Roosevelt’s Class of 1979 ‘All Went...

The 1979 graduates of Roosevelt High--Latinos, Asians and blacks--grew up on Los Angeles’ East Side where they grappled with cultural differences, poverty, language problems and the threat of feuding barrio gangs.

But they were also an exceptional class that “really had its act together from the start,” said Cynthia Augustine, a former Roosevelt teacher who now is assistant principal at Markham Intermediate School in Watts. “They all went out and did something very, very positive.”

Indeed, as 275 Class of ’79 alumni learned recently at their 10th reunion at the Los Angeles Hilton, their bright, ambitious and determined peers, for the most part, continued or are continuing their education.

More than half of them went on to colleges, universities and trade schools, most on scholarships and grants.

Now, a decade out of Roosevelt, many of them are more than simply striving students, struggling with hardships.

* They’re doctors, like Beemeth Robles, who graduated from Stanford Medical School and is a general surgery resident at Stanford Medical Center.

* They’re lawyers, like South San Gabriel resident Fumio Robert Nakahiro, who graduated from USC and Loyola Law School and works with a Los Angeles law firm.

* They’re political activists, like Daniel Alvarez, who received a master’s degree from the University of Michigan and serves as a legislative analyst in Sacramento, monitoring California’s community colleges.

* They’re educators, like David Santamaria, a UC Santa Barbara graduate, Hacienda Heights resident and fifth-grade teacher in El Monte. Or Joanne Carrillo, the class president, UC Santa Barbara graduate and a special education teacher at Hollenbeck Junior High in East Los Angeles.

* They’re nurses, like Whittier resident Esther Medina Vasquez, who works at East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital and whose eight brothers and sisters are also Roosevelt graduates.

“Just because we grew up in the barrio doesn’t mean we were disadvantaged . . ., “ said Cruz, a 1983 Cal State L.A. graduate who is a calendar coordinator for a Los Angeles law firm.

Cruz, who lives in Glendale, returns often to her former neighborhood. “My parents came here from Mexico in 1961, the year I was born,” she said. “My father worked for $60 a week then. Now he has his own business as a wood turner.”

Robles, who received scholarships and took out loans to finance his education, credits many of his teachers at Roosevelt for his post-graduate successes.

“I think we owe a lot to our teachers who believed in us and expected us to excel,” he said. “A lot of times we don’t have role models. And I think a lot of parents were responsible for this class too. My mom was a very positive force. . . . I wish they had diplomas for moms. My mom should have one.”

Robles and many of his 1979 classmates have kept in contact with Roosevelt and other junior and senior highs in East Los Angeles , believing that they can serve as role models for students there. “I wish we had a mechanism to instill this need for an education in others,” Robles said. “Many come back and talk to the students. It’s something that we can do for the community.”

Lance Holliday, who grew up in the Aliso Village projects and now is a savings counselor, insisted that he and his classmates can help other Roosevelt students “develop a sense of pride in their school and community. . . . We were a different type of class. Our ambitions were higher. I thought gangs were silly. I saw a lot of my friends in them. And a lot aren’t here now because of them.”

Santamaria said he was encouraged by parents and friends. “I was fortunate to have a good set of parents and my friends, who were a good influence on me. . . . I had no thoughts about going away to college, and they kept after me. I put myself through school with many jobs.

“My cause now is to inspire the children coming up. To be a role model. I tell them about how important education is to them. That’s what it’s all about. I had a lot of friends and family members in gangs. Some I lost. And that’s a tragedy because there is so much potential in the barrio.”