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Coconino High School (CHS) will be celebrating its graduating seniors Friday afternoon in a ceremony at the Walkup Skydome on Northern Arizona University's campus.

The school's graduating class includes Christopher Flores, who has been involved in sports both on and off the field, and Blake Ralston, who has developed his skills as a composer through projects for the school.

Christopher Flores 

During his time at CHS, Flores has focused on sports. He was on the baseball team's roster, mostly playing in the outfield, and was a commentator at other teams' games and a co-anchor of The Pulse's sports segment.

Flores played baseball all four years of high school, working his way up from the freshman team to varsity. He first started in the sport when he was 4 or 5 years old, and said he felt he understood baseball better than other sports he tried.

“I thought it was a really good time,� he said of playing baseball for the Panthers. “It was a blast, and I was excited to be with my teammates and coaches.�

During his senior year, Flores started commentating for CHS sports, including football, volleyball and basketball. He said he was inspired by watching broadcasters such as the the Los Angeles Dodgers� Vin Scully, who he hopes to one day emulate.

So far, he said, broadcasting has gone well. Flores said he was interested to see the behind-the-scenes moments of the broadcast and the different roles and techniques used to put it together.

He thanked Bubba Ganter and Billy Miller, saying he felt "like they put me in a great spot for doing my best in broadcasting.�

Flores also covers sports on CHS’s weekly news show, The Pulse, with co-anchor Wesley Ralston, Blake's brother, who does sports commentary with him as well. Flores said he is usually also involved in writing the segment, though a larger crew, including a director, producer, fact-checker and sound technician are also part of the production.

When broadcasting games, Ralston does the play-by-play while Flores adds color commentary.

Flores has plans to study sports broadcasting in college next year, while also continuing to play baseball. He said he hopes to one day “make it to a big network.�

“Of course, I have to start from the bottom, but hopefully I make my way to the top,� he said. “Hopefully I get my own show as well and we talk about a lot of sports.�

He said he’ll be taking friendships away from his time in high school, as well as the team motto of “respect, responsibility and integrity.�

At CHS, “I was able to evolve myself into a person where I could become a better, [more] supportive person than I was,� he said.

He encouraged other students to “definitely� attend CHS and to try new things.

“If you want to try something, go ahead and try something,� he said. “If the worst thing they say is, 'No,' then it is what it is and you just move on.�

He said this is the approach he’s taken to high school, including academics. This year, Flores completed two Advanced Placement classes -- government and statistics.

“I think if you’re indecisive between AP and a regular class, you should definitely try AP first or a harder class,� he said. “Then, if you don’t like it, or if it’s too hard, it’s OK to go back to regular classes.�

Flores thanked several people for supporting him through high school, including his family, Miller and Ganter, CHS film, TV and graphics teacher Jeremy Gemetta, the school’s baseball coaches, God and all of his teachers and friends.

“It was an honor to be at Coconino High School,� he said.

Blake Ralston

Ralston will be graduating with a head start on his goal of becoming a film composer.

Like many seniors graduating this year, Ralston started high school in 2020, and was in online learning for most of his freshman year. He said that year was “easily my favorite,� because it gave him more time to listen to music, deepening his interest in film scores and his familiarity with the work of different composers.

Ralston started composing early in high school, saying he was inspired to start creating his own music after noticing John Debney’s score as he watched the movie "Draft Day." He then started using equipment from his dad’s office, teaching himself how to make music and practicing by creating new scores to scenes from different movies.

He added that his dad has been very supportive of his composing. 

“Band and film, those are my two favorite things,� he said. “That’s why I want to be a film composer.�

Ralston has played percussion since he was a sixth-grader at Northland Preparatory Academy, and at CHS has been part of both the marching and concert bands. This year, he was also co-drum major with Katelyn Sexton, helping to conduct and lead band practices.

“[Being drum major] gave me an opportunity to not only conduct, but also to lead a group of people, to be their friends," Ralston said. " ... I'm going to miss them a lot�

Early this year, Ralston's band teacher Karen Whitaker suggested he compose a piece of music for the school’s orchestra to perform. He then worked with Owen Davis on the composition, taking his usual process for creating the music digitally (using the Ableton digital audio workstation) and then using software to translate it into sheet music.

The piece was written to be performed by CHS’s band and orchestra together, so it featured several different instruments from woodwinds to brass to strings.

“At one point or another, I played every one of those notes myself when I was creating it in the software,� he said.

He added: "It taught me how to take what was in my brain and what I already put out into a software and then move it and put it onto paper. That was something I had never done before. � It was a cool experience. I’m really lucky I was able to do that.�

He is also involved with The Pulse, and wrote a volume of music for the show, including its theme, during his sophomore year and then an updated version the next year.

“It's some of my favorite stuff I've ever made,� Ralston said. “I'm really proud of it.�

He thanked Ganter for helping the Film and TV Club add broadcasting to its activities, and Gemetta for offering him the chance to compose for the show.

Over the years, Ralston has added to his equipment and skills as he’s continued making music. He mostly writes soundtracks, composing music to go along with videos or stories he’s made up.

With the goal of one day composing film music or video game sound effects, he plans to attend the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences (CRAS) in Phoenix to study audio production.

“I’m excited to go to CRAS because it gives me the opportunity to live by myself, learn a bit more about other parts of the audio industry," he said. "It’s going to be a cool thing.�

Ralston said his time at CHS has taught him not to procrastinate, crediting the school’s teachers with reminding him that he would be graduating at the end of the year.

He said he especially appreciated his band teachers -- Whitaker, Abeyta, Busbee and Davis -- for supporting his interest in music, math teacher Jonathan Edwards “for always keeping it cool� and English teacher Janet Chavez-Vesely for her engaging lessons and introducing him to the book Tuesdays with Morrie.

“It’s great to be in an environment where there are people that love what they’re doing and they’re sharing that energy with you,� he said. “It helped make high school bearable, having the incredible teachers that I had."