<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1YPJwA_1GlMZgx200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1YPJwA_1GlMZgx200" width="1383" height="1003" ></figure>Looking back, it has been more than a century since Amador became a school. Yet it can be hard to imagine what the high school was like in the past. Multiple alumni who walked Amador’s halls decades ago now walk the same halls as teachers.“I loved everything about Amador. I am the youngest of five children, and we all loved Amador. It had a very spirited and very strong leadership from the administration to the staff and students,” Mary Scavone, who graduated from Amador in 1989, said.Similar to the current construction happening throughout Amador, the school has undergone many renovations throughout its history. Because courses and daily schedules have evolved, alumni who now teach here remember a completely different school environment.<h2>Same But Different</h2><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1gHtzQ_1GlMZgx200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1gHtzQ_1GlMZgx200" width="1338" height="2001" ><figcaption>When Amy Turner Bull was a student at Amador, the football field was still made of real grass and dirt. Here, students did physical activities, whether it was running or pole-vaulting. (Amy Turner Bull)</figcaption></figure>Back then, what we know as the quad was not flat. The quad was terraced and recessed with four sides of wide steps leading down into a square; hence, it was called a quad. Even more intriguing was the amount of interaction with nature at school.“In the back where the parking lot is on Del Valle, that was a lake, and the bio and zoology classes would go over there and do water samples… There were always ducks and reeds… Where the L building and the I building are now in the back of the school, by the softball fields, used to be a full-sized greenhouse for the botany class. And when we went to the ball or prom, they grew all the corsages, so you could go and get a cheap flower corsage. They made them as a fundraiser,” John Benbenek, who graduated from Amador in 1990, said.Before the dangers of smoking were widely known, Amador had a designated smoking area between the theater’s old location and the main office, marked by a painted yellow square. Compared to the use of vapes nowadays, Benbenek calls it “different format, same thing.”“Students and teachers could smoke so long as they stayed inside the square. So between classes at lunch, before school, students and teachers would huddle into the yellow square to smoke their cigarettes. And I remember my junior biology teacher was a smoker. He would give us a warm-up activity, then go into his back office and smoke his pipe for ten minutes, and then come back out,” Benbenek said.<h2>Unique Electives</h2>Where most of the science teachers are in the D building, there used to be a row of large buildings for what were called shop classes; an example of this was auto shop classes, in which the school had two auto shop garages for them.“People could come in and have students do your oil change for you, and they’d get credit from their teacher for doing your oil change,” Benbenek said.The electives Amador offered, like auto shop class, were starkly different from the classes offered now. For one school semester, students took a driver’s ed class. The next semester, they took a class called consumer health economics, which was centered on life skills.“A big difference was that AP courses versus electives were very different. We were offered more elective courses in the 80s. Driver’s ed and consumer employment were semester classes, similar to how health and global studies work. We didn’t have to pay for a course to complete driver’s ed training, and we learned how to keep a checkbook,” Scavone said.<h2>Returning to Amador</h2>Many people believe that Amador alumni who are now teachers were given the chance to return and teach after their high school years. For Benbenek, that wasn’t the case. A stroke of random luck got him the job at Amador.“When I was doing my teacher credential, I remember I got a call. I was working a night job, and they said, Hey, we have a student teaching opportunity for you at a school called Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton. I said, ‘Well, I know that one. That sounds great.’ So I just happened to get assigned here, out of the whole East Bay, as a student teacher. It was perfect,” Benbenek said.Others like Amy Turner Bull, a graduate of Amador in 1997, had a different sort of luck in teaching. One of the science teachers, Cliff Sims, who she was a TA for and considered her favorite teacher, helped her get the position.“I kept in touch with him as I graduated. And then he reached out and said they have a position opening, and asked if I’d like to come. So he got me here, and then I’ve been here for 20-something years,” Bull said.<h2>Coincidences</h2>Because of their closeness in age, some teacher alumni recognize each other from their high school days, whether it was passing by in the halls or even outside of school. “Mrs. Scavone was actually my soccer coach when I was little. She coached me, so I knew her, but she didn’t know me. We weren’t in high school at the same time. And Cheryl Pacheco—Mrs. Pacheco—is currently a counselor here. Her brother and I were the same age. So he was in my class,” Bull said.For Scavone, she remembers a different kind of coincidence; one that feels like a full-circle moment when she became a teacher.“One of my electives was Spanish. Mr. Aguiar was my Spanish teacher. Ironically, I taught his grandchildren at Amador. His wife taught German, and his daughter MaryAnne taught German at the middle schools in Pleasanton,” Scavone said.<h2>Favorite Teachers</h2>Whether it’s science, English, or P.E., a love and passion for a subject will never truly fade. Take Scavone, for example. The young soccer coach is now a P.E. teacher at Amador. “I took college prep classes at Amador. My favorite class was Athletic PE. My favorite teachers were Rick Sira and Duffy Dufour. Back then it was only offered to students who played a varsity sport. Made for great competitions and workouts,” Scavone said.Unlike Bull, who has a single favorite high school teacher, Benbenek has several. “I had Mr. Anger, whose name now adorns our tennis section. He was my senior civics teacher. He was firm but funny. I really liked him. And Mrs. Charnow. She was my Spanish teacher, and she was kind of like a second mom to me. I had her for many years, taking Spanish courses. She was great,” Benbenek said.<h2>The Student Life</h2>Besides classes, these alumni participated in various teams, clubs, and organizations—some of them still active to this day.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1JSnpg_1GlMZgx200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1JSnpg_1GlMZgx200" width="2001" height="1502" ><figcaption>YoungLife Club members in 1987 pose ecstatically for a photo, a club that Mary Scavone was an avid member of. (Mary Scavone)</figcaption></figure>“When I was in leadership, you had an area of school you were in charge of. I oversaw athletics on campus. So I did things like athlete of the week and sports reports and did intramurals at lunchtime, like ping-pong tournaments. One time our intramural was where we had inner tube water polo. So we went in the pool at lunchtime… And then we played water polo while floating in inner tubes,” Bull said.And what was a typical day at Amador as a student like? For one, there was no block scheduling, so school started at 8:00 and ended at 3:00, instead of 8:30 to 3:20 nowadays. Unlike the current closed campus, students in the 1980s and 1990s enjoyed an open campus policy, especially during lunch.“[It] was the time before school shootings. So you were free to leave campus, and just had to be in your next class after lunch. There’s a huge exodus of students who crossed the railroad tracks, and there were loads of food places over there, like burritos, cheap pizza, et cetera. And maybe half the campus would wander over there and grab food. A guy in my friend group lived across the street, and I know him and a bunch of guys used to go and watch cartoons at lunch, and then come back,” Benbenek said.<h2>Unforgettable Events</h2>One notable event for Benbenek was the end of the Reagan Era. Ronald Reagan, the 40th US president, served from January 20, 1981 until January 20, 1989. Benbenek was still in high school when this presidency ended.“Reagan had been president for most of my life. That was weird, having someone who was not Reagan,” Benbenek said.In October of 1986, teachers in the Amador Valley Joint Union High School District staged a rolling strike due to a breakdown in contract negotiations. It consisted of an elementary union and a secondary high school union joining together. As a result, the district brought in substitute teachers to compensate for the teachers’ absence.“That was two weeks when the teachers went on strike. Only very few teachers taught. As far as I recall, only three teachers actually taught. Everyone else was a substitute. I went to Stoneridge Mall every day. In support of the teachers, of course. But I did end up failing my math class, because my math teacher was one of the people who didn’t strike, so… I got zeros for two weeks. She was still here when I came back to teach, too,” Benbenek said.<h2>Core Memories</h2>“— John BenbenekThe shop classes Amador used to have, such as the auto shop classes, also included electronics shop classes. In these classes, students learned how to make circuit boards. To do so, you would cover up copper panels with electrical tape, put in etching solution—a mild acid that would eat away all the uncovered copper—and the result would be a green color that one would expect to see in places such as behind their phone screen.“In my senior year, I had an electronics shop first thing in the morning. My group of friends and I in that class would take turns bringing in donuts. We’d turn on the radio and sit out back while our circuit boards were etching. We never made anything. The teacher would come out and say, ‘What are you guys working on?’ We’d say, ‘Oh, we’re etching our circuit boards,’ and we’d listen to Led Zeppelin on the radio, watch the train go by, and eat donuts. It was a pretty stress-free start to each day in my senior year. That was nice,” Benbenek said.<h2>Timeless Occasions</h2>Classic high school events such as homecoming have always been highlights of the high school experience. “The Friday of homecoming was a half day. The homecoming rally took place on Main Street and was so fun. The band was recognized, floats were displayed, students and community members were on the sidewalks, and alumni and past homecoming courts returned,” Scavone said.In Amador’s Homecoming Rally, the floats created by each graduating class remain a notable part of it.“Every class spent hours building floats at a parent volunteer’s home where they provided a flatbed. It brought the class together and creative minds from every student. We would display our floats at halftime of the homecoming game where Pleasanton community members would come out and vote on their favorite floats,” Scavone said.<h2>Once a Don, Always a Don</h2>Amador alumni have witnessed many changes over the years. Despite these changes, certain cherished aspects of their alma mater remain constant. “I hope kids take advantage of the amount of academic variety we have here. This is a free education, and I feel like sometimes kids don’t realize there are so many things we have to offer for them. There are so many clubs…classes…so many extracurriculars you could get involved in. Amador’s always had opportunities for kids to find people that they connect with. There are tons of different ways you can find your spot here,” Bull said.As the “Home of the Dons”, Amador has always had a strong sense of fellowship. While it is well known for its academics, it holds a community rich in traditions and roots. “There is a focus on character on this campus. It does mean something to be a Don. It definitely feels like it is a center of Pleasanton and a place where people value character. I do like that,” Benbenek said.</div></body>

Block Source: amadorvalleytoday.org

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Looking back, it has been more than a century since Amador became a school. Yet it can be hard to imagine what the high school was like in the past. Multiple alumni who walked Amador’s halls decades ago now walk the same halls as teachers. “I loved everything about...

Amador in the Late 1900s

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Looking back, it has been more than a century since Amador became a school. Yet it can be hard to imagine what the high school was like in the past. Multip

Amador in the Late 1900s

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