John Muir High School teacher and alumnus Joe Auch will make a presentation to the Pasadena Board of Education at its regular meeting on June 28 about the refurbishment of the Victory Bell and will be honored by the Board.
The Victory Bell goes to the winner of the annual Turkey Tussle between John Muir High School and Pasadena High School.
Pablo Miralles, an officer on the board of the John Muir High School Alumni Association, reports that on Saturday, June 9th, the John Muir High School Alumni Association honored Muir alumnus and current teacher Joseph Auch: “We gave him a standing ovation for his work in refurbishing the Victory Bell and a $1000 check to reimburse him for the costs of the effort.”
Joe Auch graduated from Muir in the class of 1984. His brother was class of ‘76 and his sister class of ‘79. He has taught at Muir now for 10 years. During his time on the staff, he has demonstrated an unusual level of devotion to Muir.
Principal Lawton Gray reports that “Over the years, Mr. Auch has purchased the large folding signs that are placed in front of the school and in the parking lot reminding and thanking parents for getting their students to school on time. This past year Muir was working on taking pride in the campus, and he purchased pick up your trash signs for that effort. He is the custodians’ favorite staff member, as he is always looking for ways to support the custodian crew with purchases out of his own pocket. He has purchased two electric carts for the custodians to drive around campus and do their work.”
Here’s a photo of one of those:
Principal Gray continues: “He is always here when Muir has a beautification day with community groups. He is a behind the scenes player who does not like to be recognized, but is totally dedicated to the school. He is just an all around genuine person.”
Muir counselor Nancy Heusser says “Mr. Auch will clean teachers’ and counselors’ windows above the door, so that they can have more light come in. He takes his giant ladder and does it himself. He has so much pride in our school and the kids all notice it!”
Here is a photo of him cleaning the counselors’ office:
Here is a photo of him with a broom and a scooper sweeping the faculty parking lot one morning before school:
Principal Gray shared that Joe did a great presentation to Muir’s staff about the history of the Victory Bell and the work that was involved with fixing the bell. Muir staff gave him a standing ovation. Here is a slide from a presentation that he created to explain the process of fixing the bell:
And here is the finished, restored Victory Bell!
Let’s hear it for this great Mustang from a whole family of Mustangs!
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