School District honoring Crisp, Sebastian with Hall of Fame recognition

The Winters Joint Unified School District recognized four community members to be inducted in the Class of 2020 Hall of Fame last March. The coronovirus pandemic shut down the celebration. The Express will be recognizing the four inductees in a two-part series. Tom Crisp and Mike Sebastian were inducted into the Winters Joint Unified School District Hall of Fame. Now, after decades of service, they reflect on the hard work and dedication that earned them this prestigious honor. “The Winters JUSD Hall Of Fame was started by Superintendent, Dr. Cutler,” said current Superintendent, Diana Jiménez. “Its purpose is to recognize Winters School District graduates, former employees, and major contributors who have distinguished themselves by individual contributions in scholarship, athletics, student activities, career, community service, and/or the school community as a whole.” After 37 years teaching — and 45 coaching — at Winters High School, the employee category inductee can be none other than Tom Crisp. He taught math, psychology for two years, was WHS’s athletic director for almost a decade, coached junior varsity baseball, track, boys and girls varsity and junior varsity basketball and has over 800 basketball games coached on his record. “I feel honored to be included in the Winters JUSD Hall of Fame,” Crisp said about what the induction means to him. “Just to be recognized for the years of service and things I’ve done for the district, it’s nice to be appreciated.” For Crisp, the years and effort dedicated to WHS was more than a job, but a family matter. “WHS is my family. I have family in the Bay, but I don’t have a wife or kids, so I figured all the kids at WHS are my family and it’s been an interesting ride,” Crisp said about his lifetime of dedication. “Bottom line is, it’s not what you get, it’s what you give. When you give, you do get something in return, but that’s not the sole reason of it. To see people and players grow and improve, it’s a great feeling.” Meanwhile in the service category, Mike Sebastian’s resume of service includes being the Youth Day and Winters Swim Team announcer since 1979, the Youth Day Parade chairman, the Winters Fire Department Fireman and EMT of the year in 1982, Citizen of the Year in 1997, the city treasurer since 2006, Winters Rotary Club member since 2005, the Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and served as Santa for 30 years. “It’s an extreme honor. I’ve done a lot in the community and received a lot of awards, but this one takes the cake,” Sebastian talked about what this induction means to him. “It’s a great feeling that the school district is honoring me for giving back to the community. I was speechless when Todd Cutler told me what was going on.” Sebastian’s voice also echoes clearly through the history of WHS athletics as he’s announced countless games — including Crisp’s — in his decades of commentary. “Announcing was fun and something to do. The crowd was pumped up, the electricity and the atmosphere in the gym were great, so I kept doing it,” he said. Sebastian also mentioned his overall happiness in putting a voice to so many of Winters’ events. “The satisfaction of the community, seeing kids’ faces light up during the parade, it’s a great feeling to make people happy and that’s what I do. I try to make people happy.” Undoubtedly, Winters has been blessed with such selfless individuals dedicated to the community. It’s people like Crisp and Sebastian that give this town its character, and with any luck, those they’ve impacted over the years will be inspired to perpetuate this trend of service and dedication to the town they’re apart of.