10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 23-29, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com A little over 25 years ago, Monterey County Superior Court Judge John Phillips was told his idea for a school for young probationers wouldn’t work—a feasibility study said so. Phillips wouldn’t listen. After sending too many young teens caught up in gangs to prison time, he thought there had to be a better way. “Admittedly, I became kind of obsessive about it, especially when they tell you you can’t do something. But probably that was the best thing,” Phillips says, sitting in the lobby of the Ted Taylor Ag Vocational Center, a tall, red barn-style building that serves as the school’s training hub. It sits on the sprawling 100-acre campus east of Salinas at the base of the Gabilan Range foothills. Since retiring from the bench, Phillips spent much of his time supporting the nonprofit. The school launched on Oct. 25, 2000, with two classrooms built by volunteers and is now a multi-building campus focused on preparing young people up to age 24 for careers and a successful life. The budget has grown from $75,000 a year to $7.5 million, and from two permanent staff to 56. Offerings include the Drummond Culinary Academy; Construction and Sustainable Design Academy; Ag Technology and Mechanics; Auto and Diesel Repair; Welding and Fabrication; and the newest addition, Classic Car Restoration. There’s also the Silver Star Youth Program, run in partnership with the Monterey County Probation Department and Children’s Behavioral Health, and John Muir Charter Schools, for youth ages 14-18, as well as a job readiness program for teens and an after-school program. With mentoring, case management and counseling added to the mix, Rancho Cielo has helped thousands of students—over 2,250 students were served in 2024-2025 alone—proving the doubters wrong. On Saturday, Oct. 25, the school is throwing a sold-out anniversary party, honoring the legacy of Phillips, as well as toasting to the next 25 years and beyond. In the late 1990s Phillips had his eye on a piece of County of Monterey property once the home of Natividad Boys’ Ranch, a juvenile incarceration facility closed in 1982. By 2000 the buildings had deteriorated and there was no water or sewer system. Phillips and other community leaders came together, along with donors and an army of volunteers working weekends for six months to develop the property, which was leased from the county for $1 per year. Teens on probation, so-called “bad kids,” were assigned to work on the project as part of their probation. As Phillips and his team worked sideby-side with the teens, they came to recognize that they weren’t bad at all. “They were just kids that had been raised in a community that was controlled by the gangs,” Phillips says. “These kids had come to believe that they’d never graduate from high school, they would never get a job, they were just destined to gang bang and they actually thought they would end up in prison,” he says. Rancho Cielo opened their eyes to new possibilities. “It always amazed me—these kids could get turned around so quickly, if you could get them in a positive environment with positive people.” Rancho Cielo started as a school for youth who were offered entrance to the school over jail or prison. It’s since opened up to other community youth in need of an opportunity. Alumna Lorie Sanchez had always wanted to go to culinary school, but there was no way to afford it after she graduated from Alisal High School in Salinas in 2013. The Drummond Culinary Academy gave her the opportunity she needed. Grateful for the free education, Sanchez took advantage of every opportunity, working all the events and Friday night dinners she could. That enthusiasm and determination led Sanchez to receive a $25,000 scholarship to the prestigious Auguste Excoffier School of Culinary Arts in Colorado after she graduated from Rancho. It opened up a new world, including a trip to France and a job at an Idaho resort as a pastry chef. Sanchez now works as a server at the Flying Artichoke in Castroville and The Brass Tap in Marina. She makes her own cakes, cookies and pastries for a growing social media account and special events. Although she left Rancho years ago, whenever she needs help, she can call her former counselors and teachers for advice. “They always give me hope,” Sanchez says. Over the years, the school has continued to add subjects that fit the needs of the local economy, like the culinary academy that feeds into local restaurants and hotels. For Monterey County, home to world-renowned Car Week, the newest subject is preparing the next generation of skilled auto restoration experts. On a recent morning in the Classic Car Restoration program’s makeshift auto shop, students Eddie Chambers and Manny Rojas are piecing together a puzzle, a deconstructed 1929 Ford Model A. Instructor Marcus Evans, a retired auto shop teacher who worked at Seaside High for over 30 years, lets the two students struggle a bit as they figure out how to attach an engine pan splash guard. With coaxing from Evans and a little jiggering, they figure it out. The program’s goal is to show a restored car at Concours d’ Elegance in Pebble Beach within three years, but along the way students like Chambers and Rojas are learning problem solving, how to work with others and how to work on a deadline, among other skills that will serve them in future careers. Soon, the makeshift garage under a large canopy supported by two shipping containers will be replaced by a large, permanent building, yet another expansion of the growing campus. To take Rancho Cielo into the next 25 years, the board of directors has been working on a strategic plan with the objective of seeing 100 percent of graduates achieve a fulfilling career five years after graduation from Rancho, CEO Chris Devers says: “We don’t want to leave anyone behind.” On Oct. 25 they are relaunching an endowment fund named after Phillips, the John Phillips Legacy Circle. Phillips believes Rancho Cielo has done more than just help set youth on a successful life path: It’s brought the community together in a common goal. “It’s been a good run,” he says. Silver Lining Rancho Cielo was an idea that wasn’t supposed to fly. Today, the school is soaring. By Pam Marino NEWS Above: Eddie Chambers (left) helps Manny Rojas with attaching an engine pan splash guard to a 1929 Ford Model A. They’re part of a new Classic Car Restoration program at Rancho Cielo. Below: Founder John Phillips in front of the Taylor Ag Vocational Center. “It amazed me—these kids could get turned around so quickly.” NIK BLASKOVICH
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