Melani Gil de Montes:
CLASS OF 1974
Pioneer High SchoolClass of 1974
Whittier, CA
Rippowam High SchoolClass of 1974
Stamford, CT
Turn - of - River Middle SchoolClass of 1970
Stamford, CT
North Whittier Elementary SchoolClass of 1968
Whittier, CA
Farmdale Elementary SchoolClass of 1966
Los angeles, CA
Melani's Story
50th class reunion - Pioneer High is SEPTEMBER 14, 2024 Set your calendar.
Email me so we can stay easily connected. MCGildemontes 'at' 'gmail' dot com
Please send friend request to Facebook Sylvia Elizalde. She is the lead for reunion and we use her profile to stay connected with '74 classmates. A list of missing alumni has been posted on 74 Reunion Page. Please take a look.
School
From Kindergarten thru 4th grade was at Farmdale Elementary in El Sereno. Had I stayed I would have graduated from Woodrow Wilson H.S.
From 5th - 6th grade went to North Whittier Elementary, the name changed after.
Then off to Connecticut for 7th and 8th grade, attended Turn of River Jr. High and experienced nature's four seasons (worse winter storm in decades and we got to live in it for days), but living on the East Coast also afforded me the opportunity to visit New York numerous times, travel thru covered bridges on winter ski treks to Vermont and taste fresh apple cider and had the lifetime memories of visiting our Nation's capital.
Had I stayed there I would have graduated from Rippowam High School there in Stamford, Connecticut.
Returned to California in time for high school and lo and behold moved to the same area so friends I had in 5th & 6th were thankfully once again my friends for high school. And to this day and ripe 'ole age many of those once scrawny 11 year olds are now my dearest friends.
Workplace
First job was at Robinsons...Expand for more
-May earning like $2.10 an hour then worked at La Serna High School as an Instructional Aide for the Bilingual Program. Nope can't speak Spanish but I was good in Math and adding numbers is the same whether you're from Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam or Columbia. Really enjoyed working with the students.
Then off to be a Sales Secretary for an automotive warehouse, nice people but small office and not very challenging.
Had a wonderful opportunity to start at First Interstate Limited in 1983. I started as a receptionist - because it paid well, and the recruiter said it was a growing company. Boy, was he right. Once the President found out I had a degree and I was just answering phones he gave me other responsibilities. Made some incredible friends there who are still in my life. When I was laid off 8 years later I left as an Assistant Vice President.
Being laid off was not any fun and once I put my mind into finding a job I got one in two months. 1992I started working for The Metropolitan Water District of So California, great people, perfect job but had to take a big cut in pay and took me ten years to finally make what I was making when I left the bank. I was very fortunate to work for the General Manager my last 14 years. The organization couldn't ask for a better person to run the place - positive attitude, kind, incredibly smart and no ego. I retired in 2020 one week before the doggone pandemic. I am enjoying retirement.
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