The Express is sharing a two-part series in celebration of the five inductees of the Winters Joint Unified School District’s Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
Winters Joint Unified School District celebrated the honorees in their Hall of Fame Class of 2023 at the end of April.
On April 27, members of the community gathered to honor five Winters notables for their efforts and contributions to the students and culture at Winters JUSD at the 6th annual Hall of Fame ceremony.
Hall of Fame recognizes Winters JUSD graduates, former employees, and exceptional community volunteers who have distinguished themselves by their individual contributions in scholarship, athletics, student activities, career, community service, and/or to the school community as a whole.
The 2023 Class of Winters JUSD Hall of Fame Inductees included:
Distinguished Service inductee: Billie Bishop
Employee inductee: Pam Scheeline and John Kammerer (In Memoriam)
Alumni inductees: Rob Coman (Class of 1969) and Jenny Lester Moffitt (Class of 1998)
Billie Bishop
Bishop graduated from Winters High School in the Class of 1962, however, he was recognized as the Distinguished Service inductee for the impact he made through countless volunteer hours working with students on developing their reading skills.
Also known as “Uncle Billie” to many Winters youths, Bishop first began working in
educator Kristie Oates’ kindergarten classroom in 2000. For 20 years, he worked with students at different school sites, following Oates as she moved to teach different grades, and eventually working with other teachers. Winters Middle School is the last school he volunteered at.
In his introduction, Superintendent Rody Boonchouy said that Bishop “worked with children of all reading abilities, encouraged them, and had positive words for each child daily. Every child who worked with Bishop had the opportunity to learn juggling and recite the alphabet backward. Some students would learn how to read upside down. Mr. Bishop understands the importance of engaging students in learning. His mottos were ‘read, read, read’ and ‘try, try, again.’”
Bishop said he dedicated his award to those who helped him on his journey whom he called “stars” including family members, Winters teachers and community members.
Pam Scheeline
Assistant superintendent Phoebe Girimonte encouraged audience members to try and keep track of all of the different roles Pam Scheeline, one of the employee inductees, held within Winters JUSD.
Scheeline worked for Winters JUSD from 1970–2007 when she first retired. However, Scheeline did not really know how to retire and in 2008, she came out of retirement and worked once again until finally retiring in 2014. Scheeline worked as a teacher for 20 years. In 1990, she was the principal at John Clayton Kinderschool. When she came out of retirement she served as the principal at Winters Middle School and then moved over to serve as the principal at Shirley Rominger Intermediate School and Waggoner Elementary School.
Many of Scheeline’s contributions to Winters JUSD can still be seen today. They include the facilitations of the playhouse and the loft area in Room 4 at Waggoner, implementing the peer tutor class with then WHS principal Paul Fawcett, and the establishment of the ROAR (Reach Out and Read) readers program at Waggoner. This is a small sampling of the impacts Scheeline made during her tenure at Winters JUSD.
“This has been a wonderful journey for me. It has been very rewarding and very exciting,” Scheeline said.
Scheeline also gave gratitude to fellow educators she worked with, and credited them for their efforts in engaging Winters students with opportunities and support in their education.
John Kammerer
On behalf of the Kammerer and the Carbahal families, Manny Carbahal accepted the employee inductee award in memoriam for his father John Kammerer.
“Sadly he passed away 15 years before, but if he were here tonight, he would have been so grateful and humbled by your generosity and support… Even more important, he would have been surprised that he was even nominated,” Carbahal said. “Our father would have felt so honored and appreciative to be standing alongside other academic inductees here tonight.”
Kammerer began working at WHS in 1955, and during his 32-year career taught and coached nearly all of the sports offered at the high school and served as the athletic director. Boonchouy said Kammerer was “a dedicated and respected member of the Winters community who positively touched the lives of many of its youth.”
Outside of school, Kammerer served as the city of Winters Summer Recreation Program Coordinator and Winters Little League Coordinator. He also served as a Winters City Council member and as vice mayor.
Carbahal said his father “was a true leader” and he adopted the 1950s quote “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” as his mantra.
“It was clear from the beginning what he expected from you,” Carbahal said.
Both Carbahal and Boonchouy spoke about Kammerer’s recognition that not all student-athletes were able to travel beyond city limits, and he arranged trips to Lake Tahoe, Fort Bragg, Florida and Hawaii in order to open up the world to his athletes. He also arranged for athletes and their families to visit historical, cultural and travel attractions on these trips. Carbahal said Kammerer “wanted to open up the world to students who may not be able to leave town.”
“He gave students hope and the confidence that they needed to be successful,” Carbahal said.
“Kammerer instilled lifelong values in his athletes and his own children. He commanded respect and embodied the values of loyalty, action, ambition, and overall compassion for everyone in the community. What happened off the playing field was as important, if not more important, than what happened on the field,” Boonchouy said.
