Fire destroys Santa Paula High School’s 1930s-era gymnasium with no sprinkler system
Officials say that a high school senior’s car was found parked on a vacant lot, engulfed in flames, without a sprinkler system on the roof. The fire was initially reported as suspicious when smoke was coming from inside the car. The driver made it out safely and drove to a family member’s home.
Santa Paula police chief Gary Kjos said the sprinkler system did not come from the county. Firefighters had to knock down the wall between a hallway and the gym, and use a bucket brigade to extinguish the flames.
No students were harmed.
On a recent day, a group of students took up the gym’s dance floor, wearing shorts and T-shirts and practicing the Santa Clara Vanguard. They danced while the basketball team practiced three times a week.
They were cheering. They were happy. They were even hopeful. They were not dreaming.
As the school year ended last fall, the Santa Clara Vanguard basketball team was eliminated. The team was down to just two seniors.
“But we’re still going to compete, for sure,” senior guard Ryan Ewton said.
The seniors and their coach, Mark Sealy, decided to compete in the Santa Clara Vanguard’s last home game. Santa Clara lost, 79-51. However, the seniors were not discouraged.
“We’re not quitting, even though we didn’t get to do anything the last game,” senior guard Ryan Ewton said.
The senior class also competed in the Santa Clara Vanguard’s second-to-last home game. The seniors lost in overtime, 74-54, to Santa Clara’s third-seventh graders.
“When we look in the mirror, we want to be proud of who we are,” senior guard Chris Kappes said.
But the seniors never wavered in their resolve and dedication to do it, just for themselves, for a school, and for a community. They wanted to show others how much they cared about Santa
