The Today sports reporter Gio Alfonso and Pueblo Punisher’s sideline reporter Donovan Trujillo, both juniors at CSU Pueblo studying sports and e-sports within the media and entertainment department, had the opportunity to attend Columbian Elementary’s CMAS testing assembly on March 31st.
Alfonso is the lead sports reporter at The Today, responsible of doing a weekly recap of all CSU Pueblo sporting activities from the last week, and covering all things regarding Thunderwolf athletics. Trujillo is a sideline reporter/broadcaster for the Pueblo Punishers, a brand new arena football team for the 2026 year. He interviews players, coaches, and is at every game and most practices.
“The opportunity was presented by Bethany Kostecka, a teacher at Columbian Elementary at my day job at Dick’s Sporting Goods, and I thought it would be a really fun opportunity to motivate these kids. I then spoke to Donovan about this exciting opportunity and he was all for it as well,” Alfonso said.
In regards to what roles Alfonso and Trujillo had in the assembly, they both said they were there to inspire kids for their upcoming testing through their current college careers. Their goal was to try and show them that no dream is too big with the proper work ethic, also showing where hard work can get you.
Though equally prepared, Alfonso and Trujillo had completely different preparation tactics.
“What’s crazy enough is that I didn’t prepare much at all besides that of a one google slide, as I wanted it to be real, authentic, and not scripted,” said Alfonso said.
“I thought of different questions I could’ve asked or been asked, made sure I maintained a professional mindset,” Trujillo said.
Regarding what it meant to have a large group look up to you, Alfonso said, “I haven’t been a guest speaker before, especially in a crowd of over 150 people. So having a large group of kids look up to you, it was one of the most rewarding moments of my life.” Trujillo added, “At first it was nerve wracking, but after observing and going up to speak the feeling immediately went away. It also got easier with Gio (Alfonso) up there as well.”
Alfonso and Trujillo spoke to the students about their background (where they are from, what schools they went to), and of course what sports teams and or players are their favorites. They then talked to them about their current careers at the university and with the Pueblo Punishers, and their dream jobs of becoming a pro sports analyst, reporter, or broadcaster after college.
Regarding his favorite part of this experience, Trujillo added, “ My favorite part was both speaking about the success in my life then the dance off.”
Alfonso, Trujillo, and staff members at Columbian Elementary participated in a “dance off,” which each danced and the student body decided who moved the best.
“I suck at dancing, so I definitely was not the highlight, but it was so beyond cool seeing Donovan break dance his way to victory,” Alfonso said.
“I loved it! It was so much fun and the competitive part of me loved winning the dance off,” Trujillo said.
Putting into perspective what he hopes the children took away from his message, Alfonso noted he hopes they left better than they were before, really understanding the true emphasis behind school playing such an important role in your success.
“This was a life-changing experience for me. The ability to have a positive impact like this I have never felt before, and would definitely like to do again and again,” Alfonso said.
Alfonso and Trujillo both said they want to do more events like this in the future, and it truly was “inspiring” and “exciting” for them beyond their wildest dreams.
