Leaving a Legacy: Alumni Awards Recognize Four LJCDS Alumni

Four notable alumni were honored at the annual Alumni Award Ceremony in August, cementing their place in La Jolla Country Day School’s legacy of excellence, service to the community, and contributions to the greater good.

Over 100 alumni, staff, and guests gathered in the Community Hall Courtyard to commemorate contributions made by this year’s selected honorees. 

Regularly recognizing and celebrating LJCDS alumni successes represents “a manifestation of the Country Day mission and values,” according to Head of School Dr. Jeff Terwin's opening remarks. 

“[Alumni] fulfill a realization of the hopes and dreams of our teachers. And they provide real examples of how this special community inspires individuals to help build a better world,” he said.

Katelyn Sigeti ’06 runs the alumni program, managing all events and resources related to the alumni community. Her team implemented this annual Alumni Awards event just two years ago.

“We really want to recognize our alumni who are making a difference,” Sigeti said. “The awards ceremony is a key way to do that, to come together as a community and celebrate these individuals.” 

Guillermo Olortegui ’10 currently serves as the President of the Alumni Council, a group of 25 alumni spanning graduating classes from the 60s and 70s to as recent as 2021. Olortegui says that the value of events like the awards ceremony lies in highlighting diverse examples of success. 

“We get to highlight a breadth of success in various industries, and in time given to the school,” he said. “Current students get to see an example of what their future might look like. And for staff, they get to see what came of the time they invested in their students.” 

As the kickoff event for LJCDS’s annual Alumni Weekend, the award ceremony recognized four community members who have distinguished themselves through professional achievement, service to the school, or contributions to the greater community.

Faculty, staff, and alumni were invited to nominate individuals they thought personified the qualities of the three award categories: Distinguished Alum, Outstanding Alum, and Distinguished Young Alum. 

The Distinguished Alum Award is presented annually and recognizes an alum who has demonstrated a personal commitment to advancing the school’s mission through service and/or contributions to the school.

The Outstanding Alum Award is presented in recognition of a La Jolla Country Day School graduate who has excelled in their professional field or made significant contributions to society.

The Distinguished Young Alum Award is presented annually to a recent graduate for their exceptional service and dedication to La Jolla Country Day School.

The Honorary Alum Award is presented to a longstanding member of the LJCDS community who is not a graduate of the school. The award recognizes length of service, exceptional contributions to LJCDS, and advocacy of its mission and values. The award is given out only in years when the school and the LJCDS Alumni Council determine a worthy candidate.

From there, the Alumni Council’s Nominations and Awards Committee convened to discuss and select this year’s honorees. 

This year’s Distinguished Alum Award was presented to Bruce Fayman ’77, an LJCDS lifer, retired beloved longtime faculty member, parent of lifer alumni Fritz Fayman ’15, Flynn Fayman ’17, and Faith Fayman ’19, current member of the LJCDS Alumni Council, and lifelong supporter of LJCDS.

The Outstanding Alum Award was given to Cindy Cohen Marten ’84, a leader in education, including roles as teacher, vice principal, principal, superintendent of San Diego Unified School District and current Deputy Secretary of Education in the United States Department of Education.

The Distinguished Young Alum was presented to Ian Han ’10, a Senior Mobile Developer, Senior Product Designer at Iron Forge Development, passionate alumni volunteer, and advocate for LJCDS.

This year, the Honorary Alum Award was presented to Lee Sawyer, the LJCDS Grounds Manager for 41 years, and beloved friend, supporter and colleague of multitudes of Torreys.

Sigeti says the event has become a symbolic intersection between past and present. 

“A lot of retired faculty and staff come back to see their former students be honored, which is really special,” Sigeti said. 

In many of the remarks made by this year’s honorees, special thanks were extended to LJCDS teachers and staff who greatly impacted their lives. According to Sigeti, this is one of the major factors that makes the experience at LJCDS unique. 

“I can speak from an alum perspective that these are the people who really shaped my life, and I think this is not an exception, but it's more the rule here,” Sigeti said. “If you’re an alum, you remain so connected to the former teachers here who become lifelong mentors and set you on a path for your future.” 

Olortegui echoed that sentiment, emphasizing the focus on the whole student at LJCDS. 

“There's a real effort to help students in a holistic way,” he said. “There is a strong focus on behalf of the school and the administration to help students engage in whatever pursuits they might be interested in, but then also try to help them be better people. 

So, while the academics are important, there’s a holistic, big picture approach to helping mold future generations.”

Sigeti says it’s this investment in the whole student, beyond academics, that keeps so many alumni engaged and involved in LJCDS. 

“I think something like that is so unique,” she said. “It leaves you with this sense that this is where my foundation is. This is where my roots are.”