Rio Mesa renames pool

Rio Mesa High's community pool is being renamed in honor of Ed Phillips, the former principal who died after suffering a heart attack during a school football game in 2004.

The Ed Phillips Rio Mesa Community Aquatics Center will be dedicated during a ceremony at 4 p.m. Mon., June 9 at the school, 545 Central Ave., Oxnard. The ceremony will be open to the public. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided.

The dedication will feature speakers, music and a slide show in the school gymnasium and the unveiling of a sign honoring Phillips in the pool area. Rio Mesa High's track coach and athletic director Brian Fitzgerald will serve as master of ceremonies.

Phillips, who came to Rio Mesa High in 1985 to teach math and coach football and basketball, was hired as the school's principal in 2000. He was instrumental in the five-year fundraising drive to have the $2.5million pool built. The facility opened in May 2004, six months before Phillips' death.

For more information, call Karen Gramacki at (805) 405-3702.