A beloved teacher is honored with naming of lower campus

At least Celeste Azevedo got the crying out of the way early.

Last Saturday morning on the campus of Mariposa County High School, it was Azevedo, the longtime principal at the school, whose emotions came to the forefront right off the bat.

And for good reason.

A special ceremony was held on the lower campus of the school honoring longtime teacher — and someone special to so many in Mariposa County — Laura Lynn LaNotte-Hays.

“I am in a unique position,” said Azevedo as the tears began to roll.

That position, she said, was being a student of Hays, becoming an English teacher just like her and then returning to the district in 2001 in administration and becoming a colleague.

Mariposa County Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Aranguena kicked off the ceremony by reminding the audience how this path had been taken.

He said it was Wayne Forsythe of the school board who suggested it “was time” to start naming some of the facilities around the district for prominent people who had contributed so much to the district.

“There is a school district process in place,” said Aranguena.

He said it was Azevedo who was “voluntold” to head up the committee to start the process and “she did it with a smile.”

Several other buildings have been named in the process and last Saturday’s ceremony was the culmination of the renaming as it was targeted at the district’s largest and most recent construction project — the lower campus.

Azevedo said Hays has been a stalwart at the school for many years and still is as she is a substitute teacher to this day.

“When Laura Lynn reads, everyone stops and listens,” she said.

These days, Azevedo said Hays is known as “Mama Hays” by the students, just one of many nicknames she has gone by over the years.

Azevedo noted that Hays began her career at the high school in 1976 and she “has been called the heart of MCHS.”

Then, Azevedo made the announcement about the name of the building: “The LaNotte-Hays Hall for the Humanities.” A plaque has been placed on the building to denote the honor.

A special speaker

Up next was Gianna Hays, a teacher at MCHS and the daughter of the honoree.

She first thanked Azevedo for getting the tears out of the way, though there were several which fell from the cheeks of a proud daughter speaking to the crowd.

Gianna spoke of how she wasn’t quite sure where her life was headed. She had obviously been through school as a student with her mother as a teacher. However, after graduating, she just wasn’t quite sure what to do.

Then she came back to Mariposa and talked about sitting once again in her mother’s class, but this time “as an adult and not a daughter.”

After that experience, she summed it up succinctly: “This is magic.”

The magic, she said, isn’t just about books or lectures.

“The heart of teaching is people,” said Gianna.

It’s not surprising Gianna decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps. At first she said it was just going to be for a short stint.

“It’s been 20 years,” she smiled.

Gianna also had an interesting point about the lower campus being named in honor of her mother.

“A building is a fitting tribute because a building remains,” she said.

So many tributes

Teacher Brooke Dobson was next up, first reading a couple of letters from people who could not attend.

Rich Keller wrote that “La La was all about showing love,” tossing out yet another nickname.

Dobson then told a few of her own stories, one of which was about the time when she and Hays went to Berkeley for professional training.

The training ended on a Friday afternoon — right at rush hour in the Bay Area. Even though they killed some time, when they got onto the interstate, it was the typical bumper-to-bumper congestion anyone who has been through it knows well.

But Dobson had a plan.

She decided to take “some back road” to avoid the interstate. Once on the back road, though, they got behind a truck “of some kind” and it was going extremely slow.

She was driving a Dodge Charger with a V-8 and said Hays had her head back in the seat, seemingly asleep.

“I saw my chance,” said Dobson.

She put the pedal to the metal and bolted at high speed around that truck, all the while thinking Hays was fast asleep.

But Hays glanced over at Dobson and said, “That was fun.”

She was busted but had a story to tell so many years later.

Up next was Mariposa County Superior Court Presiding Judge Anita Starchman Bryant, a graduate of the class of 1994.

“I will always call you Mrs. Hays,” said Bryant.

She remembers specifically a famous book she had to read in high school.

“You taught Grapes of Wrath in a way I felt it,” she said.

She also said there are so many students who to this day refer to Hays as a teacher who made a huge impact on their lives.

“They carry your light today,” said the judge.

Bryant then talked about how Azevedo invited her to speak at the ceremony.

“Celeste said you represent the younger generation,” said Bryant. “I’m turning 50!”

She joked the “younger generation” should really be her kids, both of whom attended MCHS while Hays has been a substitute teacher.

Rachael Sims Snedecor, who when she walked to the podium heard calls of “oh boy” from the audience, likely indicating her high school behavior, may have had the story of the day.

Snedecor, who now lives in Oakhurst after many years in a prominent position in Livermore, was living in El Portal at the time and was a self-described “tomboy.”

Then came time to go to a homecoming event.

The issue?

A strapless dress.

“What do I do?” she asked herself.

She needed “support” for that strapless dress but was clueless about what to do. Go to Merced?

In earlier remarks before the homecoming story, Snedecor said “we knew we could get the support we needed” from Hays, referring to the teaching side of things.

Little did she know it would be another kind of support that was needed this time.

But Hays didn’t flinch and loaned Snedecor a strapless bra to wear with that dress.

“I am probably the only student who can say I borrowed a strapless bra from Laura Lynn,” said Snedecor.

Several other people spoke during the ceremony and the entire crowd went to the building and posed for a photo in front of the plaque.