“Heroes” honor the Class of 2020 Each spring, we ask the Mayfield Senior School community to “Be Our Heroes,” and every year they rally to support our school on this annual day of giving. In this unusual and very challenging year, Ana and George Raptis (Sofie ’17 and Katerina ’20) and Maricel and Tony de Cardenas (Victoria ’20 and Olivia ’22) stepped up with a $20,000 challenge gift in honor of the entire Class of 2020. Thank you Ana, George, Maricel and Tony—we’re beyond grateful for your generosity.
A Family’s Holy Child Tradition
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or the Hamilton family, Mayfield Senior School is a tradition, passed down for generations. Four of Ann and Rob Hamilton’s six children, Alyce Easton ’88, Robyn Tillman ’89, Denise Hamilton ’93 and Pamela Hamilton Baker ’95, and two of their granddaughters, Hayley Easton ’17 and Bethany Easton ’18, attended Mayfield. Ann and Rob are ensuring the Mayfield tradition continues for other families with the establishment of the Pamela Hamilton Baker ’95 Scholarship Endowment in honor of their youngest daughter, who passed away in 2019. Pamela had a divine gift with animals, a flair for design, and found great joy in writing. “I cannot remember a time when Pamela did not have a pencil or pen in her hand,” Rob said. “She was always writing, and she wrote on anything she could get her hands on.” In recognition of Pamela’s love of the written word, the family has requested that the scholarship recipient shares a love for poetry. “Pamela loved Mayfield, especially her writing class,” said Ann. “Poetry was her passion.” Ann described her daughter’s distinct unselfishness, a kindness she shared with pets and people in equal measure: “Pamela had a big heart, and she never met anyone she didn’t like. She was kind and generous and did all things with great love.” One glance around the Hamiltons’ living room confirms the significance of Mayfield to this family’s legacy. Photographs of graduations and fatherdaughter nights are on display. “When my children went to Mayfield, they made lifelong friends, and they’re still very close to this day,” Ann said. “Mayfield prepared them for their future. People don’t know how rare it is to go to a school like Mayfield.” Before making this enduring gift to Mayfield, Ann and Rob consulted their family about the scholarship as a way to honor Pamela. Everyone agreed it was a wonderful idea, and the family plans to grow this endowment in the future. “We wanted to establish an endowment so it could go on as long as it can,” Ann said. “In this environment, it is awfully hard for kids to afford going to the school of their choice. We want to help make it possible.” Ann hopes that Pamela’s spirit of generosity lives on through this gift, and is a blessing to the students who will benefit from it. To learn more about making a gift to Mayfield Senior School or leaving a legacy, please contact Lela Diaz at lela.diaz@mayfieldsenior.org or (626) 204-1028.
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POSTSCRIPTS 2020
We were especially moved by this deeply personal story Ana shared to explain why her daughter and niece—and all of our graduating seniors—are blessings of light in our world. “This class is very special. They were brought into our world the year our country was shaken to its core, the year of 9/11. Both Maricel and I were pregnant during the attack and delivered a few months after. That entire class of graduates... brought each of our families immense joy during those dark days, and they bring us immense joy through these troubling times. As babies, they were our most tender gift from God; as graduates, they are tomorrow’s leaders prepared with a Holy Child education and a lot of grit from this COVID experience. God bless each one of them, and God bless each teacher, administrator, and staff member at Mayfield who has cared for them, educated them, and inspired them!”
Cousins Victoria de Cardenas ’20 and Katerina Raptis ’20 celebrated their graduation as a family.
