From 7:45 am to 2:45 pm at Erie Highschool, hundreds of shoes walk down the packed halls and classrooms, filling the air with loud chatter and laughter. Athletes, writers, entrepreneurs, and more fill these shoes. But one pair is worn by someone special. A student, athlete, leader, dreamer: Dario Hinojosa leads Erie Highschool, and walks down these halls with ‘tiger pride’ as the student body president.

Born in Wisconsin, Dario has moved multiple times throughout the course of his young life, eventually ending up in “beautiful Erie”. From Madison, Wisconsin; Tucson, Arizona; Thornton, Colorado; then eventually to Erie. By moving so much, Dario has always grown up around “diverse groups of people”.  Dario had always been exposed to different cultures, languages, and more which made him feel “equipped with many communicating and leadership skills”. 

With this background, it is no surprise that Hinojosa is an outgoing “people- person” with good communication skills. This proves true as “He is always very aware of what the student body wants, what they critique and is very good at listening to them.” Says, Riley Jackson, a longtime friend of Dario, and student body Vice President.

Like most high-achieving kids, Hinojosa grew up doing many different activities. “I’ve always been a pretty busy kid,” He says, “I’ve always played soccer. Then I found a passion for performing arts, so I became involved in choir, acting, etc. along with that, I later picked up more things like cooking, and now have my own garden… things like that”. 

“I felt that growing up around many different people, and doing a lot of things within different communities, somewhat qualified me to lead a large, diverse group of people, such as Erie High”, he says.

“I always wanted to be a leader.” Hinojosa says.  He got an early start with his StuGo career, as he has been involved ever since middle school. Once he was a freshman, he ran for Sophomore class president, and won. Ever since then he has continued to climb up the ladder of leadership, winning Vice President title, and Student Body President title in the following years. 

“Living in Erie,” he says, “I always loved to see the super fun, spirited, and energetic atmosphere throughout all of Erie, and wanted to make sure that legacy stayed true as I went into highschool.” 

After four years of being involved with Erie high and student government, Dario went into his senior year as the student body president, with high hopes and goals for the year. “It’s already been really successful with all of the continued traditions, like senior-sunrise.. and the successful and fun pep-rallies, etc. I can’t wait for everything else we have planned like this upcoming spirit week, and homecoming activities”. 

Hinojosa says that he is, “really excited to begin the tradition of powder-puff games this second semester”. This is something that he’s always wanted to do, and says, “it will be an exciting event for EHS, and is definitely something to look forward to.”

After leading his community for many years, Dario is ready to finish strong his senior year, and lead once and for all. “Overall, I’m really looking forward to this year and what it holds, it’ll be a good one.”