By Isabella Zarate
High school can be a lot of things: a place to learn, a place to grow, a place to make friends and to play sports, a place to join the band or discover you can sing in choir. High school is a place where a lot can happen, including laying the foundation for all the great things you have yet to achieve.
While working at the Homer Public Library, in September of 2020, Cindy Happ came across a book written by a former Heritage student. The work was one about women’s suffrage, and it had just been released in honor of the 100 year celebration of women attaining the right to vote. Happ was in utter disbelief that someone who had graduated from Heritage had accomplished the feat of not only writing, but publishing a book.
“It was a student that I used to babysit when I was a teenager, so I was just kind of overwhelmed that this had happened in her life, that she had gone on to accomplish something so important,” Happ shared.
In awe of the author’s achievements, Happ, along with the library, organized a book signing. In the midst of the event Happ shared her excitement with Heritage Superintendent, Tom Davis. Davis and Happ then went on to discuss many Heritage graduates who had done great things.
Happ then had the idea of honoring and recognizing these accomplished graduates in a way that would let the community know where these people are now as well as set an example for current and future Heritage students. Thus, the Heritage Alumni Achievement Hall of Fame was born.
Spearheading the project, Happ began searching for accomplished individuals who had graduated from Heritage ten years prior. She created and sent out forms allowing anyone to nominate alumni for their excellence.
Here is an excerpt from the nomination criteria: “The committee looks for outstanding achievement following graduation from Heritage High School, with emphasis upon service, accomplishments, and dedication to youth and community. Areas of consideration include schooling and/or work experiences after graduation, awards and honors, professional contributions, community activities and their positive impact on society and our world.”
Submissions were collected by the guidance counselor and distributed to the board for selections.
Nearly a year after Happ had come up with this idea,she began closing the first round of nominations. Next, a committee of 11 people including teachers, board members, parents, and community members was brought together. In January, the team was tasked with ranking/scoring nominees based on a general rubric.
“That was probably the fairest way to determine who could be eligible,” Happ explained. “It is very difficult to compare different areas of professions”.
Over the course of a few months, the committee met three times to sort through all of the nominations. After careful consideration, four individuals were selected as the Heritage Alumni Achievement Hall of Fame’s first ever inductees. By coincidence, two of the recipients were Homer alumni, and the other two ABL (Allerton-Broadlands-Longview) alumni. As the two districts had consolidated into Heritage just 32 years ago, Happ still finds it important to acknowledge what it once was.
“Heritage is its own school, but I don’t want to forget about the communities and families that fed into that,” Happ said.
As for those not selected, all the submitted nomination forms are to be held for years to come, earning each nominee a chance to be considered with every new induction year.
For this year’s accomplished four, they will be honored on May 4th at the high school academic honors banquet. At this time, they will officially be inducted into the Heritage Hall of Fame as they receive a dedicated plaque on the walls of the school, as well as one to take home.
Happ hopes this recognition displays how proud the school and community are of these individuals.
“What they’ve done is important in the world,” she shared. “And where they’ve come from is just as important too.”
Equally as important, the plaques in the hall will serve as an inspirational display to current, and future students depicting the endless possibilities that await them. Especially in navigating the obstacles of high school, members of the Hall of Fame are “physical symbols showing that it is going to be ok,” Happ explained. “They were okay, and you’re gonna be okay too.” As for the community, the display is a small example of the success the school has produced.
For Happ and the community, this Hall of Fame is a symbol of possibility and the potential for greatness. “These graduates give me hope that they can change the world and make it better.”
