Newport Harbor honorees appreciate Hall of Fame induction

The honorees expressed appreciation as they were inducted into the Newport Harbor High School Hall of Fame on Wednesday night at the school.

Bob Rogers (class of 1968) used his induction speech to challenge the current students at his Newport Beach alma mater.

“Appreciate [Newport Harbor],” said Rogers, a filmmaker who was a standout water polo player for the Sailors. “I didn’t appreciate it until now.”

He now realizes that Newport Harbor is “magical,” he said.

This year’s Hall of Fame class, its second, includes Olympic gold medalists (Aaron Peirsol and Steve Timmons), a scientist (Joseph Corbo) and an award-winning writer (Maria Arena Bell).

In all, 10 alumni and five faculty members were honored. The ceremony also included a preview of a documentary about the school’s history and a ribbon cutting to introduce the “new” Web Jones Heritage Hall.

Peirsol, a five-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer, is now the boys’ swim coach at the school. He said he was proud to be inducted among so many great alumni, including David Emmes, A.G. Kawamura, James “Walkie” Ray, Gregg Schwenk and Irene Worth, and faculty members Bill Barnett, B. Roscine Feeley, J. Fabian Giroux, Dennis O’Hern and Donald Ulander.

Rogers, who founded BRC Imagination Arts and has been nominated for two Academy Awards, talked about learning from such mentors, especially Barnett, who was his water polo coach.

Rogers said he learned to “stand and deliver” from Barnett, whose tenure included 10 CIF championships in boys’ water polo and five coaching girls.

Barnett declined to speak at the ceremony, as if to let his 49 years of work do all the talking.

Rogers said the lessons he learned from Barnett and the fact that he could play water polo (he was on Newport Harbor’s first CIF championship team in 1967) helped him land a scholarship to Stanford University.

“I never would’ve gotten into Stanford with the grades Mr. O’Hern gave me,” Rogers joked about the longtime social-studies instructor.

“I learned how to be terrified to not be bad for Giroux’s class,” Rogers said of the late history teacher.

Rogers told of meeting his wife, Karen, formerly Jorgenson, at Newport Harbor. They have been married for 41 years.

Timmons won two Olympic gold medals and one silver in indoor volleyball. He thanked former Newport Harbor coach Charlie Brande for plucking him away from basketball.

Timmons drew laughter when he said he was surprised to be in the Hall of Fame when all he did was spike a ball over a net.

The Hall of Fame faculty members will be honored at the school’s graduation ceremony this year.

The Newport Harbor High School Alumni Assn. is mostly responsible for deciding the inductees for the Hall of Fame, a concept created by Principal Sean Boulton. A nomination slip for future honorees was inside each program at Wednesday’s event.

“[Boulton] started a program, and there’s no way we can stop it now,” said Greg Kelly, president of the alumni association.