Stauffer Elementary?

Dear Editor:I echo Ms. Derryberry comments regarding the Downey Unified School District and the lack of recognition of Mr. DiLoreto ("DUSD Public Servants," Letters to the Editor, 10/4/12). While it may be too late to do anything to honor Mr. DiLoretto, I think that the Downey Unified School District has a great opportunity to recognize the philanthropic efforts of a great pillar of Downey society, Dr. Mary Stauffer, by naming a school after her. To make it even more meaningful it would be great if it would be done while she is still with us. The generosity of Dr. Mary Stauffer and her Stauffer Foundation is well documented. She starts by recognizing the children of elementary and middle school by selecting the top students who then compete for the honor of being named a Stauffer scholar and receiving a $500 grant. All the students that are selected to participate also received a grant of $100 each. This has been done for many years. At the high school level Dr. Stauffer honors the juniors who have achieved a 4.0 GPA with the Junior 4.0 Stauffer Award of $100 each. There is also a similar award for high achieving athletes and I witnessed this as recently as two weeks ago during a football game at Warren High where scholar athletes were recognized and were given scholarships by Dr. Stauffer. The scholarship award ceremony for graduating seniors this year showed Dr. Stauffer giving a grant of $2,000 to each of 40 graduating seniors of Warren High and 40 graduating seniors of Downey High so that they can continue their education in a community college. Do the math and you can appreciate Dr. Stauffer's generosity. Dr. Stauffer actively supports engineering training at the high schools through the Project Lead the Way which prepares engineering students for admissions and graduation in four years at Cal Poly Pomona. She has donated computer labs for middle schools, specialized expensive 3D printers for high school and many other projects too numerous to name. She supports music education by funding concerts for the children and is a big contributor to the programs of the Space Center. Just a few weeks ago, there was a Sunday of free admission at the Space Center funded by the Stauffer Foundation. She supports exposing children to the theater by donating tickets to middle school students to performances by the Downey Civic Light Opera. I urge individuals more knowledgeable than me about Dr. Stauffer philanthropic activities to come forward and enumerate them and to show support for the idea of naming a Downey school after Dr. Mary Stauffer. The Rotary Club and the Assistance League of Downey of which she is a member and to which she has contributed so much would also do well in supporting this idea. Hopefully Councilman Mario Guerra and Mayor Roger Brossmer, who know Dr. Stauffer well through their Rotary membership, will support this motion and get the City Council behind this idea. It would indeed be very noble to recognize one of the few who truly do something for the students of Downey and her community as Dr. Stauffer does. Disclosure: both of my children are Stauffer Scholars and each received a $500.0 grant each time that they were honored as Stauffer Scholars, so I am very fond of Dr. Stauffer. Jorge Montero Downey

********** Published: October 11, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 26