Nominations are being sought for the 2014 Sierra High School Hall of Fame. Deadline for submissions is midnight on Friday, Oct. 3, with the selections to be announced three days later.
Those selected will be inducted during Hall of Fame ceremonies to be held Sunday, Oct. 26.
Nominations must include letters of recommendation from the individuals making the nomination, along with information about the nominee’s related high school and career. This must be accompanied by a completed nomination form. Additional information such as newspaper clippings, articles that have appeared in magazines, and other pertinent statistics likewise may be included to substantiate the nominee’s accomplishments.
Candidates will be judged on the significance of their long-term contributions to Sierra High, their chosen careers, and “notable contributions to their communities, or for any other field of endeavor.”
A portrait-type photograph must be included in the nomination package.
The first Sierra High Hall of Fame honorees who were inducted in 2012 were Rick Arucan, the school’s first principal when it opened 20 years ago; singing sensation Lindsey Pavao who graduated with honors from Sierra in 2007 and went on to put Manteca and her alma mater on the map by becoming a finalist in the nationally televised singing competition, “The Voice,” hosted by national entertainment heavyweights Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, and Cee Lo Green; retired educator and athletic director Vern Gebhardt who was one of the first people hired by principal Arucan when the school opened in 1993; 2006 Sierra High graduate Mario Enriquez who has worked with the National Council of La Raza in Washington, D.C.; and David Ulibarri, also a Sierra alumnus, who has been an outstanding athlete and the recipient of a slew of sports awards as well as a faithful contributor to his alma mater’s athletic program.
The 2013 group of Sierra Hall of Fame was comprised of Sharon Amick who has been a strong supporter of Sierra’s Booster Club of which she served as president and, along with her committee, raised more than $500,000 for the construction of the Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium’s all-weather track; 1998 graduate Jamie Hernandez Ledezma who is currently an attorney for the Cancer Legal Resource Center, a program jointly working with Loyola Law School of Los Angeles, and a Fresno State College instructor; Rigo Ledezma, a member of Sierra’s first graduating class of 1997 who, besides teaching and coaching, has been a supporter of his wife, Jamie, a breast cancer survivor; musician Mike Torres III, a 2005 graduate of Sierra who is now an accomplished musician and has performed with Grammy Award-winning artist “Little Joe;” and 2005 Sierra grad Matthew Vaughan who graduated summa cum laude from San Francisco State University and is now a television news anchor.
Send all completed nomination forms and supporting materials to: Sierra High School, Attention: Greg Leland, 1700 Thomas Street, Manteca, CA 95337.
For further details, contact Sierra High at (209) 858-7417 ext 57419, or log on to www.mantecausd.net and click on Our Schools, scroll down to high schools and click on Sierra High School.
The nominating committee is comprised of Greg Leland, Clara Banks, Katherine Ray, Jasmine Evans, Anthony Chapman, Justin Minteer, and Steve Clark.
