The Road to 3,000: Columbus' Specialty License Plate
By Allan Tompkins
Kevin Testa ('95), the Christopher Columbus High School Alumni Association President, drives a truck without a single Columbus sticker on it. For a man who has been involved with the Alumni Association for almost 15 years, that's no accident.
“Everyone asked me, 'Bro, you need to put a sticker on your car,'” Testa said. “I’m like, 'I’m not doing it... until we get the license plate.'”
Columbus is now on the verge of being the first high school in state history to receive its own specialty plate—all it needs is 3,000 people to buy in.
The Origins
It all started four years ago when members of the Christopher Columbus High School Alumni Association were brainstorming ways to elevate the school's brand beyond the classrooms. One idea after the other eventually led to the proposition of something that almost sounded too big: a Columbus license plate.
The idea was met with a lot of doubts—for starters, the legislative process would be long and difficult. Pair that with the fact that Columbus would be the first high school in Florida to receive a plate and it's no surprise that the idea didn't receive widespread enthusiasm when it was first pitched; however, for many of the alumni, those odds weren't enough to talk them down from it.
“When you try to do something big, people inevitably will say, ‘Oh, you’re crazy,’” said Testa. “And I’m like, all right, well, why not be the first?”
Today, the idea that was once a long shot is one step away from being on thousands of cars across Florida. Yet, the success that the plate has seen up to this point would not have been possible without its most defining design: the C.
Waking a Sleeping Giant
Prior to 2018, the Columbus C closely resembled that of the Chicago Bears, a trademarked emblem that prevented Columbus from truly owning its brand, let alone putting it on a license plate.
In the year of the school's 60th anniversary, Louis de la Aguilera, former Columbus board member in charge of marketing and class of '77 alumnus, realized that Columbus was a "sleeping giant" and decided to do something about it. With the help of attorney and class of '86 alumnus William Trueba, the Columbus logo was redesigned and trademarked into the C we know today—giving Columbus its very own, unmistakable identity.
In 2023, the school relaunched the Brother Kevin store. The storeroom got new counters, new racks, stickers covering its walls and all-new gear, along with an online store that releases new merchandise every month. Out of the plethora of new designs and clothing items that have been released, one item remained the store's undoubted bestseller: the C sticker—an item that is hard to miss on the back of cars driving down the Palmetto or Bird Road, or even all over Miami.
The demand was obvious and, once again, the possibility of taking this to the next level with the license plate was brought up.
“Whenever you try to do something that’s never been done before, you need perseverance, you need hard work, and you need a little bit of divine intervention,” Testa said.
That divine intervention came on Aug. 26, 2024, at Casa Cuba, a Miami landmark that is simply a place of routine to Danny Alonso (‘99). Like any other day, he dropped his kids off at school and drove over to Casa Cuba for a cup of coffee with friends. There, Alonso got to talking with one of his buddies about the possibility that this specialty plate could become a reality.
Alonso decided to reach out to then Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Danny Perez (‘05), a CCHS alumnus who has most recently been made Ambassador to Brazil. While they had been acquaintances in the past, Alonso was texting him now for the first time to see if this could really be a reality. Minutes later, in a moment that he was only able to describe as an "act of God", Perez walked into Casa Cuba, saw the man who had just texted him, and got to talking.
Perez gave Alonso roughly a 10% chance, citing a long, difficult process that needed approval at every level. Alonso optimistically replied to the odds with "perfect."
For the next two years, Alonso kept the pressure on, checking in with Perez again and again. Thanks to Perez and his deputy chief of staff, Alex Barrera (‘11), the bill for this license plate (Senate Bill 246) has now passed the House of Representatives, the Senate and been signed by Governor Ron DeSantis which means that the ball is in the court of the Columbus community now.
This plate ultimately means more than a piece of metal on a car. For Columbus to receive its own plate also makes it the first high school in Florida to do so. This means that in the near future, simply driving on the road in Miami and recognizing that plate will create a moment of connection that extends the brotherhood this school is all about.
“I mean, it’s incredible. It’s who we are. It’s our identity,” said Alonso.
At the same time, while most people think of a license plate as something for their car, many often forget that these plates can still be placed on commercial fleets, boats, hauler trailers and many other car-adjacent vehicles. Chris Infante ('96), owner of SFM Services, the company that cleans the school every night, plans to convert his entire fleet of 150+ trucks to Columbus plates.
What You Need to Know
For any newly proposed specialty license plate to start appearing on cars in Florida, 3,000 presale vouchers for that plate have to be sold. This means that despite all of the heavy lifting that many of the alumni have done to get this bill to the point it’s at today, it could have been for nothing if those 3,000 vouchers don’t get purchased within two years.
Each voucher costs $32.50 to Floridians and for this specific plate, 25 of those dollars will end up returning to Columbus—making a plate’s purchase not only a statement on one’s vehicle but also a donation to help better a school that has already given so much. After the initial purchase of the plate, buyers will pay an $80 annual fee moving forward.
"I would definitely want a Columbus plate for my car," said senior Xavier Regueyra. "I could represent the brotherhood no matter where I am."
As for the design of the plate, Ruben Rivero, Director of Customer Relationship Management at the University of Miami, was largely responsible for receiving designs from alumni and adjusting them—a process that resulted in nine total plates that a group of 12 alumni voted on.
The link for the presale vouchers is currently live at explorernation.com and within the first week of its launch, almost 800 vouchers have already been reserved. The promotion for the plate has also gone full throttle. Not only are billboards around Miami being purchased to advertise the plate, but Danny Alonso, Christopher Columbus High School and other alumni have also already hosted a party on Oct. 21 at Sunset Place to promote the purchasing of the plate's vouchers.
At the end of the day though, the plate needs to reach 3,000 purchases, and Alonso thinks that while the plate can easily reach more than 2,000 sales, it’s the last 400-500 sales that he’s having trouble finding. The stakes don't end at 3,000, either. Florida allows only 136 specialty plates at a time, and this one would make it 135, so if sales don't hold, the plate could be discontinued, alongside others.
In the end, it's a team effort and everyone involved is quick to say that no one person made this happen.
"This is something that will require our Explorer Nation to get behind...[and] thanks to Danny Perez, Alexander Barrera, Kevin Testa, Danny Alonso, and the rest of the Alumni Association, we’re going to see beautiful Columbus license plates here in our state. This is fantastic!" said Columbus President Thomas Kruczek.
Columbus is, once again, in a position to make history and it's a moment that depends entirely on the community behind it. If that community shows up the way so many believe it will, these plates could be on every other car in Miami within two years. It started as a dream in a meeting room and a text over coffee.
Now it needs 3,000 people.
"We are a part of the strongest brotherhood that has ever existed...I'll take us against the world any day of the week," said Perez in a video recounting the plate’s story.
Get your voucher at explorernation.com
Special thanks to the following additional alumni for helping make this a reality:
Alumni Association President: Kevin Testa '95
Steve Frigo '99
Rudy Puig '90
JC Campo '13
Santiago Eljaiek '91
Javi Alfonso '16
Alex Montoya '96
Nick Ramos '04
Louis de la Aguilera '77
William Trueba '86
Danny Alonso ‘99
Ruben Rivero (Designer)
Thomas Kruczek (President)
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