Meet Me at Monache: A Walk Down Memory Lane

Manuel Castaneda has been a Spanish teacher and Varsity Boys Soccer Coach for over 20 years. He was interviewed by Francisco Velasquez, a Monache alumni, current Monache Spanish teacher and Varsity Boys Soccer Coach.

At the end of the 2018-2019 school year, Sr. Castaneda will join his wife and children in Idaho and where he plans on enjoying retirement by possibly teaching Spanish at a local high school.

Valerie Cowan Townsend was a top multi-sport athlete at MHS, before receiving a full scholarship at Cal State University Bakersfield. At CSUB, her team won a D-II National Championship. Val began coaching in 1990 and since 2000 has served as head coach & professor of physical education at Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Claremont.

Val was inducted into the 3rd class of the Monache Athletic Hall of Fame on 4/13/19.

Kim began her athletic career by competing with her brothers Tim & Craig. Kim came to Monache in 1974, & competed in volleyball, basketball, & softball. Kim received the Double M Award for outstanding senior female athlete & in 1984 entered the Monache Girls Basketball Hall of Fame. Today, Kim lives in Reno with her husband Tony. They are active with Big Brothers Big Sisters & love teaching kids the fundamentals of athletics.

Mikayli Moore, 2019 ASB president, sat down with her grandpa Monte Moore and aunt Deonna Shake, who were both inducted into the first class of Monache’s Hall of Fame. During high school, Deonna was the first female basketball player to score a career 1,000 points. Monte supported organized athletic fundraisers such as the Big League Golf-a-Rama. Mikayli captained the cross country, soccer, and track teams the last four years.

In the first episode of Meet Me at Monache, Kelly Sullivan Focke (Class of 1991) interviews Cheyenne Lembke (Class of 2007). Kelly Focke teaches Earth and Space Science at Monache and Cheyenne recently visited her class as a guest speaker, sharing her experience as a meteorologist in the United States Air Force. Cheyenne graduated from Monache High School in 2009 and is a staff sergeant in the United States Air Force.