Mom’s First Helix Student Was in 1970s; Last Will Exit in 2014

Susan Taylor is nearing her last leg as a Helix mom. The four-decade streak began with stepson Bill Barr in the ’70s, continued in the ’90s with daughter Larisa Taylor-Barr and will end with her two sons Jordan, 17, and Jonathon, almost 15, whom she later adopted as a single mom.

Barr graduated in 1977; Jonathon is in the Helix class of 2014.

But that won’t be the last Helix Charter High School will see of her. The UCCE master gardener plans to help out with the much anticipated school and community garden.

“I’ll be happy when all my kids graduate from Helix, but I’ll still be involved,” said Taylor, 60, who has dozens of fruit trees planted on her own property near Highwood Park and serves as a gardening consultant for about 15 low-income elementary and preschools throughout the county.

Taylor has been active in the community and abroad since the early ’80s when she worked for then San Diego Councilwoman Lucy Killea.

For 20 years, Taylor was the governmental and community relations honcho at UC San Diego and Scripps Institute, a job she loved because she was “always studying things.”

She retired in 2005 when she was told her breast cancer had returned and metastasized. Ever positive, she takes a daily pill and says she doesn’t fret about her situation.

“I’m not stupid, but as you can tell I’m not an anxious person,” she said. “I just don’t have time to worry about it.”