Society Brings History to Life for
El Cerrito High School Students

In her first year as the radio broadcasting teacher at El Cerrito High School, Jeanne Marie Acceturo’s curriculum called on students to produce at least one hour of original content each week to air on the school’s FM radio station, KECG. For ideas, she pointed students to the historical society’s website and three students – Isaac Satzman, Ava Maurizia and Evan Tank – found stories that led to a podcast and two in-depth interviews.

“The radio students have been excited to learn more about El Cerrito's history,” Acceturo said. “They took the initiative to research topics and interview ECHS alumni, with awesome results. We're hoping to keep making history programs next school year.”

As senior Isaac Satzman looked ahead to graduating in June and attending UC San Diego in the fall, he also looked back at El Cerrito’s past. In a history class, the teacher described how high school seniors were paid to stand watch on the roof of the school during World War II, scanning the horizon for enemy aircraft. He also recalled seeing photos of the farms and dairies in El Cerrito before there were many homes and was intrigued by the drive-in movie theater where El Cerrito Plaza now stands.

One item that really caught his attention was an article on the El Cerrito Historical Society’s website about Hambone Kelly’s, a huge post-war jazz night club on San Pablo Avenue near the Albany border. The club was owned and run by the Yerba Buena Jazz Band, often credited as reviving interest in jazz on the west coast in the 1930s. As a jazz drummer who started learning to drum on his father’s lap at age 4 and is now a member of the high school’s jazz bands, Satzman took a particular interest in the group and their nightclub.

“She’s very, very sweet and humble and didn’t make a big deal of her personal accomplishment,” Maurizia said. A recording of the interview will soon be available on the historical society website.

Maurizia and her friends have also enjoyed exploring the high school’s museum, which showcases Gaucho life before the old school was demolished in 2005 to make room for the current campus.

“I love all the little things, like the old KECG xylophone, the Creedence Clearwater Revival scarf, the archery bow,” she said. “I was surprised to learn the trumpeter for No Doubt graduated from our school and I’m a huge fan of the graffiti bench.”

She and her friends were also intrigued by a cheerleader’s uniform that once belonged to Cathy Shand from the class of 1977. They tried doing some detective work to learn where Shand is now, but came up empty-handed.

Maurizia is a senior who will attend UC Santa Cruz in the fall and major in philosophy. She also plans to join the staff of the university’s radio station, KZSC, where she hopes to continue her on-air partnership with fellow senior Sylvie Diego. They appear on the radio as DJs Pinkee and Thum, names they chose to reflect Maurizia’s curved little finger and Diego’s small thumbs; the two digits are also extended to make the “hang loose” gesture.

On their KECG page, the pair make no bones about their goal to “try to take over the district radio!” As Pinkee notes, “I’m starting my world domination young!”

An athletic connection
When junior Evan Tank was looking for ideas, he found the story of Roddy Lee, Class of 1967, a good match for his own athleticism.

Lee ran track at El Cerrito and was recruited to join the track team at UC Berkeley, specializing in hurdle races. He later placed second in the Asia Games and in 1971 he was crowned as the world’s fastest Asian hurdler.

Isaac Satzman displays a record album recorded live by Lu Watters’ Yerba Buena Jazz Band in El Cerrito. Photo by Jon Bashor.

So much so that as a member of the high school’s student radio station staff, he researched, wrote and recorded a five-minute program on the club, closing with music recorded live by the band at the club. A recording of the program, which aired on KECG earlier this spring will soon be added to the society’s website.

“It was a hot spot among the other restaurants, night clubs and casinos – El Cerrito had a very lively culture at the time as people re-inserted themselves into the community after the war,” Satzman said. “It made sense to me to reach into the history of El Cerrito because we’re an El Cerrito radio station.”

He said he was surprised to learn how active the band members were in running the operation as a co-op and how bandleader Lu Watters was known to dash from the kitchen to join the band onstage while still wearing his chef’s hat and apron.

Another history nugget that sticks in Satzman’s memory is a story he heard from a former neighbor who was born around 1949. As a youth, the neighbor built a glider and harnessed his family’s horse to pull it to the top of a nearby hill, from which he could glide back home as the horse plodded along below. Satzman himself aims to become a pilot, attending flight school after earning his degree at UC San Diego.

He also plans to work at the university’s student-run radio station. Although this past semester was his first in the radio program, he has learned a lot about the industry-standard MusicMaster software used to schedule programs and manage operations. In fact, he was also named KECG’s music director.

“This class has given me a great foundation and experience – we always have to keep the station running and troubleshoot as we go,” Satzman said. “We have a potential audience of 300,000 listeners and we work on the assumption they are all listening. I enjoy the opportunity to make a human connection with people.”

A personal connection
Ava Maurizia, another student in the radio program (who appears on air as DJ Pinkee) also felt a close connection when she read a historical society article about Rose Aguilar McHone, who led the effort in 1975 to convince El Cerrito High School leaders to award letters for athletic achievement to girls, not just boys.

McHone’s niece, Peyton Aguilar, was a standout softball player at the high school who had earned her letter and proudly wore it on her own letterman’s jacket. Peyton died unexpectedly on Jan. 1, 2024, an event that stunned many students and teachers.

“I was good friends with Peyton and felt a real connection to her family when I read the article,” Maurizia said.

After her niece’s death, McHone campaigned to have Aguilar’s letterman jacket displayed in the school’s athletics hall of fame, next to the sweater McHone earned back in 1975 and later donated to school. After weeks of discussion, the school agreed to McHone’s request.

“Peyton’s family, both immediate and extended, are all sports people and I’m grateful her aunt was able to accomplish this,” Maurizia said. “It’s important.” In April, McHone and her sister visited the KECG studio on the second floor of the high school for a wide-ranging interview with Maurizia.

Rose Aguilar McHone (left) and Ava “DJ Pinkee” Maurizia in the KECG studio. Photo by Jon Bashor

Evan Tank points to a photo of Olympic athlete Roddy Lee in the high school museum. Photo by Jeanne Marie Acceturo.

Tank plays on both the water polo and baseball teams for the high school. He started playing in the El Cerrito Youth Baseball program and is now a pitcher, first baseman and outfielder for the Gauchos.

“Mr. Lee was a great athlete and since I’m into sports I was interested in his story,” Tank said.

The most impressive of Lee’s career was being selected as one of four track athletes to represent Taiwan, the Republic of China, at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany. For Lee, it was a dream come true and something he wrote in his “Senior Will,” parting statements written by ECHS students about their hopes for the future as they end their time at the school.

He competed in the 110-meter high and intermediate hurdles, as well as the four-man 400 meter relay—the other members of the team were a sprinter, long jumper and triple jumper. And while Lee and the others placed far back in the results, Lee has said “I did win—it was one of the best experiences of my life.”

Roddy Lee sprints as he starts the first leg of the 400-meter relay race at the 1972 Olympics. Photo courtesy of Roddy Lee.

The 1972 Olympics were also the site of the murder of 11 Israeli athletes by members of the Palestinian group Black September, who breached the Olympic compound by scaling the surrounding six foot fence and entering two apartments used by the Israeli team. For Tank, who is Jewish, that makes that year’s games and Lee’s story even more poignant.

The resulting 30-minute interview features Lee talking about his career, including his return to the school as a teacher and coach, and describing the difference between teaching and coaching in athletics. It also whetted Tank’s interest in digging more into El Cerrito history. He plans to take a news writing class next school year, possibly even having his stories published in the Forge.

By Jon Bashor. This article appeared in the June 2024 issue of The Forge newsletter.

Editor’s note: When lifelong El Cerrito resident Brennen Norman volunteered to help build the historical society’s new website, he suggested that the society connect with El Cerrito High School students to spur their interest in local history. Norman, who graduated from ECHS in 2019 and earned his degree in communications from the University of Washington, met with several teachers in early 2024 and this article describes the first results from his initiative.