SUBMITTED
BY - EARLENE WARD
CHRIS BOOZER
Pictured are Harry Baker (left), Yosemite Joint Union High School
District employee Earlene Ward and YJUHSD Superintendent Bill McCabe
at the luncheon honoring the Crystal Tower recipients.
Harry Baker
and Sierra Telephone were honored recently with the Madera County
Crystal Tower Award for Excellence in Business and Education Partnerships.
Yosemite High School nominated Baker and his company for the honor.
The award program was sponsored by the Madera COMPACT and was designed
to promote and recognize significant partnerships between educational
institutions and business.
YHS wrote a letter of nomination citing Baker’s role in the formation
of the Yosemite Joint Union High School District beginning in 1963
and his continuing support of the district since YHS opened in 1976.
Baker was president of the Oakhurst Chamber of Commerce in 1963
when he began promoting the idea of a high school in the area. After
the district was formed, he served as the first president on the
board of trustees. The school’s gym was named the Harry Baker Gymnasium
in his honor and the swim complex currently under construction will
be named the Baker Swim Center.
The nomination letter praised Baker and Sierra Telephone for many
contributions to the school over the years, including employees
working with students at the school, assistance with projects, financial
contributions to school programs and students, scholarships and
donations to every project the school has undertaken.
Perhaps a high school would have been built in Oakhurst at some
point if Harry Baker and Sierra Telephone had not led the effort,
wrote YHS Principal Steve Raupp, but it would not have happened
when it did and the school would not be the institution it is today
without the efforts of Sierra Telephone. For more than 40 years,
Harry Baker has made his company resources available to the school
and its students. Yosemite High School will benefit forever from
the impact of Sierra Telephone and Harry Baker.
Yosemite Joint Union High School District Superintendent Bill McCabe
has similar praise for Baker.
“He has been a huge asset to education in the mountain area for
over 40 years. We benefited from his devotion to schools before
we even existed. If he had not taken the lead in the effort to have
a high school in the Oakhurst area, we can’t imagine how different
this part of the county might be today. Yosemite High School has
been an important factor in the growth of the area and Harry Baker
made that happen. We will be forever indebted to him.”
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