On this campus, in these hallways, once walked a man of intelligence and humility.  He was one to find the positive in everything, and he held the leadership qualities only some can obtain.

The passing of our beloved teacher, coach, colleague, and friend, Mr. Rogelio S. Juarez on Jan. 23 has left a lot of us here at the Islands with heavy hearts, but they’re heavy with beautiful memories. He leaves behind a wife and three sons.

Mr. Juarez was a 1979 graduate of Channel Islands, and he spent the last 12 years of his 28 years in teaching at CIHS teaching Spanish. He had battled cancer the past year and suffered a stroke in September.

When asked her favorite memory of Mr. Juarez, Ms. Monica Adrian, English teacher and Mock Trial coach, was more than delighted to share.

“He would park his Suburban truck out back where the Auto Shop is now and would block the buses from entering to pick up my mock trial kids and me,” she said. “I would constantly holler jokingly, ‘Juarez! Mueva ese tronco! No déjà pasar!’ And he would calmly reply ‘Ay, ahorita lo quito!’ with a smile.”

A dear friend of Señor Juarez, Ms. Imelda Blanc tells the short story of a morning when he called her up during school and says “I need to speak with you. I am getting a divorce.”

Ms. Blanc, in disbelief, agreed to meet and hung up. But minutes later, Juarez called back to apologize, for it was only a joke!

Ms. Zazil Sanchez, Health teacher and goddaughter of Juarez, says her favorite memory with her Nino was on a trip in Mexico. Sanchez had been skipping rocks near a body of water when she cut her shin and began bleeding profusely. Lucrecia Juarez, Juarez’ wife, was about 4-5 months pregnant with their son as she bent down to care for Sanchez.

“In a panic, my Nino comes rushing to us and all he sees is blood. He automatically thought my Nina Lucrecia was going into labor!” she said. “He turns ghostly white and suddenly sees me yelling. A sigh of relief overcomes his body when he realizes it’s MY blood and not my Nina’s! It was a moment I’ll never forget!”

The people here at Channel Islands have nothing but great memories to share to keep alive the spirit of a wonderful personality.

Hugo Delgadillo, a senior on the boys’ varsity soccer team, says he will always remember Mr. Juarez as the friendly, funny character who always pumped up the team during games.

“One of his favorite things to tell the team was ‘Life is short; live it to the fullest,’” Delgadillo said.