Sam Vaughn Elementary School celebrated its 30th anniversary recently with the namesake and guest of honor Sam Vaughn attending.
The celebration last month included a lively round of school trivia and a cake eating contest.
Vaughn, approaching his 89th birthday, enjoyed appearing at the Giant Jamboree assembly where he was treated as a local celebrity.
The school opened its doors in 1994 and chose the name of Sam Vaughn, a longtime administrator with Ceres Unified School District. Cathee Vaughn recalled that upon hearing the news at a school board meeting Sam quipped, “Don’t they usually name these after dead people?”
Since being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Sam and Cathee, his wife of 65 years, have been living a quiet life in a Samaritan Village’s assisted living unit for nearly 10 years. They gave up driving so have to be chaperoned by their daughters.
Also attending the assembly were twin daughters Judy and Janice “Jan.” Two other daughters, Margiee and Robynn, were not present.
“It’s still overwhelming to think about this being Sam Vaughn School,” said Cathee. “It was a big deal at the time. It was just a total shock.”
Sam Vaughn was born in Oakland on Oct. 14, 1935, and moved to Hughson in 1944. He and Cathee married and lived 52 years in a home on Pine Street at Seventh Street near Hughson High School. Cathee called Hughson a “very nurturing and easy community to live in. It’s great, I like it.”
Sam was nurturing to the students he served in Ceres during his 34-year tenure with CUSD. He was first hired in 1961 as a teacher. Before his retirement in 1995, Vaughn was Supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance. Cathee remembers how he would look after families.
“I remember him going to get kids out of bed and helping the mom – especially the single moms – and taking them to McDonald’s for breakfast before he brought them to school because he wanted them to be in school.”
A program from the Samuel Vaughn Elementary dedication ceremony held Sept. 24, 1994, noted that: “Sam Vaughn was chosen from among several names submitted for consideration and reflects approximately three decades of community service,” including involvement with Lions Club, United Way, Salvation Army, Big Brothers, Big Sisters and other service organizations.
“He was a big influence in our community, so just hearing first-hand why our school was named after him was awesome to be able to share with the students,” said Lilly-Porter.
Daughter Jan told the students that while the Vaughns are all relatively short in stature, her dad “is a giant at heart.”
The school mascot is the Giants.
Samuel Vaughn Elementary, located in the Eastgate area of Ceres, serves roughly 600 students in grades TK-6.
About half of the schools in the Ceres Unified School District were named after locals who made an impact on Ceres, including Carroll Fowler, Mae Hensley, Virginia “Betty” Parks, M. Robert Adkison, Grant and Mildred Lucas, Walt Hanline, Patricia “Kay” Beaver and the Caswell, Sinclear, LaRosa, Hidahl and Berryhill families.
