“Five dollars!”
“Do I hear six dollars?”
“I’ll give you ten dollars!”
“Anybody wants to give eleven dollars? No? Sold for ten dollars!”

The senior auction has been a tradition at Miami High for the last five years when activities director Ms. Rivero suggested to make it a fundraiser for the United Way since it was a program she ran at her former school.
SGA advisor Ms. Puentes says, “This year we raised over $300. As always, our event gets better every year, and we are happy that our student body really supports all of our events.”

The senior auction took place on Wednesday, October 26th, for boys, and Thursday the 27th for girls during both lunches.

This year the highest bid was $22 made by freshman Sharon Castellanos for senior Randy Gregorio. The lowest bid was $1 made by senior Crystal Cubillos for senior Adrian Gandara.

Seniors who were bought were made “slaves”, meaning they were required to do what their “owner” asked them to. Their serve date was Monday, October 31.

Senior Jayde Garcia, who was bought by senior Frank Wong for $6, said, “He made me write notes for him.”

Senior Linda Walters, who was bought for $5 by senior Carol Tinoco, said, “My owner made me carry her AP Psychology baby and her book bag and put everything away for her in class.”

Senior Maryelin Leal paid $15 for senior Pablo Iraheta, who said, “I had to get my owner’s lunch, help her with classwork, and pick up everything she would purposely drop.”

Senior Erick Aracil, who was bought by sophomore Alex Garcia for $3, said, “When I came to school on Monday Alex never showed up, so I stayed with my drama teacher helping her make masks for an assignment the whole day.”

Students who sold themselves had a great time participating. Senior Randy Gregorio said, “I became really good friends with the person who bought me.”

Senior Kelvin Cash, who was bought by senior Karina Garcia for $15, said, “The best part of auctioning yourself is that you find out who really loves you enough to pay for you.”

Senior Jazzlin Gomez, who was bought by senior Jenser Salazar for $13, said, “I had a great time helping and hanging out with my owner.”

However, there were some downsides in participating. Linda Walters said, “One of my owner’s teachers didn’t let me serve her correctly. The teacher didn’t even allow me to sit with her.”

Senior Jasmine Mendoza, who was bought by junior Raulisa Hernandez for $3, said, “It was awkward standing and waiting to get auctioned, especially since I was the first one.”

The slaves had many reasons to auction themselves. Senior Jessica Garcia, who was bought for $10 by senior Giovani Clement, said, “Since I am corresponding secretary for SGA, I wanted to be a good example and encourage students to join me.”

Senior Adrian Gandara wanted to support the good cause, while Jasmine Mendoza said, “I wanted to show school spirit by participating.”