OBSERVER STAFF REPORT

Donnie Machen arrived to her retirement party in style. A limousine dropped her off for the festivities. Photo © Observer Staff.

She was a Jet centerfold while in college and more than 50 years later, Donzella “Donnie” Machen is still turning heads.

Machen was recently the guest of honor at a party celebrating her dedication to education that has spanned a half-century. The retirement celebration was held at the Lakeside Recreation Center in Elk Grove.

Friends and family members attended the party, sharing the moment with her and sharing their favorite reflections of Ms. Machen and their interaction over the years. Among those telling tales was Dr. David Covin, the event’s emcee. Covin, professor emeritus at Sacramento State University, met Machen in 1971 when she organized the Black Staff and Faculty Association at the university. The two have been friends and colleagues for 39 years.

Covin described Machen as “one of a kind.”

“Donnie is the most highly motivated, focused, determined person I know,” he said.

Machen is a graduate of California State University at Los Angeles, having earned a degree in General Education. She also earned a masters degree in early childhood education from Sacramento State. She turned those degrees into career as an elementary school teacher, working throughout the state for 25 years. She taught for an additional 26 years at Sacramento State, supervising student teachers in Urban Teacher Education and bilingual multicultural, multiple subject programs. She has supervised student teachers in 13 separate school districts in the Sacramento area, including ones as far as Eureka, Lincoln, Woodland and Marysville.

Machen has also acted as a NAACP campus liaison on multicultural education and social concerns. In her “spare time” she developed Black History curriculum, organized student contests and parades, worked with the French and Drama Clubs at Encina High School, volunteered as a math assistant, trained teacher’s aides, and tutored Russian, Vietnamese and Spanish-speaking students and parents afterschool.

The recent party was highlighted by the presentation of several awards in recognition of Machen. One such award came from Congresswoman Diane E. Watson.