Bonnie Neff had planned to stay home last weekend after completing her 27th year teaching at Hiram Johnson High School.
Neff instead was in Philadelphia, receiving an award for distinguished teaching.
She also was reunited with Frederick Lucina IV, a Hiram Johnson graduate who nominated her for the honor, which was bestowed by Drexel University during Saturday's commencement for the class of 2008.
"This will be my first visit to Philadelphia," Neff, 61, said last week. "I feel so very fortunate.
"I'm exhilarated because Frederick was in my classroom some time ago, and he still remembers me.
"I feel very proud to have been his teacher."
Neff was among four teachers from across the nation to win the honor in this year's "Behind Every Graduate Award" program. Drexel began the awards two years ago to recognize those behind graduates of the university. This year, when Drexel asked its students to nominate teachers who had steered them toward college and academic success, Lucina, 24, remembered two of his favorite teachers at Hiram Johnson. One of them was Neff, an English teacher; the other was a dance teacher.
"I automatically knew it was these two teachers who stood out," Lucina, a 2002 Johnson graduate, said by telephone. "But for this contest, it had to be a teacher who was still teaching there, and the other teacher is no longer teaching there, so it was definitely Ms. Neff."
In his nominating letter, Lucina said he chose Neff because she served as a positive influence for many students who lacked adult role models, according to a Drexel press release.
"Ms. Neff was always telling us about the success stories concerning her former students at Johnson High, and how happy it made her feel," the release quoted him. "She was an inspirational teacher (who) definitely made a difference in my life.
"I'm hoping I can be one of the success stories she tells now."
With Neff looking on, Lucina received his bachelor of science degree in nursing.
Lucina, who would like to practice anesthesiology either in California or Pennsylvania, is remembered by Neff as "a reserved type of young man."
"He always had a smile on his face," she recalled. "But he was a hard worker."
Neff has been a teacher for 39 years. She said her career began after some "divine intervention" that steered her away from other professions.
"In January 1969, I had received a bachelor of science in business and communications studies from California State University, Sacramento," Neff said, adding that her goal then was either to be a stenographer/court reporter or an information officer for the U.S. government.
That summer, her mother, Alberta Williams, received a phone call from Sister Mary, a nun at the former Bishop Manogue High School for girls, Neff recalled. Sister Mary said she understood that Williams had three daughters who had earned business degrees. She told Williams that her school had a vacant teaching spot for an economics teacher and urged her to have her daughters apply.
"I didn't know in all my dreams that I would ever be a teacher," Neff said.
But she became one in the fall of 1969, at Bishop Manogue High School. Initially, she taught typing as well as economics.
After a teaching stint in Michigan – she lived there while her husband was stationed there with the Air Force – Neff resumed her teaching career in Sacramento in the mid-1970s.
When she joined the Hiram Johnson faculty in the early 1980s, she taught both English and mathematics, focusing strictly on English a couple of years later. Today, she continues to tell students about the stars she's taught.
"I tell them I had students who overcame hardships and are now doctors, TV news anchors, lawyers, teachers and psychologists," she said.
Besides her lessons on great novels, Neff also lectures on the nuances of English, maintaining that its proper use is vital to a person's ultimate success.
Along with an expense-paid trip to Philadelphia, Neff received a $2,000 prize. Hiram Johnson High also will receive a $2,000 donation from Drexel University.
Last month, the university announced plans to open a new graduate studies center in Sacramento in January.
Call The Bee's Edgar Sanchez, (916) 321-1088.
