Twentieth Television's John MacDonald (right) was Verdugo's Principal for a Day. He is shown here on Keltner Glen with an unidentified individual who later turned out to be regular principal Gary Turner, sans whiskers and mustache!

MacDonald Named Principal
... For A Day

Friday, April 30, 1999 — Entertainment executive John MacDonald traded his walnut-paneled offices in Beverly Hills for the ivory halls of Tujunga during his tour of duty as Verdugo's Principal for a Day.

On any other day, MacDonald is the Senior Vice President for Program Enterprises and Cable Sales at the Twentieth Television unit of Fox Television. But, today, he joined 200 other entertainment industry executives, business leaders and community figures to see first-hand what education was all about.

MacDonald joined Verdugo's principal, Dr. Gary Turner, as the latter went through his daily routine. They visited classrooms, visited with faculty and students, and even supervised the lunch area during nutrition and lunch breaks.

"He was really a nice guy," said one student of the "new" principal. "I really enjoyed talking with him."

"He was really young!" marveled another student who had decided to look into a career in the entertainment industry after chatting with MacDonald.

MacDonald and the other volunteers were part of an annual partnership exchange sponsored by the Los Angeles Unified School District's Adopt-a-School program.

Participants who served as principals at other district schools included actors Pauly Shore and French Stewart, District Attorney Gil Garcetti, Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Glendale), as well as executives from a variety of local organizations including MTV, Dreamworks SKG, Salomon Smith Barney, and GTE.

For his part, MacDonald said he had a great time being at Verdugo and especially enjoyed having the opportunity to meet and talk with students.

As he walked to his car parked in the teachers' lot, dressed in a sport shirt and carrying his briefcase, John MacDonald looked right at home as part of the Verdugo Hills High School family. Come back any time, Principal MacDonald!