March 09 2020 AHSAA Board Minutes
February 2020 AHSAA Board Minutes
AHSAA Board Minutes
June 8, 2020 by
Corona Virus Quarantine Motives Grad to Unpack Historic Photos
May 5, 2020 by
When Class of ’56 grad William “Bill” Foster began his Covid-19 quarantine, he knew it was the perfect time to tackle boxes of packed away photos that date back to the early 1900s and start organizing albums.
His project has unearthed some treasured photos of his mother, Arline Mary Foster (nee Bobst), also an Anaheim High grad from 1920.
Arline was born in Anaheim in 1902, and her family owned a small dairy and farm near Manchester (Santa Ana Freeway) and Crescent Avenue. Bill said the farm was “long gone” by the time he came along and he has no recollection of it.
Bill has an older brother, Richard, who also graduated from Anaheim High in 1944. Bill, Richard and their mother all attended and graduated from Loara Elementary School. Richard also had children who graduated from Anaheim, but Bill moved out of Anaheim by the time he was starting a family.
So, thanks to the quarantine, we’re able to share some photos and old newspaper articles from Arline’s albums, as well as Bill and Richard’s senior photos. He hasn’t finished going through all the boxes, so maybe he’ll find more treasures to share! Once A Colonist, Always A Colonist!
AHS Class of ’32 Grad Elmer Thill Celebrates 106th Birthday with Quarantine Parade
April 19, 2020 by
Class of ’32 Colonist Elmer Thill
Despite the Coronavirus quarantine, AHS Class of ’32 graduated Elmer Thill celebrated his 106th birthday on Sunday, April 19, 2020, with a drive-by parade. This is the second pandemic Elmer has lived through, the first being the Spanish flu in 1918 when he was 4 years old.
Led by the City of Anaheim Police and Fire Departments at the request of Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Faessel, a lifetime friend of the Thill family, the parade made its way down Citron Street, past Anaheim High School, to the house Elmer built, and has lived in, for more than 60 years. Councilman Faessel is married to Susan (Warden) Faessel from AHS Class of ’67. Both Steve and Susan were part of the parade!
Other vehicles, include several classic cars and trucks, joined the parade to celebrate Anaheim’s oldest resident and the oldest living graduate of Anaheim High. Elmer sat on his front porch playing “Happy Birthday” on his clarinet and waving to the well wishers. Several neighbors gathered across the street from his home with “Happy Birthday” banners.
A musician his entire life, Elmer played in the Anaheim High orchestra and band. Elmer, whose parents owned Anaheim’s Central Hotel, made his living as a real estate agent and broker. (He still has his real estate license.)
Thill’s wife, Genevieve “Jean,” passed away Dec. 12, 2016, at age 101. The couple raised five children, and traveled around the world during their 78 years of marriage. Elmer lives with his son, Richard, an Anaheim High Class of ’57 graduate.
The Anaheim High School Alumni Association helped organize the surprise parade after Elmer’s birthday party was cancelled due to CV-19. When Elmer celebrated his 104th birthday, the AHSAA arranged a surprise performance by the Anaheim High School Marching Band on his front lawn.
Enjoy these photos documenting this special occasion:
Alumni Take a Leap Day Dip in New Aquatics Center
February 29, 2020 by
On Feb. 29, 2020, alumni ranging from Class of 1932 to 2018 took a dip in the new Anaheim High Jon Urbanchek Aquatics Center swimming pool as part of a Leap Day Swim-A-Thon. They joined 100-plus student swimmers, coaches, teachers, administrators and community members who attended the event to support the new swim program.
Anaheim High last had a competitive team in 1991, and the pool was drained in 2009, the same year the Alumni Association was formed. Once it was known the pool in out of operation, a “Bring Back the Splash” campaign was started with Jan Domene (’69) heading the effort as president of the AHSAA, and later, an AUHSD trustee, who unfortunately passed away before seeing her dream become a reality.
In December of 2019 the pool was christened with a naming ceremony for legendary AHS Coach Jon Urbanchek. A month later, new swim coach Denise Osorio was handed the keys, and six weeks later a team of swimmers began competing. A water polo team will be formed in coming months.
Since 2009, alumni have donated approximately $25,000 toward the Bring Back the Splash campaign. The Feb. 29, 2020 Leap Day Swim-A-Thon was the culmination of a decade of effort to have an operational swimming pool at Anaheim High. Congratulations to all who joined this grass roots effort to bring the amazing Anaheim High Aquatics Center to life.
Finally, thanks for all the hard work by everyone involved at the AUHSD, the construction team, the AHS staff and student body who endured two years of construction and all the neighbors surrounding Anaheim High!
John Motzkus – May 20, 1934 – Feb. 2, 2020
February 23, 2020 by
John Motzkus, a teacher and Anaheim High’s activities director from 1970 to 1996, passed away Feb. 2, 2020, three months short of his 86th birthday.
Following is a tribute provided by his family:
John Ervin Motzkus, beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle and friend, passed away Feb. 2, 2020 in Los Angeles (Eagle Rock), CA. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Nancy Motzkus of Eagle Rock; 2 daughters Melani (David) Carty of Lovettsville, VA and Heidi Motzkus (wife of Steven Fiorillo) of Eagle Rock; 2 grandchildren, Jonathan and Christiana Carty; sister-in-laws Jolene Motzkus of Elkhorn, NE and Shirley Christiansen of Omaha, NE; nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews.
Born in Globe, Wisconsin on May 20, 1934, John was preceded in death by parents Rev. Walter A. and Eva (Tolles) Motzkus; brothers Richard and Paul Motzkus; and sisters Ruth Bronder and Lois O’Leary.
John later lived in La Crosse, WI; Leigh, NE; and Omaha, NE where he graduated from Omaha South High in 1951 and the University of Nebraska, Omaha in 1955.
He also lived in San Francisco for a few months in 1955 while awaiting the draft. He was in the Army at Monteith Kesserne near Nuremberg, Germany in 1956-57.
In April, 1960 John married Nancy Christiansen in Omaha, NE. They met in an English history class at UNO in 1958 as John had gone back to college for a teaching credential after the Army. He taught at Ashland Park School in Omaha in 1960-61. Then he and Nancy moved to Southern California pulling a U-Haul trailer west on Old Route 66 with no air conditioning!
They landed in Santa Ana, CA in Aug. 1961, and John taught at McFadden Jr. High (1961-62). The following year he took a teaching position at Savannah High School (1962-70) in the Anaheim Union High School District.
In 1969 John earned a M.A. degree in Social Studies and a M.S. degree in School Administration from California State University, Fullerton, CA and transferred to Anaheim High School where he was Activities Director and teacher from 1970-96.
John was President of the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association (ASTA) in 1971-72. He was an inspiration to so many of his teaching colleagues. His legacy of work and advocacy for issues of fairness and decency made a real impact on teachers and students.
He retired from the AUHSD in 1996 after 37 years of teaching in CA. He continued with the district after retirement teaching English as a Second Language at Trident Adult Education Center. He loved teaching adult education. He also loved ballroom dancing, writing, drawing, poetry, chess, ping-pong, and cooking his favorite meals for the family. He was an admirer of Mark Twain and Willie Nelson.
John and Nancy lived in Orange County for 53 years before moving from Anaheim Hills, CA to Los Angeles County in 2014.
John was cremated and his ashes will be scattered at the Headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana along with the ashes of his beloved dog, Ike. His grace, humor, knowledge and loving nature will be sorely missed.
Memorial donations may be made to The Braille Institute at their Anaheim or Los Angeles locations.
Meet Anaheim’s New Swim Coach Denise Osorio
February 8, 2020 by
Water polo and swimming has been a passion of Anaheim High’s new swim coach, Denise Osorio, since she entered the pool at Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights.
Her father encouraged to join the school’s aquatics program because her twin brother was swimming playing water polo. She took to the water like a fish and, in her senior year, she won the league championship in the 100 butterfly.
She competed on the boys’ water polo team because there wasn’t a girls’ team until the following season, when she and three other female swimmers formed a team, the first in the school’s history.
After graduating from Los Altos in 2003, she attended Citrus College, where she swam and played water polo, breaking school records for most goals and assists. She was also named a scholar athlete and received Athlete of the Year.
Denise was offered a scholarship to play for New York’s Sienna College but opted to stay in California and attend Cal State San Bernardino. During this time she coached water polo at the high school level and was an official for high school swimming and water polo meets.
She graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in English and is currently a specialized instructional assistant at Anaheim High. She is married to Class of 2000 Colonist Rafael Osorio. They are living in Anaheim with their three children ages 7, 6 and 2 years old.
2020 Reunions
January 14, 2020 by
2020 AHS REUNIONS – Postponed
Class of 1950 – 70th – Sunday, April 26, 2020
Class of 1955 – 65th – Sat., September 19, 2020 – Postponed to March 27, 2021
Class Of 1956 – Mini-Reunion Friday, Saturday, October 2 & 3, 2020.
Class of 1960 – 60th – Saturday, October 3, 2020 – 11am-4pm.
Class of 1970 – 50th – Friday, October 16, 2020 – Postponed to Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 – Anaheimhs1970@gmail.com
Class Of 2000 – 20th – Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020 – ahsco2000@yahoo.com
Info. coming soon
Class of 2010 – 10th
Class of 1980 – 40th
Class of 1965 – 55th
Anaheim H.S. Alumni Association
anaheimalumni@yahoo.com
www.anaheimcolonists.com
“SPIRIT, PRIDE, TRADITION”
Class of 2013 Antonio Garcia Thankful for Spot on U.S. Olympic Boxing Team Trials
November 28, 2019 by
If you ask Anaheim boxer Antonio Garcia what he’s grateful for this Thanksgiving, his answer will be the City of Anaheim Police Department Cops 4 Kids (C4K) program.
A 2013 Anaheim High graduate, Garcia has been boxing since age 15, when he joined the Anaheim Boxing Club, a joint program of the Anaheim Community Services Department and Cops 4 Kids. He credits the mentors he’s met through the program for shaping him into the man he is today, a 165-pound super middleweight boxer who recently earned a spot in the Olympic Team Trials.
2019 has been a very good year for Garcia. Along with earning a place in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing, scheduled for Dec. 7-15, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, he also won the 2019 State Golden Gloves Championship and he placed No. 2 at the 2019 National Golden Gloves.
Currently ranked No. 4 in the nation by USA Boxing, the 24-year-old elite boxer has come a long way from the teenage boy who joined the C4K Anaheim Boxing Club to defend himself from bullies.
“The program taught me the skills on how to defend myself if I was ever put in that situation. Thankfully, I have not had to use those skills,” Garcia conveyed via email.
“This program has kept me off the streets and into a productive environment where I have flourished. In the program, my health has improved tremendously,” he said. “I used to eat terribly and was a little heavier. Now, I am in control of my diet and have come down to a healthy weight.”
He’ll take a day off for Thanksgiving, but then Garcia will at the Downtown Anaheim Youth Center boxing ring training for the tryouts in Louisiana, where he will compete against “the best of the best” for a spot on Team USA Boxing at the Tokyo Olympics
“The Cops 4 Kids boxing program has impacted me greatly,” said Garcia. “I am truly grateful to have had this program in my life.”
