They love living in Morgan Hill. The community might not
function the same without them. And they’re so involved, looking at
their schedules could make your headspin.
They love living in Morgan Hill. The community might not function the same without them. And they’re so involved, looking at their schedules could make your headspin.
They are the recipients of the 2011 Celebrate Morgan Hill Awards, an honor presented by the Chamber of Commerce.
From the Woman of the Year Lorraine Welk, who runs the Morgan Hill site of Gavilan College, to Marty Cheek the Man of the Year, who seems to capture every parade, party and political event on video camera for the local access TV station, to Student of the Year Katie Machado, who after attending her five Advanced Placement classes every day, student body meetings and softball practice skips over to CineLux Tennant Station to work part-time to save for a new laptop. Brown University and John Hopkins are on her short list of college hopefuls.
The honorees’ dedication is unmatched.
Ann Sobrato High School’s Principal Debbie Padilla was shocked to learn she was Educator of the Year – often an award reserved for teachers not administrators. But her leadership at Sobrato of the students and her staff proved to the Chamber selection committee that she was a principal worthy of the distinction.
The Volunteer of the Year, Leonette Stafford, has done it all. From being her children’s Home & School Club leader to helping Girl Scout troops to getting the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance off and running – Stafford, a Morgan Hill Realtor, does her best to help her fellow Morgan Hillians.
Rounding out the honorees is the South County staple – Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center – whose many volunteers are beaming after being awarded the 2011 Business of the Year.
“It’s just a complete team effort I’m just so proud because this community is so special to me and everyone around here,” said Sue Howell, the executive director and co-founder of WERC. Though the nonprofit volunteer-run WERC isn’t a profit-earning business, their stamp on Morgan Hill since 1990 and far beyond the city limits has made a big impression.
BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
The care center for injured and sick wildlife in South County has been recognized around the world and in national media over its 20-year existence in Morgan Hill. The center is best known for its bobcat kitten rehabilitation efforts that are based on bird-of-prey anti-imprinting techniques to ensure bobcat orphans do not identify with human caretakers. Instead, a WERC volunteer wears a bobcat “uniform” to interact with the kittens. WERC has been successful because of its pioneering spirit, Howell said.
“We teach co-existence with wildlife. The education we do in schools, it’s not entertainment, it’s education to enlighten people so they have a better understanding of the environment co-existing,” Howell said.
Residents who find injured animals are asked to call WERC, which operates a temporary refuge to not tame, but to release animals back into their native habitat “healthy, wild and free.”
The nonprofit trains all volunteers and is the only facility in south Santa Clara County licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide rehabilitative services.
Howell said the credit must be given to the 20 or so volunteers who keep WERC functioning and the generosity of donors in the county.
“Without people leading, we can’t go on. It’s due recognition to those who have helped in the past, right now and in the future,” Howell said.
WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Leadership is old hat for Lorraine Welk. She’s been grand marshal in the Fourth of July parade, served on the Centennial Committee in 2006, began the Holiday Parade three years ago, was on the Mushroom Mardi Gras board of directors for a decade and a chairperson for the Taste of Morgan Hill.
She’s a 1998 graduate of Leadership Morgan Hill and served for a decade on the steering committee, later the board of directors. Now, and for the last 13 years, Welk has been the director of the Morgan Hill campus of Gavilan Community College. Welk was shocked but likewise excited to add “Woman of the Year” to her list of accomplishments.
“I am so proud to bring this site to over 1,200 students. My joy comes from helping the students find themselves,” Welk said. She’s lived in Morgan Hill since 1977 with her husband Herman and raised two children here.
Her office – lined with plaques and framed certificates for her years of work in the community – is just beyond the main double doors of the Gavilan campus on East Dunne Avenue and Monterey Road. Though, Welk is often juggling many tasks, greeting people from the front desk.
“It was totally unexpected,” Welk said about the honor. “Everyone in this community does so much. I didn’t see it coming.”
STUDENT OF THE YEAR
The halls of Ann Sobrato High School is Katie Machado’s second home. Her second mother is Marla Caroll, the Associated Student Body teacher.
“I love all the spirit that ASB brings to the school. And I love competition,” Machado said.
Seventeen-year-old Machado – spunky and well-spoken – is arguably one of the busiest Sobrato students on campus. She’s humble about her many accomplishments: In her four years at Sobrato she’s held several ASB offices, has been a varsity softball pitcher for three years, boasts a GPA well over the 4.0 scale (one semester she achieved a 5.0 while taking six Advanced Placement classes) and atop all that she volunteers as a youth softball coach and works part-time at the local movie theater tearing tickets and hating the smell of popcorn.
The ambitious senior has already been accepted to nearly every University of California school, Santa Clara University (her parents’ alma mater), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and she’s waiting to hear from Brown University and John Hopkins University.
“Katie’s done so much. She definitely must come back to visit. She has to or we’ll hunt her down,” Principal Debbie Padilla joked.
Machado – who likes to bake, hang out with her friends and clean “It relieves stress” she said – wants to ultimately become a pediatric surgeon.
This spring will be fairly stressful as Machado will take five AP tests before packing up for college, including two based on independent study, which she said she’s basically taught herself: French and AP Statistics.
“The overall morale at Sobrato is great. Everyone is super supportive through every endeavor. The learning experience, the sprit here – I’m going to miss it,” she said.
MAN OF THE YEAR
The cheery fellow – often seen with a camera in his hand or on his shoulder – is Morgan Hill’s very own 2011 Man of the Year: Marty Cheek. Though, Cheek – most well-known for his volunteer work at the Morgan Hill Access Television station and perhaps his lifestyles column in the Morgan Hill Times – said Morgan Hill is full of deserved “peoples of the year.”
Not too long after being told of the honor, Cheek was at Huntington Station when a war veteran began to tell stories about his service and the honors he’s received; “Now, this is the guy that needs to be Man of the Year,” Cheek said.
“It really is an honor and when I found out, it really touched my heart,” Cheek said.
Beyond planning new programs for MHAT, and shooting and editing video, Cheek is on the Parks and Recreation Commission and volunteers to keep San Pedro Ponds clean. He’s been with the Silicon Valley Puzzle Fest for years and also volunteers at the South County Democrats headquarters.
“I’m very blessed. It’s been a good move (from San Jose),” Cheek said, about his decision he made at 5 p.m. one July day 1999. Cheek has a sharp memory.
“In a sense I got a family. My friends here have become my surrogate family. People have been so supportive. I think Morgan Hill fits my personality: Down-to-earth, fun-loving and community-oriented,” he said.
Cheek is a former reporter, avid photographer and advocate of sustainable existence – he’s written a book with Congressman Jerry McNerney titled “Clean Energy Nation,” due out in April.
“We need to solve these problems now,” Cheek said about the United States relying less on foreign oil and moving more rapidly toward using sustainable, local energy sources.
“On a local level, with MHAT, hopefully we can share through video – taking the local perspective and making it national,” he said.
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
The Chamber asked Leonette Stafford to join their parade around town the day they were surprising the Celebrate Morgan Hill Award winners. Unbeknownst to her, Stafford would be most shocked that day.
“It made me emotional. It’s kind of come full circle,” Stafford said.
Stafford is a member of the Chamber, and chair of the ambassador committee, leading the team at ribbon-cuttings and grand openings around town. Her altruism extends to the Community Emergency Response Team, forming the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance, organizing the collection center on Election Day for South County, the Rotary Club and as a board member of the Santa Clara Realtors.
“She’s unable to say ‘no’ and somehow she gets things done around our community while working full-time,” Chamber CEO Chris Guisiana said.
Stafford and her husband Tony run Realty World in “one of the most beautiful places” Stafford said. She said the “personable” community she’s called home for 32 years is brimming with passionate people.
Her work with CERT is most important, Stafford said, “it’s about the kids.” The Staffords live in the San Martin/Gwinn Elementary community where Stafford was concerned about getting the children to their parents in the case of an earthquake or plane crash since its close proximity to the airport.
“That’s what spurred me to do CERT,” Stafford said, a mother of three adult children. “When – and that’s when not if – we have an earthquake we need to be prepared beforehand. That’s my huge push,” she said.
EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR
From teacher to coach to principal, Debbie Padilla hasn’t been more happy working than being the principal at Ann Sobrato High School.
“The community is just wonderful. Everyone, the students, the staff, parents – it’s a great place to work. And we’re all in it to help the kids. It’s just a great atmosphere here. (The staff) pushes each other quite a bit to be better,” Padilla said.
Though she lives in Gilroy with her three children, Padilla’s time is spent at Sobrato working on the “Sobrato Way.”
“It’s about respect, and the many layers of what respect looks like. We always want to treat each other the way we would want to be treated. We say you may not be able to control what’s happening around us, but we can control what we do,” she said.
A prime example of Padilla’s emphasis of respect – since she arrived to Sobrato six years ago from being an assistant principal at Live Oak – is the high school’s Guiding Lights peer-counseling program, which Padilla encouraged and supported. A new class was formed to be a source of peer-on-peer support at Sobrato, and a week this year was dedicated to preaching the importance of respecting one another and the ill-effects of bullying.
“Education is what improves a society … We all have to be learning throughout our entire lives. The day I stop learning, is the day I need to leave. That’s what I try to instill in others, by improving ourselves, we improve the world around us,” Padilla said.
