Preview: Blue and White Induction Ceremony

By Aydan Prime,
HUB Staff Writer–

This Saturday, the Blue and White Foundation will welcome five new Davis High alumni to the DHS Hall of Fame, rewarding these individuals for their achievements in and out of school. This year, the foundation will be honoring Bob Bowen, city of Davis public relations manager; Theresa Hayes, director of instruction at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in LA; Gina Miles, an equestrian rider who won silver at the 2008 Olympics; Rick Stromberg, former DHS teacher and athletics director; and Lynne Yackzan, founder of the Blue and White Foundation.

Members of the DHS Hall of Fame include Carol Greider, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, former NFL defensive tackle Jason Fisk and internationally celebrated musician Michael Franti.

The foundation is in contact with over 20,000 alumni.

What sets the Blue and White Foundation apart from other scholastic fundraisers is the fact that it provides financial aid solely to DHS.

“Many of my fondest memories as a young person, even before I was high school age, took place on the DHS campus. While I do give to many other charities, including those that support our local schools in other ways, I felt personally compelled to give a great deal of my time, effort and resources to the one that exclusively supports the high school,” Will Arnold, president of the foundation, said.

The Blue and White Foundation was created in 2002, with a goal to “encourage, strengthen and sustain the interaction between Davis Senior High School and its alumni and friends, and to encourage philanthropic support for Davis Senior High School.”

The foundation’s first major fundraiser was to update the DHS stadium. The group was able to raise more than $1.5 million to rebuild the then muddy, pot-hole filled, uneven stadium. The stadium was finished in 2010, and was revealed to the school at homecoming in October, complete with an all-weather track and new turf.

Since then, the foundation has raised money to give unique opportunities to students and groups at DHS. The foundation has helped raise money to send the Madrigals to the Vatican, aided the Robotics team in funding their trip to the Robotics World Championships and had helped provide every classroom with scholastic essentials, such as books, computers and whiteboards.

The foundation also launched the Student Activity Grant program in 2011, which supports students at DHS in having a greater experience throughout high school. The program helped one student publish a book of his art, and sent others to travel abroad to places like Nicaragua and Tanzania.