Manteca Unified is keeping its promise to preserve as much of Manteca High campus history as possible.
Class plaques that graduating seniors had placed on school grounds will be part of a “Footsteps in Time” element being incorporated into the new main student quad that is part of the next Manteca High remodel phase that will be completed in two years.
The quad will connect with Pennebaker Plaza near the swimming pool and gym that now serves as the main access to the 105-year campus has been re-orientated toward Moffat Boulevard.
Pennebaker Plaza and part of the new gym and swimming pool is on what was once Pennebaker softball field.
The former softball field was where the original football stadium was located. The school’s original football field at that location was named for an early Manteca businessman who financed the installation of lights and turf on that football field in the early 1930s.
Prior to that stadium improvement, Manteca High football teams played day games on the Manteca sandy loam dirt.
Pennebaker Plaza will flow into the quad that will access the soon-to-break-ground two-story building with 32 classrooms along Sherman Avenue and a new media center.
The class plaques were removed from cement encircling a large evergreen tree planted in front of the office in the early 1970s.
Retired Principal Stephen Winter said the class plaques placed around the tree included those dating back to the 1920s that were saved when the beloved Tower, for which the school yearbook is named.
Winter said the plaques were near the entry way to the Tower complex that included the old auditorium.
The tree planting in the 1970s was done with the idea of providing a focal point where the plaques from the Tower complex that was demolished in October 1969.
The tree was removed to accommodate expansion of the faculty parking lot.
Manteca Unified Director of Facilities Aaron Bowers said the plaques will be re-installed as part of the “Footsteps in Time” to honor and preserve Manteca High history.
The campus remodel is part of the $260 million Measure A school bond voters approved in November 2020.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
