SD High Student Tells Story of Fellow Student's Sacrifice

The Class of 2013 is learning about the sacrifice made by the Class of 1942 at San Diego High School.

Student Tiffany Schumack, who is beginning her senior year at the historic campus on the edge of Balboa Park, has been researching the life of Ruben Ruiz Tellez, for a project of the Normandy: Sacrifice for
Freedom program of the Albert H. Small Student and Teacher Institute.

"Ruben, our fallen WWII soldier, was a paratrooper in the D-Day invasion of Normandy Beach," Tiffany wrote on her website http://sdhs-rubentellez.weebly.com/. "He attended our high school from 1939 to 1941. He left San Diego High School at the end of his junior year."

Teacher Arlene Harris oversaw Tiffany's work at the San Diego High School of the Arts, one of five schools at the campus that opened in 1882.

"The point of this is to highlight one SDHS student who lost his life serving in wartime military, specifically D-Day Invasion and is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery," said Harris. The San Diego High Alumni Association and Tellez's family were of great help to Tiffany in her research.

To honor Tellez, his memory, his family and all the students who sacrificed over the years at San Diego High, the school will be hosting an assembly on Sept. 19. Members of Tellez family and other alumni from the World War II era are scheduled to attend.

For more information, contact Harris at aharris1@sandi.net.