Celeste Rivas is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Tolleson Union High School for AZPreps365.com

TOLLESON– Student. Pom leader. Pageant winner. Zaidee Sanchez wears three different crowns. She can do it all. 

The reigning Miss Teen Tolleson Latina has transformed her busy schedule into a successful lifestyle to become a role model for her peers at Tolleson Union High School.

“Getting tips from mentors and being there for my friends specifically helped me develop qualities to become a good team leader,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez has been on Tolleson’s spiritline team for three years. Aside from spiritline, she is also the president of Tolleson’s Performance Company. 

“She is the poster child for spiritline,” pom coach Danielle Gonzalez said. 

Gonzalez said she praises Sanchez for the traits that make her stand out, such as her determination, composure, and leadership. 

Sanchez said she has been competing in pageantry since she was six, when she “fell in love at first sight” with the first pageant her uncle took her to. 

Ten years later, Sanchez now trains at Elegancee Pageants. With the help of Elegancee Pageants, she was crowned Miss Teen Covergirl in 2024. 

Sanchez trained to compete in the Oct. 5 Miss Teen Arizona Latina pageant, where she was crowned Miss Teen U.S. Mexico Latina, qualifying her to compete at Miss U.S. Latina.

Sanchez after being crowned Miss Teen U.S. Mexico Latina. (Picture provided by Zaidee Sanchez) 

Sanchez said that she credits her success to her pageant coaches, Cesar Morfin and Nancy Gomez.

Miss America Latina del Mundo 2019 Nancy Gomez runs Elegancee Pageants with her husband, Cesar Morfin, who is a life coach. 

“She's a very talented and disciplined young lady,” Gomez said. “She’ll take everything I tell her to do and change without hesitation.” 

Sanchez has been coached by Gomez and Morfin since she was 15.

“A lot of girls who go to us have the dream, but not everyone has the determination that she has,” Morfin said. 

With school, spiritline and pageant training, Sanchez’s schedule is constantly booked. 

Sanchez said that it was challenging to adjust to a fixed schedule, but with time, she learned the value of time management, which helped her become a leader for her friends. 

Gonzalez said that working with Sanchez’s schedule is easy because Sanchez consistently communicates with her when conflicts occur. 

“We’re fine with it because we know she’s good for it,” Gonzalez said. 

Instead of seeing her busy schedule as a struggle, Gonzalez and Gomez said that they notice how Sanchez sees it as an opportunity to apply what she learns from one outlet to the other to help those around her. 

Gonzalez said that Sanchez is a role model on the team, as everyone looks to her when they have questions. 

“She loves to help out in any way she can, and I can see that rubbing off on some of our girls and guys too,” Gonzalez said. 

Sanchez’s lifelong friend, junior Aylin Bustamante, has seen her grow in both the dance and pageant world. 

“For pom, she’s very organized,” Bustamante said. “For pageants, she’s honestly the same way.”

Sanchez said that by winning all of these prestigious titles, she has been able to become a mentor to other teens. 

Gomez recalled a time when a girl she was training for Miss Covergirl wanted to give up after losing several times. The girl had one more chance to compete for the title, but wanted to quit before trying. 

However, when Sanchez gave her some words of encouragement, the girl was inspired to try one last time, and she ended up winning the title.

According to Sanchez, her platform is all about lifting people and defeating setbacks in the Latino community.

“There are stereotypes and certain barriers out there in this world, and being able to break those is something that drives me to have more passion,” Sanchez said. “Diversity is a strength, especially as a teen Latina.”

Gomez said she is impressed with how much Sanchez has already accomplished in high school.

“In a time when a lot of teens are going through different mental health struggles, girls like Zadiee being that change gives me hope,” Gomez said.