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The World Needs Leaders
You Need Purpose
Our Community
Alumni
Live Oak students are lifelong learners who love nothing more than a challenge. With their education as foundation, they pursue passions in a breadth of disciplines.
Live Oak graduates are able to take on the responsibility of helping create a just society. They become leaders with the capacity to meet the challenges and opportunities of their generation.
Live Oak graduates are able to take on the responsibility of helping create a just society. They become leaders with the capacity to meet the challenges and opportunities of their generation.
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Alumni Changemaker Award
The Live Oak Alumni Changemaker Award is given yearly to an alum who models empathy and responsibility, demonstrates the capacity to create change in the community, and inspires action in others. In 2022, we honored our first Young Alumni Changemaker–a junior or senior in high school–recognizing that Live Oak students do not wait to make an impact in their communities. Most recently, we honored three Young Alumni Changemakers from the Class of 2020: Jordan McCornock, Liv Kirkeby, and Sebastian Horton-Vega.
2023 Alumni Changemaker
Brendan O’Callaghan ‘02 is the 2023 Alumni Changemaker Award for his outstanding work in public affairs and politics. Currently, Brendan is the Vice President for Marketing, Communications, and External Affairs at Calbright College, California's first and only fully online community college.
With a focus on competency-based workforce training programs for adult learners, Calbright aims to build a more equitable economy for underserved communities across the state. “Higher education struggles to support working-age adults, especially those from already underserved communities. The challenge of building a new kind of public community college from the ground up, to support Californians is exciting,” shares Brendan of this role and Calbright’s mission.
Brendan's passion for public affairs and politics has always been driven by his dedication to social justice and community development. He is a tireless advocate for historically marginalized communities and has used his platform to raise awareness about issues such as income inequality, access to healthcare, and systemic racism. His work has inspired others to take action and build a more just and equitable society.
2024 Young Alumni Changemakers
Sebastian Horton-Vega '20
As the co-founder of the program DiveIn, Stuart Hall High School senior Sebastian Horton-Vega gives swim lessons to kids at Rosa Parks Elementary School. Their mission is to provide kids from low income families the opportunity to learn water safety for free. After becoming a nationally certified lifeguard, Sebastian recruited members of the Stuart Hall swim team as well as other passionate swimmers to join DiveIn, increasing the program’s capacity to give equitable access to life-saving skills. As an athlete and an advocate, Sebastian went on to organize a Spikeball tournament to fundraise for Maui as they recuperate after the wildfires.
Growth, curiosity, and creativity were the three biggest things Live Oak prepared me with to be a changemaker. Throughout my time there, I was always supported to be myself and was never discouraged from trying out new things.
Liv Kirkeby '20
Leader of the Book Society at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, senior Liv Kirkeby, leveraged her role to get her community excited about reading. She coordinated fundraisers for the World Literacy Foundation and collaborated with another school club, Advocacy in Action, to organize a book drive to supply books for another high school’s library that was in need of more resources. Liv was able to incentivize involvement in these fundraisers by turning them into fun club activities. Her role as the Book Society president included coordinating with Sacred Heart’s English department to establish and promote a summer reading project. Moving forward, Liv would like to research how to assist communities most affected by climate change. Her goal is to help the environment by finding more lifestyle changes that are affordable and accessible to all regardless of income, location, or background.
Live Oak prepared me to be a changemaker through their emphasis on social justice. My classes always had a focus on real-world application and the importance of using my knowledge to benefit others, not just to get a good grade.
Jordan McCornock '20
Through a class at Urban High School, senior Jordan McCornock had the opportunity to visit California Medical Facility, a medium-security prison in Vacaville, California. She spent two full days facilitating conversations with inmates. Through the connections she made, she was able to write to the parole board on behalf of an inmate who was later released in June 2023. Embracing the power of writing to affect change, Jordan went on to volunteer with The Beat Within, a publication written by incarcerated youth. Jordan is currently the Editor in Chief, Creative of the Urban High School newspaper and is a part of the Program Innovation Committee pioneering a new course on digital citizenship. In college, she hopes to further study government and law.
Live Oak prepared me to open myself up to new experiences and be OK with the uncomfortable. Live Oak encourages students to step outside of their comfort zones and go out into their communities to make change.
Meet All of Our Alumni Changemakers
Keep in Touch!
While our alumni may no longer walk the halls of Live Oak (although some still do!), that doesn’t mean that we want to say goodbye. We pride ourselves on creating meaningful connections with our students, and these aren’t relationships that end with graduation.
We are strengthened by alumni participation in life at Live Oak. We love to know what you are up to, celebrate your successes, and offer support to reach your goals. Every year, we host class reunions to reconnect you to the community as you prepare for life after high school. We encourage all of our alumni to come back to visit or volunteer at Live Oak. As our alumni community grows and becomes increasingly active, we look forward to hosting regional gatherings and relying on alumni leadership to create additional opportunities for engagement.
The Advancement Office has created a group on LinkedIn (Live Oak School); we encourage all Live Oak alumni, faculty, and parents to take part. LinkedIn is a great way for you to connect and reconnect with fellow classmates and teachers, while expanding your professional network.
Additionally, if you are looking to stay up-to-date on the weekly goings on at Live Oak please follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, photos, and videos.
You can also help us keep up with you by filling out this News and Contact Information Form.
Whether you connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, or by stopping by our Mariposa campus, we look forward to hearing what you have been up to!
Live Oak School welcomes and admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, citizenship status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and faith to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities of Live Oak School. Live Oak School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin, citizenship status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and faith in administration of its educational policies and programs, admissions policies, Adjusted Tuition program, and athletic and other school-administered programs.