Estancia gala will celebrate school’s five decades

A gala Saturday night will celebrate Estancia High School’s 50-year anniversary.

Hosted by the Estancia and Tewinkle School Foundation, the event will run from 6 to 11 p.m. at the Costa Mesa Hilton. It will include dinner, auctions and live music. Tickets are $95 per person.

A 1983 graduate of Estancia, Jennifer Knapp, credited the school for fostering a sense of community among Costa Mesa parents and children.

“It’s kind of like a village,” said Knapp, 49, president of the school foundation. “We know who each other’s kids are.”

She said her two boys graduated from Estancia and went on to attend UC Irvine and UCLA on golf scholarships.

“You feel like you’re not alone in getting your kids through high school,” she added.

She said Estancia’s small size — it has nearly 1,200 students — fostered close relationships and learning.

“You can’t get lost at Estancia,” Knapp said.

Over the decades, the school has produced notable graduates, including Wing Lam, co-founder of Wahoo’s Fish Tacos; Joe Drake, executive producer of the “Hunger Games;” and John Ursini, a co-owner of Newport & Naples Rib Company.

Ursini, from the class of ‘82, said he and his friends were known as the Rowdy Rooters.

“We used to root for all, for every team and every sport, because everyone who played was your friend,” he recalled. “We used to do crazy pranks and come out of boxes and were literally a part of the show. It was some of the funnest and most memorable moments of my life.”