Don Keller tucked in a blue and gold uniform shirt nearly every week day - and many nights and weekends - for what he called his "dream job": Co-Principal of Millikan High School.
During his five years as co-principal, he wore the school colors with the same pride that he wore varsity football jersey number 48 as a member of Millikan's Class of 1968. "Once a Ram, always a Ram," he would say. Don retired recently from Millikan's co-principal position after 37 years in education.
"My favorite part of being a principal was having the opportunity to make Millikan better," Don says. "Having attended this school and being competitive by nature, I always strived to make Millikan the very best, and that was fun for me."
Don attended Lincoln and Emerson Elementary Schools, Stanford Middle School, Millikan High School, Long Beach City College, and Cal State Long Beach. He began his education career as a classroom aide at Edison and as a recreation director and Newcomb, Longfellow, and Signal Hill. A teacher, coach, and administrator, Don worked at campuses including Wilson, Newcomb, Lakewood, and Lindbergh. His storied career in Long Beach was interrupted by a stint as a Fountain Valley principal, but in 2000, he returned to Stanford Middle School, also his alma mater. He came home to Ram High in 2005.
Don's irrepressible sense of school spirit infused every inch of his beloved Millikan campus. Like a proud parent, he carried his digital camera everywhere to snap photos of his students, teachers, and parent volunteers. He loved to chronicle their Moore League titles, scholarships, and other achievements in more than 150 weekly Web articles.
He approached a middle school podium at eighth-grade recruitment nights with the same enthusiasm as graduation in Veteran's Stadium. He sang the words to "Hail Blue and Gold" along with the student chorus every time. He shared his photos and his list of the "top 10 things" about Millikan with anyone who would listen or look. They listened. They looked.
Recently more than 3,000 students applied to Millikan's magnet programs. More voices lifted up the spirit song he saved in his heart.
Snug in his navy blue sweatshirt with a letterman-styled "M," Don was confident people would love Ram High as much he did.
He was right.
Submitted by Katie Hickox,
Thank God this man finally retired. He may have been successful in his self-promoting efforts to become some sort of homespun hero, but sadly he was an aging adminstrator stuck in the past and overly focused on the inconsequential minutia and support for a poor sports program with outdated philosophies and coaching rather than helping Cornejo deal with the real problems at hand at Millikan. My kids are now both in college but in their conversations with fellow alumni remember this man as more of a caricature than a true leader and pioneer in educational system reform.