A Letter to the Diamond Bar High School Class of 1989
I would like to take you back for a few minutes, to when you were still in high school.
Do you remember a height challenged, slightly hair challenged, little dynamo affectionately called Mr. “D” by all of “his kids?” If you were a student that he interacted with, he considered you one of “his kids”.
He was the one that would leave home at six o’clock in the morning, because someone needed a ride to school or came home late because he stayed at school for a conference with a late working parent.
He never thought twice about lending money for lunches or year books. He always gave his year book to someone that couldn’t afford to buy one.
Remember the times you went to his office and cried, over a boy, or a girl, your parents, your grades, your teacher or the times you just wanted to vent? Remember the Mr. “D” that you knew you could trust with your secrets, about your home life, your insecurities, your hurts, your dreams and your crushes because you knew he wouldn’t laugh at you. He teased you, he pushed you, he encouraged you, he hollered at you, but he never betrayed those confidences and he never, never judged you. In other words his was a truly unconditional love. That love was a 24/7 love. It didn’t stop when he left school. His concerns for your grades and/or problems came home with him. He always encouraged everyone to call him at home if needed, parents and students alike. To receive a call at 10:00 p.m. was not unusual.
In a speech Mr. “D” gave to one of his graduating classes he quoted a philosopher as saying, “To love someone is to see the face of God”. Then he added, “In the last four years I have seen the face of God, many, many times.”
I am asking you to remember these things, because I am putting out a plea for help to keep Mr. D’s scholarship going for at least a couple more years. A $10.00 donation, 2 Starbucks cups of coffee, would be such a help. It doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up and every little bit helps.
Mr. D won’t know one way or the other, but it gives you the chance to, “pay it forward,” and help to contribute to the legacy of loving one another that he so generously practiced.
Mr.D's Class of 1985 started the Gary Duenas Memorial Scholarship, in 2006 at DBHS. They have awarded a scholarship in 2006 and 2007 and they will award another scholarship this June.
I know Mr.D would love to see both of his classes at DBHS work together on the scholarship.
If you would like to donate or help out with the Gary Duenas Memorial Scholarship, please go to:
http://www.mrdscholarship.com/
or email the committe at mrdscholarship@yahoo.com
Thank you,
Mrs. June Duenas
