In its January 28 meeting, the school board saw an initial presentation for a plan to pay tribute to the school’s first athletic director, Dushan “Dude” Angius, by renaming the school’s gym after him and creating a scholarship under his name. The plan came from a group of Los Altos Rotary Club members who had graduated from LAHS in the 70’s.

While the board has yet to vote on a formal proposal, the board seems inclined toward approving the proposition. The formal proposal is set to be voted on at the board meeting on February 10.

“It did seem that there was board consensus to move forward, so we requested that the group work with Dr. Groves and Mrs. Satterwhite to formalize a proposal for our next Board meeting,” board president Joe Mitchner said in an email.

Angius is arguably one of the most important figures in the school’s history; he was Athletic Director when the school opened in 1955, and as a basketball coach he led two “lightweight basketball teams” to league championships before the school even had a senior class. He then went on to bring in varsity basketball co-championships in 1960 and 1962. In 1964, under Angius’ guidance, the school won every varsity championship.

Angius was involved in far more than just athletics: he held the positions of counselor and student activities director before becoming the school’s principal in 1966. He remained principal until 1976, when he became a superintendent of the Lassen Union High School District.

There is little at the school to show the massive impact Angius had. The school changed its sports teams from “the Knights” to “the Eagles” after Angius’ tenure, and thus had to take down the many trophies and awards that were earned by Los Altos sports teams during his illustrious career, which Angius described as the “the most satisfying and happiest time of [his] life.”

“There’s nothing at the high school to show I was ever there,” Angius said, while reminiscing with former students about his tenure at Los Altos.

The designers of the plan hope to change that, though concrete details have not been discussed yet such as what the the gym would actually be called, or what the scholarship amount might be.