The Rudy Chavez Memorial Scholarship

Please join my sister Laura and I in honoring and celebrating the life of our father, Rudy Chavez, principal of Mark Keppel High School from 1983-1998. Our father was an educator for most of his life. He was a teacher, department head, counselor and principal at La Puente High School before moving to Mark Keppel in 1983. Our father LOVED his students. As principal, he often spent more time at school than at home because that is what it took to be an effective leader. He had several routines as principal, one of them being arriving to campus daily by 7:00 am to walk the entire campus, often with the custodian. The reason he did this was of course for safety but also to be sure the students had a clean, damage-free and graffiti-free campus that they could be proud of. Another routine was attending athletic events. He never missed a varsity football game. He would always wear his signature "cowboy hat" and be on the field with the football team. Of course this was a great support to the players but it also gave Dad the best view of the stands so he could watch the crowd. People in the stands would often ask, "who is that man in the cowboy hat?" And quickly someone else would respond, "that's Mr. Chavez, the principal." He continued to attend the games long after he retired and even those students got to know him as the former principal.

So why share this story? Because this is our father's legacy. Being a high school principal is one of the most demanding, high stress jobs and our father did it well! It is worth repeating that he did it because he LOVED being with the students and mentoring these young adults. It took much sacrifice to do this job, but he chose to be the best.

It is our intention is to award at least 1 scholarship of $5000 to a MKHS student pursuing a higher degree in public education because it will place value on helping a student who may be inspired by "the man in the cowboy hat."  If we exceed this goal, additional scholarships will be awarded. 

Thank you for your support!