When Kellie Yada spotted the shiny new car, topped with a big red bow, she was speechless. And that’s no hyperbole.
The recent Beckman High graduate stood frozen, a stunned smile her only response. For a minute or two, she opened and closed her mouth as though trying to find her voice – but nothing came out.
“You won this car for having perfect attendance,” Glenn Kashima, service director at Tustin Toyota, informed her Wednesday, July 29. “Didn’t it pay off to go to school every day?”
After Kashima invited her to visit the dealership and pick out a color, Yada uttered her first word: “OK.”
Then she burst into excited giggles. At last processing her trophy, Yada proclaimed, “I don’t know how to react, but I’m super excited!”
For seven years, Tustin Toyota has gifted a Corolla to a local senior who never missed a day of high school. The winner’s name is randomly drawn at a district board meeting.
This year, 191 students from Tustin Unified’s four high schools earned a chance.
Normally, the car is presented at the graduation ceremony – something that TUSD initially hoped could happen the first week of August. Alas, a spike in coronavirus cases put the kibosh on holding even a postponed event.
“We thought we were being geniuses, but we erred in our judgment,” said Superintendent Gregory Frankln.
So, rather than in front of thousands of classmates, Yada shared the moment only with her parents and a smattering of school officials – all socially distanced and wearing face masks.
Yada’s mom and dad were just as surprised as she – all summoned to the Irvine campus on a ruse.
“They told us we needed to sign some papers,” Joyce Yada said. “I thought, ‘Did she not turn something in? Why do they need two parents?’”
The possibility that their daughter had won a prize was not on their radar.
“We weren’t that aware of the car program,” said Frank Yada. “We’ve just always told our kids it’s important to go to school.”
Coincidentally, the Yadas buy all their cars at Tustin Toyota – as they let Kashima know.
“Well, now you get a free one,” he responded.
Kellie Yada, 18, who played basketball and ran track at Beckman, graduated with a 4.4 GPA. She will start at Cal State Long Beach, online, next month, majoring in graphic design.
As a joke of sorts, Beckman principal Donnie Rafter introduced Yada to someone she’d never had reason to encounter– attendance clerk Debbie Murphy.
“She doesn’t even know who I am,” Murphy noted with a laugh.
That spotless record had little to do with material awards.
“Missing class makes me feel anxious,” Yada said. “It’s really hard to catch up.”
Although disappointed that she couldn’t experience graduation with her friends, Yada said, the Corolla offers big consolation: “It’ll be my first brand new car that’s all mine.”
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July 31, 2020 at 06:07AM
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Beckman High grad didn’t get a ceremony, but won a car for never missing school - OCRegister
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