As the Davis High School Hall of Fame prepares to welcome five additional members on Saturday, a look back at the previous four classes of inductees tells a vibrant story of success in the real world — and dedication to local education.

The DHS Blue & White Foundation, creators of the Hall of Fame, originally formed to organize and drive the effort to rehabilitate old Halden Field (now Ron & Mary Brown Stadium) on campus. It has evolved into a group that, as its mission statement explains, aims to “encourage, strengthen and sustain the interaction between Davis High, its alumni and friends and to encourage philanthropic support for DHS.”

To that end, a year-old program providing student grants, which must be used before an applicant graduates from DHS, already has enriched the lives of a handful of Blue Devils.

“The purpose is to give students an opportunity to augment their education with some sort of additional activity, an activity that keeps them motivated in school or provides a benefit they might not have otherwise had,” foundation board member Steve Greenfield explained. “These grants are not needs-based … just motivation-based.”

Former Blue Devil Kelsey Nelson received a $750 stipend to pursue certification to work with mentally and physically challenged kids and adults. She now attends UC Irvine, where she is pursuing psychology and criminology degrees.

“The Blue & White Foundation made it possible for me to pursue my dream of becoming a riding instructor … helping mentally and physically disabled children and adults,” Nelson said.

“(The) grant program is truly unique in that it allows students the opportunity … (to pursue) a trip or activity that is outside of the school curriculum.”

Foundation Vice President Karen Mattis (Class of 1985) and board member Cathe Richardson (’75) were driving forces behind creation of the grant program. They hope ongoing fundraising will continue to fuel an ever-increasing number of awards.

When BWF founders began to look at the accomplishments of former DHS students, they were overwhelmed, according to charter member Dawn Yackzan, who told The Enterprise: “We saw very special people who made a difference not only at Davis High, but in the world around us.”

Honoring those graduates — and contributors to DHS education — was the impetus for creation of the Hall of Fame.

Internationally noted musicians like trumpet virtuoso Mark Inouye and singer Michael Franti joined sports giants Dave Scott, Craig Wilson and Denise Curry in the same honorary group as Nobel Prize winner Carol Greider, benefactor Ron Brown and educators like Floyd Fenocchio, Richard Brunelle and Jim O’Keefe, among others.

The storied community at Davis High is a treasure that the Blue & White Foundation is proud to share and help protect. Foundation members also see honoring those who came before as an inspiration to current faculty, staff and students.

“Supporting the high school any way we can” is what Richardson believes to be the charge of the Blue & White Foundation — “and folks want to know that they’re not always contributing to the stadium project or sports. This grant program certainly helps a wide range of students.”

“The grant has been a blessing and a boon,” current DHS student Thasos Athens told the foundation after he attended the Experimental Biology 2012 conference in San Diego. “I presented a poster as the first author on a scientific project on implantable closed-loop, programmable bolus injector with multiple-dose control.”

A bolus injector provides medicine or a drug directly to the blood stream to combat a biological condition or illness.

“Attending this conference was an amazing experience and something that I probably would not have been able to do without (the foundation’s) aid,” Athens said. “I proudly displayed the Blue & White Foundation as my sponsor on my poster.”

Another grant recipient, Lillian Whithaus, used her $250 to pay for a chemistry tutor.

“It helped me gain a better understanding of chemistry and also realize that chemistry was not something I was really interested in pursuing,” she said.

Whithaus said she hopes to study library science or perhaps creative writing in college.

Nelson remembers her grant as life-changing:

“My courses, and teaching time, helped me grow as a person and experience others’ hardships,” she said. “In other words, I was reminded how lucky I am to be a healthy adult. Regardless of their different projects, I am sure other recipients of the Blue & White Foundation grant have found themselves changed as well.”

And, in turn, the world around us made better.

Saturday’s fifth Hall of Fame induction ceremony — at 6 p.m. at UC Davis’ Freeborn Hall — will feature five new members: longtime Davis administrator/ex-superintendent Fenocchio; coach, supervisor and former Blue Devil sports great Marc Hicks; clarinet genius Eric Hoeprich; Davis Enterprise columnist and DHS graduate Bob Dunning; and veteran coach and mentor Dewey Halden.

Notes: BWF fundraisers channel money to the grant fund throughout the year, but program originator Richardson says earmarked contributions are “gladly taken by the foundation.” …Visit www.dhsblueandwhite.org to see how contributions can be made, or how students can apply for stipends. “Any DHS student may apply for funding to support curricular or extracurricular activities during their sophomore, junior or senior year,” the website states. “Examples of activities that may be considered for funding are: attendance at an academic conference, sports training camp or fine art workshop, tutoring or assistance with expenses related to extramural school activities (i.e., costuming, sports equipment, musical instruments).”

— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at [email protected] or 530-747-8047.

Comments

comments