KNIGHT'S WIDOW 'ADOPTS' SCHOOL.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer PALMDALE - Knight High School gave her a letterman's jacket to keep her warm at football games and named a gym after her. The band presented her with a gold necklace charm in the shape of a hawk, the school's mascot, with a sapphire for its eye. The blue gem represents the birthstone birthstone: see month. birthstone Gemstone associated with the month of one's birth. Wearing one was popularly supposed to bring good luck or health. of the month she was married. At football games, the band break outs into the school fight song when she shows up, and she responds with a V-for-victory hand sign. Cheerleaders Notable cheerleaders
The object of Knight High's collective affection is Gail Knight, widow of the late William J. ``Pete'' Knight, the state senator Noun 1. state senator - a member of a state senate senator - a member of a senate and test pilot after whom the 3-year-old school is named. ``I have never really seen anything like that. I've been involved in education 17 years and never seen where a school is as attached to her as she is to the school,'' Antelope Valley Union High School District The Antelope Valley Union High School District (A.V.U.H.S.D.) is located in the Antelope Valley area of California, in northern Los Angeles County. The district includes eight public high schools, one trade school, and two continuation high schools in the cities of Palmdale board president Donita Winn said. ``Students come up and hug her. She can't move from point A to B without being stopped.'' Knight regularly attends football games, most basketball games and other sporting events, and goes to band and choir performances. The Knight family has donated memorabilia from ex-flier Pete Knight's career, such as photographs, flight jackets, flight masks, and the flag that flew over the Capitol when he died in May 2004 from leukemia leukemia (l  kē`mēə), cancerous disorder of the blood-forming tissues (bone marrow, lymphatics, liver, spleen) characterized by excessive production of immature or mature at age 74. He's still known as Palmdale's fastest man, who flew faster than any human in the X-15 rocket plane rocket planen. 1. An aircraft powered by one or more rocket engines. 2. An aircraft designed to carry and launch rockets. . ``She kind of adopted us and we adopted her,'' Principal Brett Neal said. ``She usually comes to a lot of different events, and they are usually just glad to see her. She's been around since day one. Senator Knight would do that as well. She has kind of taken on the mantle, as Senator Knight did.'' ``She's just such a genuinely nice lady. She has motherly moth·er·ly adj. 1. Of, like, or appropriate to a mother: motherly love. 2. Showing the affection of a mother. adv. In a manner befitting a mother. or grandmotherly grand·moth·er·ly adj. 1. Characteristic of or befitting a grandmother. 2. Having the qualities of a grandmother. charm about her,'' Vice Principal Jeff Ferrin said. ``She has the best interest of the kids and education in her heart all the time. That's why the kids love her so much. They have a sense of knowing who is an advocate for them, and they know Gail is.'' Knight, 69, of Palmdale, said she is an avid supporter of the school because it meant a lot to her husband. ``It really meant so much to Pete, to have the school named after him. ... He was so proud of that. And as I said, I enjoy seeing kids and seeing them do good,'' Knight said. Knight said she has been overwhelmed by the school honors and never expected them. With all the tributes, she still demurs, ``I don't want to be a pest.'' ``They've made me feel very welcome. I didn't expect all that,'' she said. ``You reciprocate re·cip·ro·cate v. re·cip·ro·cat·ed, re·cip·ro·cat·ing, re·cip·ro·cates v.tr. 1. To give or take mutually; interchange. 2. To show, feel, or give in response or return. v. when you know people like you, and maybe that's why.'' Knight - a mother of four, stepmother of three, and grandmother of 15 - said she enjoys the students' enthusiasm and finds them to be polite and receptive. ``It's fun for me,'' Knight said. The night was chilly last fall for the first football game. When the campus was dedicated last October, the school presented her with a letterman's jacket. ``Oh, my God, I was just so happy and thrilled,'' Knight said. ``It's warm. It's good for basketball games, too, to go from the car to the gym.'' Band and choir concerts are also on her must-see list. ``If I miss one, it's because nobody told me,'' Knight said. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. that much about music, (but) I thought they were just fabulous. They had violins. It was absolutely fantastic,'' said Knight of one recent concert. ``It's great to see people do good. (Band director) Sean (Hamberlin), what he's done with those kids, it's fabulous.'' Hamberlin said Knight is known as the official band mom, and has even conducted the band at a football game. Before Knight High's marching band Noun 1. marching band - a band that marches (as in a parade) and plays music at the same time band - instrumentalists not including string players took first-place honors in Palmdale's Christmas parade, Hamberlin told students, ``Do it for Mrs. Knight.'' ``This relationship was fostered through her own liking of the band. She came and complimented our band when we performed at football games, at the dedication ceremony of the school, community parades and whatnot what·not n. 1. A minor or unspecified object or article. 2. A set of light, open shelves for ornaments. pron. ,'' Hamberlin said. ``We would always hear from administration, 'Mrs. Knight came just to hear the band.''' The band students decided to pitch in and buy her the charm and presented it to her at the Christmas concert, ``just to show her how special she is'' and thank her for her support, Hamberlin said. ``She was always there with us all the time, always there at the football games and it was freezing cold and she would be out there supporting the school and the team and the band,'' junior and tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax. It is perhaps the most well known of all saxophones and is a transposing instrument, pitched in the key of B♭, and written as a transposing instrument in the player Brett Thomsen said. ``Instead of her giving to the school, we thought we would give her something to let her know the school has as much devotion for her as she does for the school.'' Thomsen added, ``I talk to her when she comes. She seems like a really down-to-earth person, somebody anyone could get along with, no matter who it is.'' Receiving the charm, Knight said, ``was just so overwhelming. I never take it off. I won't take it off.'' School officials announced they were going to name the gym after her at the first varsity game in the new gym in November. ``I don't know that anything has ever happened like that to her. She was amazed and honored,'' stepson step·son n. A spouse's son by a previous union. stepson Noun a son of one's husband or wife by an earlier relationship Noun 1. and Palmdale City Councilman Steve Knight Steve, Steven or Stephen Knight is the name of:
``Through Mrs. Knight, we learned what her husband's legacy meant. She's talked to the band a few times, talked about how Senator Knight would have been so proud and what he stood for,'' Hamberlin said. ``We are not just playing for ourselves and the school. We are playing for the spirit of Senator Knight. Since he's not there, she's taken on the role as far as our motivation.'' Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Gail Knight, widow of Sen. William J. ``Pete'' Knight, visits Knight High School, named for her husband. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion