LHS Foundation honors grads and friends who made their mark in society

By Ed Martin, Editor
Latest LHS Hall of Fame inductees (left to right) Jerry Pierce, Deneen Pereira Guss, Mandy Broaddus, and Marc Raygoza.
Latest LHS Hall of Fame inductees (left to right) Jerry Pierce, Deneen Pereira Guss, Mandy Broaddus, and Marc Raygoza.

A packed house at the Lemoore Civic Auditorium greeted four new individual members to the Lemoore High School Foundation Hall of Fame as former alums, friends and school officials gathered Friday night to watch the Foundation induct 1983 grad Deneen Pereira Guss, 1992 grad Mandy Broaddus, and 1991 grad Marc Raygoza.

The trio will join a pantheon of LHS grads, all of whom met the basic requirement of contributing in a meaningful way to the betterment of their local community, state or country.

Also inducted was the latest “Friend of Lemoore,” longtime California Highway Patrol officer Jerry Pierce. He received the Gary Sedgwick Award given to those non-grads who contributed to the betterment of the school.

Members of the 2005 Central Section champion football team.
Members of the 2005 Central Section champion football team.

Athletics weren’t left out. Teams and players must wait at least 10 years before earning a spot in the Hall of Fame. Apparently 2004 and 2005 was a good year for Tiger athletics. The 2005 Lemoore High School football team earned its induction by winning the Central Section title that year.

Also inducted were 2004 Central Section champions in volleyball and girls’ varsity soccer. Several players from all three teams were on hand Friday night to accept the honor.

Guss, a 29-year veteran educator, is currently the deputy superintendent of the Monterey County Office of Education and has served in district and site leadership positions for over 17 years. She is a former district superintendent, associate superintendent, director of curriculum and instruction as well as a principal and assistant principal.

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Raygoza’s resume reads like a primer on the developing software industry. He’s been there, done that as he continues making his mark as the e-commerce industry as it continues to grow and innovate. He’s been a big part of the innovation.

Most recently, Raygoza is the founder of Vine Global, a leading global e-commerce solutions provider. In all the positions he’s held, with various companies, he’s been the guy to fix things or innovate e-commerce solutions for companies large and small as they navigate the World Wide Web.

LHS Foundation honors grads and friends who made their mark in society

He’s also the author of a U.S. patent, No. 8,346,613, a blueprint for a zero integration model for e-commerce merchants.

Broaddus currently serves as the Director of Indian Education at the Montana Office of Public Instruction and grew up seeing the hardships on Indian reservations and knows how important, and sometimes difficult it is for Native Americans to receive an education. Because of her work with Native Americans, Broaddus was named the National Indian Education Association’s Educator of the Year in 2015.

The accolades didn’t end there. Earlier this year, President Obama named Broaddus to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education, and she will advise the Secretary of Education and Congress on the administration and funding of Alaska Native and American Indian programs.

Not bad for a kid from Lemoore, California.

Most Kings County residents have known Pierce since 1997 as the voice of the CHP. He was the official Public Affairs Officer, his job to report on accidents, incidents, and in his spare time create outreach opportunities that benefited the community, and of course local kids.

LHS Foundation honors grads and friends who made their mark in society

Pierce was a visible force for the CHP. He was a constant presence at local schools and was especially enamored of Lemoore High School, and vice versa. For years he was one of the moderators, along with Families and School’s Together (FAST) CEO Paula Lehn, of the series of “Ethics Days” held at the high school and in other locations around Kings County. One day a year, Lemoore High School seniors gathered in a location, whether it was the Portuguese Hall in Lemoore or the school’s Eventer Center, to be taught valuable lessons about ethical behavior.

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