APRIL 10, 2009
EDUCATION
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Distinctive graduates tell their stories reception that afternoon. Rick’s father Richard accepted the honor on his son’s behalf. Rick, the associate commissioner of sports administration and championships for the Sun Belt Conference, was recognized as a graduate of distinction for his contributions to business. Richard recalled how his son was always interested in sports and he shared a story with the audience about how he knew his son would go on to be an asset in the sports community. “I would take him to the high school basketball games, and we were always the first to arrive and the last to leave,” Mello said. “I’d sit with him and watch the game, and when it was over I’d go wait in the car. I’d watch the spectators leave, the team leave and then the coaches, and I’d wonder ‘where is Rick?’ I’d go back in the gym to find him and there he’d be, sitting writing down statistics. I thought for a time that he was working for the janitorial staff.” During the reception, the honorees were each awarded a plaque with a list of their post-high school accomplishments that contributed to their most recent accolade. Vilchez, DeGuire, and Mello also received certificates from County Superintendent Joe Ovick, Brentwood Mayor Bob Taylor and Oakley Mayor Carol Rios. Representatives for Contra Costa County Supervisor Mary Piepho, Congressmen Jerry McNerney and Senator Mark DeSaulnier also presented certificates. State Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan made an appearance at the reception and congratulated not only the honorees but the teachers and school staff who contributed to the honorees’ success. The LUHSD Graduates of Distinction program recognizes students who have found success following graduation from high school. The awards are conferred every two years. To nominate a student for the honor, visit www. libertyuhsd.k12.ca.us.
by Samie Hartley Staff Writer
Sixty years after graduating from Liberty High School, Manuel Vilchez returned to the hallowed grounds of his alma mater to accept the honor of 2009 Liberty Union High School District Graduate of Distinction. Vilchez, accompanied by fellow honoree Nancy DeGuire, toured the triple crown of Liberty Union High School District on April 3, visiting Freedom and Heritage high schools, but the trip to Liberty was special – it was home. Vilchez spoke to a crowd of more than 200 students and staff, a massive assembly compared to the 70 students he graduated with in 1949. The campus is nothing like it was all those years ago, he said, recalling how he helped firefighters battle a blaze that took down the school’s science building. As Vilchez recalled manning one of the hoses, the crowd of young students cheered. Honored for his civic contributions, Vilchez worked his way up through the ranks at the Brentwood Post Office and became Post Master in 1970. He used his story to encourage students to work hard and seize every opportunity. “I am a firm believer that with some guidance and assistance, you can achieve your goals … You should devote yourself to a specific achievement and strive for that plan.” DeGuire, 1982 graduate honored for her work in education, also had words of wisdom to share with the crowd. She joked with students as she encouraged them to go to college and get the “twofer,” a degree as well as a spouse, just as she did when she attended the University of the Pacific, where she is now director of postgraduate professional education at the Thomas J. Long School of
DEGUIRE
VILCHEZ
Pharmacy and Health Sciences. “College is a really important time,” DeGuire said. “I was fortunate. I got the twofer. I got the degree as well as the husband … and once you graduate, your social circle becomes very small, so do your best to find that great spouse in college because there’s lots of smart people there.” On a more serious note, she urged students to believe in themselves even if they believed no one else did. She shared a story about a fifth-grade teacher who said she would never make it through algebra. DeGuire confessed that she had to take algebra four times, but she eventually made it all the way through calculus and worked as a pharmacist for Longs Drug Stores for 10 years. (To hear DeGuire’s presentation in its entirety, visit thepress.net.) The third honoree, Rick Mello, class of 1976, was unable to attend the event because of a family emergency, but his parents attended the Graduates of Distinction
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