Engaged pair teen athlete among dead in bus crash

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Engaged-pair-teen-athlete-among-dead-in-bus-crash-5398668.php

Los angeles _five hig school student and tehere chaperones  have been confirmed dea or are unaccounted for after a charter bus heading to

HumboldtState University  was truck by a Fedex tractor -trailer in Northen California. The bus and big rig driver were killed, but their identities have not been released. 

     Michael Myvett had spent years conecting to autistic children as a therapist, and now was playing chaperone to a different group of younth as he traveled from is Southern California hometo Humboldt state, his alma mater.  He was aslo a pround groom- to- be, traevelling with

Mattison Haywood, the fiance he proposed to in Paris at christimas.

The couple would make it neither to the school nor their wedding, dying in a fiery highway vrash instead.

He was my gransond, the greates gransond any grandparent could ever have, " Myvett's granmother

Debra Loyd told TheAssociated Press       through tears. 

Myvett had worked at the Center For Austism and related disorders in torrance for two yeard.

Operations manager Kyle Farris, one of Myvett's supervisors, said he and another therapist heard about the couple,s death on Facebook on friday morning and were very broken ap by the news. 

Farris described Myvett, a Humboldt State alumnus, as "a child at heart" who loved comic books and vidio games,  fantasized about working as a Disney cartoonist and bonded with his young clients by drawing cartoon character for them. 

He wanted to help people sicceed, and to be a liaison and representative for high school student who wanted to attend Humboldt was in sync with his personality, wanting to facilitate people achievement of their dreams, "Farris said".

Myvett proposed to Haywood ouside the Louvre Museum in December. Facebook photos posted by the beaming couple show haywood teetering on the platform pumps Myvett had asked her to wear while he extended a ring on bended knee. 

     " That was the love of this life" Farris said.

Separated by five minutes at birth and waiting list as they approached college 17-yeard-old identical twins Marisol and Marisa Serrato of Norte Vista High School  in Riverside, Calif found opposite fates as they got on different buses headed for Humbolt.

       Marisol, who,d been accepted ti the school, arrived without incident Thursday.

There was no word on Marisa, her "baby" sister who was on the school's wait list, for nearly 24 hours before dental records confirmed she was among the dead.
Miguel Serrato said Marisol called their father Friday evening after going to see her sister's body.
"Marisol is devastated," the tearful brother said.

      Arthur Arzola, who made it to a hospital burn unit before he was declared dead, was a Humboldt State admissions counselor and newlywed also acting as a chaperone on the trip. From the wide grin he wears on his bio on the school website while clad in Humboldt's tree-green and the love he expresses for the town's restaurants, you wouldn't know he actually lived and worked 600 miles away, where he sold Southern Californians on the pleasures of going to school in the far north of the state.

          A university statement praised Arzola for his passionate commitment to helping low-income and first-generation students get into college.
The University of LaVerne in Southern California said Arzola was a graduate student in educational counseling who had recently married a LaVerne alumna and was set to receive his degree in May.
"Arthur has been described by his colleagues as one with a passion and commitment in helping students reach their academic dreams," University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman said.

     A senior football player at El Monte High School east of Los Angeles, Adrian Castro was considering going to a California state university nearer to home but decided to give faraway Humboldt a chance and a visit.

"He told me two days ago: 'Should I go up and check it out anyway?'" said father Raul Castro, who would see his son for the last time when he dropped him off for the trip Thursday morning.
Later that night, he got a call from Adrian's mother, who had heard from the California Highway Patrol that he had died.
"Adrian Castro will be missed as a student and football player," El Monte football coach Joel Sanchez told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. "He was a good young man with a bright future. He will always be remembered by the El Monte family."

     Jennifer Bonilla was the model student.
"She's one of those students who is bright and shiny and eager and ready to go," Sherlett Hendy Newbill, a teacher at Dorsey High School, told the Los Angeles Times.
Friends said Bonilla was on the bus that crashed. She remained unaccounted for after the crash.
Classmate Melvin Harris, who was asleep when the collision occurred, broke a window to jump out.
"I looked back and I saw a whole bunch of other kids breaking windows and falling on top of each other trying to get out, and I was also trying to look for my friend," he told KCAL-TV in Los Angeles. 

    Teacher Noah Lippe-Klein told the Times he recently wrote a letter of recommendation for a scholarship that Bonilla won.
He admired Bonilla's "ability to think critically about the world and her profound, college-level writing skills."

Denise Gomez, who played soccer at Animo Inglewood Charter High School, was among the students who remained missing.
"Great kid, sharp, energetic," Gomez's former soccer coach, Roger Flores, told KCAL-TV. "Always smiling and a little quiet, but she was a happy child. I just know she was looking forward to go out and do her college trips."

Ismael Jimenez, a classmate of Gomez's, was an 18-year-old honor student who was "beyond excited" about attending college and pursuing an art career, according to his sister.
"His love for art was amazing. That's all he did," his sister, Evelin Jimenez, told The Los Angeles Times.
Her parents told her that investigators confirmed her brother's identity through a DNA test, according to the Times.
Even though Ismael Jimenez was younger, his sister said she looked up to him like an older brother.

        There was no word on Marisa, her "baby" sister who was on the school's wait list, for nearly 24 hours before dental records confirmed she was among the dead.

Miguel Serrato said Marisol called their father Friday evening after going to see her sister's body.

"Marisol is devastated," the tearful brother said.

Arthur Arzola, who made it to a hospital burn unit before he was declared dead, was a Humboldt State admissions counselor and newlywed also acting as a chaperone on the trip.

From the wide grin he wears on his bio on the school website while clad in Humboldt's tree-green and the love he expresses for the town's restaurants, you wouldn't know he actually lived and worked 600 miles away, where he sold Southern Californians on the pleasures of going to school in the far north of the state.

A university statement praised Arzola for his passionate commitment to helping low-income and first-generation students get into college.

The University of LaVerne in Southern California said Arzola was a graduate student in educational counseling who had recently married a LaVerne alumna and was set to receive his degree in May.

"Arthur has been described by his colleagues as one with a passion and commitment in helping students reach their academic dreams," University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman said.

         A senior football player at El Monte High School east of Los Angeles, Adrian Castro was considering going to a California state university nearer to home but decided to give faraway Humboldt a chance and a visit.

"He told me two days ago: 'Should I go up and check it out anyway?'" said father Raul Castro, who would see his son for the last time when he dropped him off for the trip Thursday morning.

Later that night, he got a call from Adrian's mother, who had heard from the California Highway Patrol that he had died.

"Adrian Castro will be missed as a student and football player," El Monte football coach Joel Sanchez told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. "He was a good young man with a bright future. He will always be remembered by the El Monte family."

Jennifer Bonilla was the model student.

"She's one of those students who is bright and shiny and eager and ready to go," Sherlett Hendy Newbill, a teacher at Dorsey High School, told the Los Angeles Times.

Friends said Bonilla was on the bus that crashed. She remained unaccounted for after the crash.

Classmate Melvin Harris, who was asleep when the collision occurred, broke a window to jump out.

"I looked back and I saw a whole bunch of other kids breaking windows and falling on top of each other trying to get out, and I was also trying to look for my friend," he told KCAL-TV in Los Angeles.

      Teacher Noah Lippe-Klein told the Times he recently wrote a letter of recommendation for a scholarship that Bonilla won.

He admired Bonilla's "ability to think critically about the world and her profound, college-level writing skills."

      Denise Gomez, who played soccer at Animo Inglewood Charter High School, was among the students who remained missing.

"Great kid, sharp, energetic," Gomez's former soccer coach, Roger Flores, told KCAL-TV. "Always smiling and a little quiet, but she was a happy child. I just know she was looking forward to go out and do her college trips."

       Ismael Jimenez, a classmate of Gomez's, was an 18-year-old honor student who was "beyond excited" about attending college and pursuing an art career, according to his sister.

"His love for art was amazing. That's all he did," his sister, Evelin Jimenez, told The Los Angeles Times.

Her parents told her that investigators confirmed her brother's identity through a DNA test, according to the Times.

Even though Ismael Jimenez was younger, his sister said she looked up to him like an older brother.