Madera South High’s Homecoming approaching
Madera Tribune File Photo
Julie O’Kane, Madera South High School HomecomingParade Grand Marshal.
Madera South High School’s homecoming parade will be held beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 28, on Stadium Road to Pecan Avenue.
Former Madera Unified School District Superintendent, Julie O’Kane, will be parade grand marshal. The Madera South Stallions will play Edison High School of Fresno in the Homecoming football games.
JV teams will meet at 5 p.m., and varsity teams at 7:30 at Memorial Stadium.
The Homecoming king and queen will be announced at half time of the varsity game.
O’Kane was born and reared in Oakland. She excelled in school and after graduation from high school went on to earn a bachelor’s degree, obtain a teaching credential and earn a master’s degree from Chico State University. She wasn’t done there.
She would go on to earn a doctorate from University of Southern California.
O’Kane moved to Madera in 1972 and began to teach English and history at Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
In 1979, she began working at the District Office and from 1998 to 2006, she served as district superintendent. She could have retired in 2006, but returned the next fall for the opening of Madera South High.
As a result of passing Madera’s first school bond in 2002, the South Campus of Madera High was completed enough to welcome its own Stallion student body.
Her final great contribution as superintendent was working on the logistics of the school design, hiring the first principal, and facilitating the separation of Madera South High from Madera High to be its own complete school and the second high school in Madera. MSHS has just graduated its 9th Stallion class.
Since retirement, she has traveled the world volunteering and working on projects, and still contributing to the great community of Madera. Through involvement in Rotary, she has delivered wheelchairs in Central and South America, participated in peace exchanges, and even given polio vaccines to children in India and Nepal. Currently, she is a member of the Madera County Arts Council Board, which is spearheading an effort to build a cultural and performing arts center in Madera.
She also serves as a member of the San Joaquin River Parkway Conservation Trust, which strives to maintain open land for citizens to enjoy.
