constantly looking for the next amazing picture and noticing every little detail that could turn an amazing picture into a spectacular one. I will sit and wait hours and hours and try and try over and over to get the perfect shot or the perfect angle. Sometimes people ask me if it gets boring editing photos but it never does, I just put on some good music and make the best of it! 

            Video Creating and editing is one of the many things I do. I use the same camera for photography as I do video, it’s a canon T6i mark III. It’s an amazing camera and has so many great features. I use it for everything I do that involves photography, video, and audio. Video creating and editing isn't easy and it’s EXPENSIVE! It takes a lot of time and money and patients to make good video. I should just be glad I have nothing better to do with my time. I do all my editing on a Macbook pro that’s connects to my monitor so I have a 34 inch 4k screen instead of a 13.2 inch  screen to see what I’m doing so I can see any flaws possible.

            Writing and creating music is one of my favorite things to do because once again the only limit is my imagination. Me and my friend Casy are always making beats and lyrics for songs and just having fun with it. He’s almost 18 and we have always been the best of friends since I was 7 and I love him like a brother. He’s quite a good rapper and I’m very tech savvy so the two of us make a good team when it comes to writing and producing music. Most nights in the summer we are up till 2 a.m. making music and just chilling. During the school year we cut it back too and only work till 11 p.m.. We don’t really take it seriously but we try our best and have fun in the process.

          I love music, I don't know how else to explain it. If there's an instrument I wanna learn it, if there's a beat I wanna make it, if there's lyrics you know I wrote them. I've been playing the keyboard and piano for a while now, I’ve played the ukulele since I was little, and the guitar for three years. Every second of learning, playing, and creating I've enjoyed it. It is an escape for me, I’ll just lock myself in my room for hours and screw around and accidentally make something awesome. I just tune out the rest of the world and do my thing and enjoy my own company. Every once in a while I stop what I'm doing and go on a walk or clear my head so I don't work myself to death. Even though it’s fun its still work, just like this paper and if you do too much you will burn yourself out and crash hard. I’ve crashed hard before and I fell into a deep depression and basically did nothing with my life and made some bad choices that I now regret.

Somedays I just check out and watch Netflix all day and lay in bed and eat junk food and just relax. Like a fat cat laying around well its owners out of the house. I guess you could say I have a lazy day to give my crazy mind a mess. I normally do this on the weekends because it’s not a lazy day if you have to go to school and do work. My mom really hates it when I do this and that's because I eat the whole entire pantry and fridge and then she has to go buy more food. Then I stay up super late doing the same this because I'm not tired because I didn’t do anything all day long. When I finally fall asleep I don't wake up till around 1PM the next day. It is hard to do this though because I constantly have football and it takes up time so I always have to get up early for school or football.

                    Since I’m a teenager I naturally dislike and love school at the exact same time. It’s kind of like receiving a gift and a curse at the same time. I hate getting up early but I’m used to it so it’s not that bad. I like school because of the teachers and I love to learn. I don't mind school work, I actually enjoy it. The only problem I have with school is the kids. There are good kids and bad kids, weird kids, annoying kids, funny kids, rich kids, poor kids, and popular kids. I don't care if your skinny, fat, tall, short, gay, straight, trans, be who you are but one thing I have zero tolerance for is kids being mean to other kids and belittling them for no reason. There is never a good reason to be bullying because crossroads has a zero tolerance for bullying. No matter what they have no right pick on someone. The reason this upsets me so much is because I was one of the kids who got picked on and ripped on for no reason. All the way through first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grade.

You may be thinking what about 8th grade, well let me get to that. In the middle of seventh grade year I dropped out of school because I got bullied so much and did home school. Well I was homeschooling I took an online collage photography course. And got certified as a photographer. In 8th grade I came back strong and did let anyone get to me and kicked butt!  This is just a little bit about me and how I got to where I

am today, and became the person I am today. I hope you all enjoyed reading.

Faith Court

Even after 12 years, I can still remember my first day of kindergarten at Sunnycrest Elementary. I switched schools a year later because there was no bus route for where I lived to attend that school. I spent the next 9 years within the Lake Stevens School District, when I finally decided I needed a change. I came to Crossroads in November of 2018, and have loved it ever since. The teachers are amazing and friendly and actually care about the students and what is going on within their lives. I have never experienced such love within a school and it has made me excited to learn and excited to come to this building. 

            I love, love, love animals and mostly spend my time with my kittens and my dog when I’m not with friends. My animals manage to keep me sane even when it feels like I ́m going crazy. I like riding my longboard and bringing my dog with me on the Centennial trail. I like painting, occasionally. And, I like spending my time in nature. I like being able to go outside and smell the fresh air.

            I have three sisters, all older than me and all of them have moved out of the house and are doing grown up things. My oldest sister (Shelby) just moved to Oklahoma a few weeks ago to get into the Police Academy down there and pursue her dream of being a cop. My second oldest sister

(Jessica) owns her own spa down in Portland, and has been an aestheticism for a few years now. My other sister (Beth) just got married last month and is currently pursuing her way to be a teacher. She’s currently a student teacher in the Marysville school district. 

            I live with both of my parents, they’re both usually working so I’ll be out and about, just driving around in my car. I like my alone time, but I don’t like being alone all the time. I’m independent but still likes some company here and there, if ya catch my drift.

   I have two dogs and three cats. One dog is part Chihuahua and Dachshund (her name is Minnie), the other is a big old chocolate lab, and his name is Rocky. I have one cat named Bella, who is 12 years old, I’ve had her since I was a kid! She’s come a long way. I recently got two kittens about 4 months ago, their names are Oscar and M.J. They are very playful animals and the kittens get along with Minnie! It’s fun to watch them play with each other.

About Jordan Trussell

Growing up in Canada, a lot of things were much different living up there rather than down in Washington with my grandparents. I remember almost everyday I would wake up and immediately be outside playing in the townhome complex with all my friends that were a couple years older than I was. I would walk to kindergarten with my mom, listening to our favorite songs that a little kindergartner probably shouldn’t have known. Most days were repetitive, spending most of the hours of the day playing with friends and ending it by racing my dad to the bed to go to sleep for the night.

One day I was spending time at one of my friend’s house, all of the parents of the kids were super close and most days us kids were free to roam between the houses as we pleased, but I didn’t know it would be one of the last times I ́d be able to do that. The phone rang through their house and their mom picked up the phone happily to talk to my mom, but her joyful face quickly fell as my mom delivered some harsh news for me. To this day I still don’t know what exactly happened in that specific situation, but my mom began packing up all of our things and announced that we were moving back down to the United States, away from my dad.

There isn’t a lot that I remember about the transition between Canada and having a dad, to Washington with just my mom, brother, and grandparents. There was a lot of time I spent crying because I didn’t understand that he was a bad dude, I just knew him as my dad who took care of me. For my siblings and mom, they knew him as something completely different. We moved in with my grandparents in Kirkland, and we all had to make the transition from being used to how things were in another country, to now.

Not too many years went by and my grandpa died, leaving the whole family in a shit storm. My mom and aunt stumbled in a

dark hole with alcoholism, one uncle became homeless and desperate, my other uncle lived off away from the family problems. Family problems include alcoholism, my grandma getting sicker and older, my cousins stealing tens of thousands of dollars from my deceased grandpa, the usual.

From then a lot more problems arose, my mom lost her job because she was drinking so frequently and was making that her priority. When my grandma passed away, the house got sold and one of my aunt’s took all the money for herself. My mom and I became homeless, living with my drunk aunt on her two couches. I got blessed with the opportunity to live with my best friend and her mom in Monroe, to finish out my last year of middle school. I continued to live with them for the next couple of years leading me to go to Crossroads.

            Coming to Crossroads overall has made way more positive impact in my life rather than negative. Not to say it’s brought only positivity, but it’s made my school life and getting my education a lot easier without daily panic attacks walking through the halls. I continued to become closer with my best friend and her family, as well as met my boyfriend of two years who I’ve been living with now for at least a year.

About Mrs. Roberts

Five years ago in December a job posting for an English teacher at Crossroads became available. I had been subbing, but I hadn't taught in an official teaching position yet. After a little convincing from Mrs. Orr, I applied for the job. I won't say that being a new teacher at this school was easy, but I will say that the students grabbed my heart instantly. To work in a school where the students matter more than grades was exactly the reason I became a teacher.

As for me, my life is probably considered boring to a lot of people. I don't have a ton of crazy hobbies, but what I do have brings me complete happiness. What I have is 3 beautiful, I mean handsome, boys. They are my life.

My oldest is ten years old and scares me with his need for speed. He dirt bikes with his dad and there is no way I could dream of keeping up with him. He also has a big heart and a strong desire to be his best self.

My second child, a true middle child, is often called squirrely. He might be quiet, but he is busy. He loves animals, science, and learning about random things. He gets a little distracted sometimes...like his mama.

My baby is crazy. He is wild. He runs. He yells. He is the boss of the entire family. His favorite thing to do is pretend to be a Power Ranger.

As for hobbies, I would love to tell you I do a bunch of crazy, exciting things, but I am fairly average. I enjoy being a mom. I am a mom to my students during the day and a mom to my boys the rest of the time. My family spends our summers boating, tubing, lounging in the sun, and going on mini vacations.

During the school year and week, I watch Netflix, eat a bunch of unhealthy food, and typically spend my evenings lounging and being lazy. My weekends are typically spent visiting a new quaint town and trying out new restaurants. I also love, love holidays! If you happened to drive by my house, you would see it decked out in scary Halloween decor or a ridiculous amount of Christmas lights. It makes me SO happy to be festive!

Alexandria Chavez

Hi, my name is Alexandria Chavez. I am a Junior at Crossroads High school before I was attending Granite Falls High school but switched over to get the extra help that I needed. I was at first home schooled till about 6th grade. I was home schooled because I couldn't handle being in a public school. I had really bad anxiety, I missed so much school. I would throw up all the time, even just being at home. So my mom decided to pull me out and home school me. I lived in Lake Stevens until was five when my baby sister was born Then we moved to Granite Falls so I’ve lived here for 11 years. I have six siblings, two brothers and four sisters. Another addition to my family is my three dogs and a fish. When I was younger, we had bunnies but they always got eaten so we stopped having bunnies. We had cats but they always ran away. Which was okay with me because I hate cats. Growing up was normal for me, I grew up in a Christian home. It’s a very important thing to people in my family. I do believe there is a God, but it's something that I’ve always struggled with.  

I play Basketball for the Granite Falls high school. I've been playing basketball since

third grade with the same group of girls. I trained for about a year-and-a-half with a training program directed by Steven Hume who is now like a father to me. I was going to transfer to Grace Academy in Marysville because they wanted me to play for them, but I never did because it was to much money for my parents. I didn’t want to leave my team I've been playing with my whole basketball career. I tried Softball, but that was too slow for me, so I didn’t play again after my first year. I also enjoy being outside, hikes and going on road trips during the summer.

 My plans after high school aren't completely clear to me. I will probably go to college for a business degree but after that I'm not sure, and I’m not too worried. I will definitely move out of Granite one day, maybe move somewhere warm like California. I really just want to work and travel the world, just taking life one day at a time though.

Kendel Guzman-Ormiston

Hi, my names Kendel Guzman-Ormiston. I’m sixteen years-old. I was born on March 14, 2001. I have lived in Granite Falls for my whole life. I went to Lake Stevens from kindergarten until 10th grade, half-way through the year I switched to Granite Falls High School. But this year I decided I wanted to go to Crossroads because I liked that the school was smaller. I was behind on credits so I coming here made it so I could  get caught up..

 I have a pretty small family. I live with both my mom and dad and my cousin who we adopted. He is four-years-old now. We all live with our two dogs and cat. I have another brother who is twenty-years-old, but he doesn't live at home anymore. I have only lived in two houses and both have been in Granite Falls.

There is so much stuff I like to do, but one of my favorite things is playing with my dogs. I have two dogs right now, one is eight-years-old and the other is six-months-old. I love dogs so much, they are my favorite animal. I even got a pair of custom made vans with a picture of my dog on them! During the winter I like to go snowboarding. I started snowboarding about three years ago. At first I was scared, but I actually like it so much! I would go every day if I could. I also enjoy hanging out with my friends. I like to go on adventures and find new places to go. Over the summer I like to go camping and swimming not only because it is fun, but I like going to new places and traveling. I'm not sure what I want to do once I graduate, but I am glad I decided to join Crossroads.