In its 73 year history, Coral Gables Senior High has educated multitudes of students who go on to be exceptional in their respective fields of study. Two years after the recent revival of the Hall of Fame tradition by Friends of Gables High, on Nov. 3, 11 new inductees were distinguished for their achievements. During fourth period, teachers who were invited brought their classes and filled the seats of the auditorium with a younger generation of Cavaliers.
“When Friends of Gables [was] founded, they decided they wanted to bring back the Hall of Fame, so our first Hall of Fame was supposed to happen the day before we got let go for COVID. We had to postpone it until we came back from COVID, so we did it the year before last. Ideally it would happen every three years, we’re just making up for the COVID years,” Activities Director Mrs. Suarez said.
Once everyone was settled, the lights dimmed and the Gablettes performed a dance number to open the event, showcasing their effort in welcoming the inductees. After their performance, the guest speakers for the Hall of Fame ceremony, FOGH founder June Morris and board member Rosanna Karpiak introduced themselves to the audience.
The pair explained the ceremony and its purpose: to honor distinguished alumni and staff who exemplify the Cavalier spirit. The Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps followed them with the Posting of the Colors and led the student body in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The first part of the ceremony commemorated the achievements of Cavaliers from the classes of ’58-86, from doctors to lawyers to admirals, and their excellence in their corresponding career paths. Morris and Karpiak introduced each inductee with a brief overview of their profession and their distinctions in that field before welcoming them to the stage to receive their plaque and give a few words of advice to current Cavaliers.
Common threads in the inductees’ speeches included how Gables provided them with a diverse community, the importance of hard work, the virtues of taking risks and exploring the unknown. They related to students’ stories of difficult upbringings and the important world events going on in the background of their high school years. Inductees compared these accounts to the events current Cavaliers may face and reassured them that perseverance would carry them through such hardships.
“I felt inspired by Judge [Paul] Huck’s humble beginnings. Sometimes it’s hard to be a student with a lot going on in class and at home, but seeing someone like him accomplish great things in spite of that gives me hope for the future,” senior Isabel Da Silva said.
Halfway through the inductions, there was a brief intermission where the cheerleaders presented a performance, hoping it to be a testament to Gables’ pride. Welcoming the invitees back into their seats, the ceremony continued with alumni inductions from musicians to physicists.
“I found [Paul] Steinhardt’s speech very motivating, how he compared studying during the war in Vietnam to us students studying and dealing with issues in the world now, and it reminded me to not give up even when it feels like the world is upside down,” senior Diego Herzog said.
After the alumni inductions, two Cavalier faculty members were inducted, Alberta Jones and Dan Finora. The pair of Gables veterans shared words of advice to both teachers and students, emphasizing the importance of educators in shaping students’ world views. Both Jones and Finora stood on the stage to remind students of their responsibility and potential as the newest generation of graduates out to change the world.
“In all honesty, I never thought about getting [inducted], but I never had aspirations to leave and do something else, the school work has always been something I like to do. Mr. Rath, the first principal, hired me, and I never left,” Mr. Finora said.
The ceremony ended with some final words from Morris and Karpiak, congratulating the inductees as they gathered on stage to pose for a picture. As the sound of a multitude of Cavaliers singing the alma mater filled the auditorium, they now had inspiration from the esteemed alumni to make their marks on the world with Gables spirit.
