By CONNIE and LYNN BAER

Grossmont High School’s nearly 100 years are reflected throughout its campus. While the campus has been dramatically modernized over the past 10 years, reminders of its past include bronze plaques which celebrate remarkable teachers, whose impact on its nearly 38,000 alumni is incalculable.

Again, our thanks to the alumni, retirees, and community members whose donations have made these plaques possible.

Jack Mashin: While Jack Mashin was a legendary coach, it was his philosophy of education and of life that endeared him to all who knew him and led to the GHS Stadium being named for him.

In the 1925 El Recuerdo, Coach Mashin revealed his lifelong philosophy of coaching: “The greatest honors that athletes can bestow upon their institution are not in victories alone but in how modest they were in victory and how honorably and valiantly they fought in defeat.”

During his years at Grossmont, his athletes won seven league football championships, 34 league and tournament basketball championships, three league baseball championships, and 86 track and field event titles.

Nicknamed “The Fox of the Foothills” because of his coaching success and innovative game plans, Coach Mashin was inducted in the California Coaches Hall of Fame in 1966.

Marlin Baer: Near the Jack Mashin Stadium on the adjacent discus field is a plaque dedicating the relocated discus ring and future discus field to a beloved coach and teacher, who was hired by Jack Mashin to replace him as track coach.

From 1957-1968, for 12 seasons, Marlin Baer was the head track coach with a win loss record of 250 to 43, including five Class A (Varsity) championships, nine Class B (JV) crowns, and 11 straight C titles, with a string of 66 straight C league wins. Until his retirement and after, he continued to coach track, coaching and teaching a total of 40 years.

Ken Lehr: For 36 years, Ken Lehr taught Auto Shop, which became a refuge for students longing for a vocational approach to the high school experience. Fittingly, the new automotive technology facility is dedicated to him.

Gloria Jones: At the front of the classroom in the ASB room is a plaque honoring a remarkable teacher, who is also a member of the 2020 Hall of Honor. Upon hearing of her death in 2019, nearly 20 years after her retirement, hundreds of former students shared an outpouring of memories of their beloved teacher, a testament to her continuing impact on her students and a testament of a life well lived.

Audrey Seidel Myers: The 2020 Event Center will have a Black Box Theater, which will honor a former drama teacher who challenged her students to transform themselves, and in the process, create productions, both inspiring and insightful.

What do these five teachers have in common? A love for teaching and coaching and a commitment to supporting, guiding, and encouraging their students and their athletes to become the best people they could be.

Become part of a historic campus

Today, there are several opportunities to celebrate yourself, your family, your class, or your business. One way is to contribute to our GHS Endowment Fund and become a Foothiller Friend or Founder. Your donation will be permanently commemorated with a gray tile on campus. Visit grossmont.donationtiles.com to place an online order or contact us to receive an order form by mail.

Other opportunities include donating a personalized royal blue bench on campus or sponsoring a decade showcase for the new GHS Museum, opening next school year. Please email or phone us for more information.

To learn more about GHS, past and present, visit the GHS Museum website at foothillermuseum.com. Due to the coronavirus, the GHS Museum is currently closed, but we are checking our emails at [email protected] and our phone messages at 619-668-6140.

— Connie and Lynn Baer write on behalf of the Grossmont High School Museum.