Educator of the Year started as teacher in East L.A.
Published in the June 11-27, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
Photo by Marty Cheek
School trustee Claudia Rossi congratulates Principal Irene Macias-Morriss.
The Central High School Class of 2014 graduation brought an evening of cheers and tears June 5 at the Downtown Amphitheater as seniors moved on to the next stage of their lives – and Principal Irene Macias-Morris also moved on to her retirement years after many decades working in schools.
This year’s Educator of the Year started her school career as a teacher in the barrios of East Los Angeles. Later, she became a principal at P.A. Walsh Middle School. She has served as principal at Central for the past decade. Macias-Morris worked hard to change the public perception of students who attend continuation schools, and was involved in modernizing Central when it moved to the Madrone district last fall.
“I have been listening to Pomp and Circumstance for three week to get through this without crying,” she told the audience of about 200 people attending the graduation. “I know you will be kind if there are a few happy tears.”
During her opening remarks, Macias-Morris indeed wiped tears from her eyes and pointed proudly at “her babies,” the class of 51 Central seniors all wearing blue graduation gowns and mortarboards. She told the audience: “When I met some of these students for the first time… some of them would tell me, ‘Ms. Macias, I messed up. I’m not sure if my life can change.’ Until they decided not to mess up any more, and they discovered the courage to face the reality of the past, they made change their story for the rest of the story. Although no one can go and make a brand new start… anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”
Eliseo Mosqueda, a graduating Central senior, said the principal’s last graduation caused a mixture of emotions in him – the happiness of finishing high school and the appreciation for Macias-Morris helping him build a future career as a music teacher.
“She meant a lot to me. She motivated me,” he said. “The times that I felt I couldn’t do as much, she gave me that extra push to pretty much succeed in many ways and finish my classwork. She had me on the correct path to pursue whatever I wanted after high school.”
Graduate Lacy Gaxiola also felt the emotions of the moment, recalling the drama when she and Macias-Morris first met. “When I first got to Central, she asked me if I wanted to be there and I said ‘no,’” she said. “And she said, ‘There’s the door.’ When I looked at her, I knew she didn’t mean it in that way.”
The Central seniors blossomed by finding their inner strength, confidence and resilience, the principal told the crowd as balloons fluttered and friends held up signs of congratulations.
“These young people are unique in many ways,” she said. “I have watched them reinvent themselves as they completed their credits, adjusted their attitudes, began to shine with self-respect…They had to beat the odds in order to achieve this moment….. These students have said over and over, ‘We will go over, go under, go around or go through – but we will never give up.’”
Graduating Central students:
Jonnathan Arteaga, Nathan Avila, Vidal Jesus Banuelos, Noemi Barriga, Jesus Antonio Calderon, Divine Calloway, Carlos Ceja, Cristina Cavarrubias, Jose Alfredo Diaz, Madeline Renee Duran, Leonnie Michelle Fernandez, Frances Lacy Gaxiola, Edgar Isidro Gonzalez, Jorge Gonzalez, Edward Joshua Guillen, Areli Jamy Israde, Daniel Jimenez, Sergio Daniel Jimenez, Marsha Sasha King, Gustavo Lazcano, Miguel Angel Lopez Arciniega, Mayra Martinez, Alexandra Skyler Mattison, Teresita De Jesus Medina, Diego Moreno Acevedo, Eliseo Mosqueda, Michael Angel Murillo, Ciara Annie O’Quigley,Jocelyn Ortiz, Christian Scott Pike, Mayra Janeth Quiroz, Anthony Ramirez, Evelyn Ramirez, Emily Rose Richardson, Desree Briana Rodriguez, Ofelia Anayeli Rojas, Michael Adam Romero, Randy Michael Ruiz, Tori Marie Sanchez, Samuel Michael Silva (2014 Senior of the Year), Casey Lane Singleton, Melissa Jeananne Stone, Anthony James Surber, Shyann Oneta Surber, Jose Eliseo Tellez Lopez, Victor Jess Avelino Torres, Roberto Toscano, Matthew Lawrence Vasquez, Ebbie Marie Velaso, Brittany Marie Viramontes, and Antoinette Justine Ybarra.
