Westwood High chooses Sweetheart King, Queen
Two members of the Westwood High Sweetheart Court were crowned king and queen in between the girls and boys basketball games with Downieville Thursday evening, Feb. 13.
Brianna Navarro, a sophomore, was selected as queen and Tyler Melendrez, a senior, as king.
Other members of the court were Genessee Majors and Jakob Boyd (ninth-grade); Maddex Kinsey (10th-grade); Emily Kiggins and Conner Sawyer (11th-grade); and Destiney Pemberton-Bennett (12th-grade).
Throughout the week students showed their school spirit in a multitude of ways. One was to participate in dress-up days. Tuesday, Feb. 11 was “Girls “n” White and Guys “n” Pink”; Wednesday Feb. 12 was “Gender Swap”; Thursday, Feb. 13 “Dress to Impress”; and Friday, Feb. 14 students wore red and black, which are the school colors. There was a Sweetheart Assembly for grades four to 12 Thursday, Feb. 13.

Also between basketball games, the Westwood High seniors playing on the teams took part in the Senior Rose Ceremony to honor their parents and coaches. The boys basketball coach this season was Cory Rickert, and the girls basketball coaches were Harmony Bruns and Sarah Bustamante. The senior players taking part in the ceremony were Destiney Pemberton-Bennett, Tyler Melendrez, Garrett Sutton and Isaiah Halcrow. Michael Altenburg, principal/ superintendent, read the seniors’ thank you messages as the students presented the roses.
Halcrow thanked his parents and his coach for making him a better person. Sutton thanked his parents for their support. Melendrez was grateful his parents “paved the way to be tough.” He thanked his coach for being a person he could talk to about everything and opening his arms to a kid with a goal.
Pemberton-Bennett told her mother she was the soccer mom every girl wants, and she thanked her coach for making her push her limits. Also, she thanked her teammates for making her last year of basketball at Westwood High one to remember.
Both the girls and boys Westwood High basketball teams won their games.