By RENEE WANG
STAFF WRITER
Associated Student Body (ASB) hosted a Hall of Fame ceremony featuring successful alumni athletes at the Wilson gym on Saturday, Mar. 7.
The ceremony took place in order to acknowledge and honor the alumni and their achievements beyond graduation. Such alumni included Olympic gold medalist, Jill Sterkel; previous athletic director and football coach, Dave Merill; and many more. Activities at the event consisted of introductory speeches made by the administration, video montages of each alumni and a retelling of the alumni in high school.
With creating the idea of the event, assistant principal Robert Hidalgo states that the event aimed to bring back the athletes’ memories and inspire current students from their personal stories.
“Overall, the event was a huge success in that it gave the alumni an opportunity to go back to their days in Wilson and get recognized for the achievements they have made beyond graduation,” Hidalgo said. “The most rewarding part of the ceremony was hearing about the alumni’s time here at Wilson which I believe meant a lot for our current student-athletes who [could] listen to stories they can relate to.”
According to athletic director Willie Allen, the Hall of Fame committee decided to make the ceremony an annual event because of the positive reactions they received.
“Because this is the first time we have organized this event, there was some pressure on whether it would work out and be something everyone can enjoy,” Allen said. “It was daunting at first, but it turned out amazing for the students and alumni to learn about Wilson’s athletic history, which pushed us to host the event every year from now on.”
Despite minor setbacks, sophomore ASB member Sofia Vargas believes the ceremony exceeded expectations.
“There were some difficulties with executing certain layouts for the ceremony,” Vargas said. “But ASB was very pleased with how the event turned out.”
The Hall of Fame will live on to serve as an inspiration to student-athletes at Wilson.
