Acalanes Gym Officially Renamed at Chris Huber Memorial Tournament

By Asher Melkin and Gabriella Gruber, Copy Editor and Social Media Manager

During the annual Chris Huber Memorial Basketball Tournament on Dec. 10, the Acalanes Big Gym was officially renamed after and dedicated to former Acalanes physical education (PE) teacher, Chris Huber.

   “The dedication went really well. It was attended by quite a few people that probably wouldn’t have come to the tournament otherwise, alumni, teachers, administrators, family, all sorts of people,” Athletic Director and Mathematics Teacher Randall Takahashi said.

   Acalanes hosts the Chris Huber Memorial Basketball Tournament annually, and has done so since 2013. This year, the addition of an expanded guest list, a ceremony, and a reception marked the commemoration and renaming of the gym.

   “We invited his family, his friends, former players, and we did a ceremony in between games and had a reception in the small gym,” Associate Principal Andrea Powers said.

   Huber had worked at Acalanes for over four decades, amassing a positive reputation around campus that made him a core part of many students’ Acalanes experiences.

   “What stands out to me with Coach Huber is [that] he could walk anywhere on campus and people would yell his name,” Takahashi said.

   Huber passed away in early 2020, just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic after battling Parkinson’s disease. In order to honor his memory and his contributions to the Acalanes community, the Acalanes Union High School District (AUHSD) voted to rename the gym in Huber’s memory approximately a year ago.

   “First there had to be the approval from the staff … Mr. Schottland was the teacher who initially got the ball rolling, and once our staff all agreed, we had to present it to our board, which then had to approve it,” Powers said.

   The dedication of the gymnasium serves to commemorate Huber’s work at Acalanes and ensure his legacy carries on to future Acalanes students, and draws alumni from years past together through their memories of their experiences with Huber.

   “I remember [Superintendent Dr. John Nickerson] very clearly saying “Will people who see this remember Chris Huber ten years from now, fifteen years from now, twenty years from now?”” Takahashi said. “And I would say based on the people who came back from as far back as twenty years ago that yes, it will, because of who he was as an educator, as a coach, and just as a human being.”

   Though the current senior class only had him for one year, seniors express gratitude towards his work in the Acalanes community.

   “Although I only had him as a [teacher] my freshman year I thought he was a sweet man that obviously meant a great deal to the community,” senior Olivia Banks said.

   Huber was known for his signature positivity and willingness to help, from his work during school hours to his work helping coach after school throughout his tenure at Acalanes. 

   “He was loved, revered, thought so highly of and this really is befitting of him because of how everybody related with him and reacted to him,” Takahashi said.