Cal High’s teachers are a huge part of the community and their experiences have shaped the school’s history over the past 50 years.
Steve Armstrong is among those teachers, having taught at Cal over five decades from1979 to 2014. He first covered for a biology class in 1976 before being hired full time at Monte Vista. Armstrong transferred to Cal in 1979 to teach many of the biology and technology related courses, including the drafting, desktop publishing and gaming classes, which are no longer offered.
Armstrong was also hired to be the head coach for cross country and track and field. Back then, Bishop Ranch and the hills of Bollinger Canyon didn’t have homes or buildings populating them, so cross country meets used to take place through the hills and fields.
Armstrong said when he started at Cal the school had just 900 students. The campus also had a unique circular design with a library on the second floor of the main classroom building.
Four pods on the outside contained classrooms. Each pod led into the center library, which was open in the middle so students could peer down on the science classes below.
Armstrong recalled students disrupting science classes by dropping things from the library.
“[Cal’s layout] created some interesting memories of students throwing items down on the labs but at the same time fumes from the science building spread throughout the school,” Armstrong said.
Bill Pence became aware of an open job for a science teacher position from a colleague he worked with and took the position in 1976 because Cal was newer and more affluent. He taught biology, marine biology and oceanography until he retired in 2009.
In 1986, Pence became Cal’s first AP Biology teacher and taught AP biology for 17 years alongside biology and marine biology. For three years he also taught a year long course called biological research, which taught students to complete lab-based biological studies.
When Pence started at Cal, he thought the school would end up looking very different in the next 50 years than it does today.
“Fifty years from [1976] I’d like to believe CHS, with its active affluent community involvement, would be up to date with the technology current at that time and perhaps would also be an education center for adults and for individuals seeking online classes for college education,” Pence said.
Pence went on to win California State Teacher of the Year in 1999 and was nominated for National Teacher of the Year. He earned the recognition through his dedication to his students and their scientific research.
In 1994, Pence and two of his students, Li Ho and Yu-Fong Hong, appeared on the Today Show for their work in cancer research.
Pence was a part of the Earth Club and worked with them to beautify Cal’s campus. He also took students on a three day field trip to the Catalina Island’s Marine Institute. Later that year, he met then President Bill Clinton.
Another longtime teacher, Steve Dick was the auto shop teacher back when Cal had an auto shop. D started in 1975 when a former vice principal stopped by his family’s automotive repair shop for a repair and offered him the job.
Dick said it was difficult to get funding for auto shop, but unlike most other sate high schools, a majority of Cal’s faculty supported the idea. Ernie Berger, the school’s first principal, also endorsed the classes because of his love for motorcycles.
“Our [principal] Ernie Berger was [an] enduro motorcycle rider,” Dick said. “He [rode] the Mexico Baja 500 a few times so obviously he backed the shops and understood the importance.”
But his first year at Cal started badly when the auto shop class was burglarized before the first day of school.
“I did not have any idea what I was getting into,” Dick said. “The next day somebody broke into the shop and cleaned us out of every tool we had. Little bit of a rough start teaching auto with no tools.”
Even though the auto shop was often viewed as a class for troubled kids, Dick refused to accept that reputation.
He firmly believed that what students learned in the auto shop would be more useful than any math formula or grammar rule because other subjects were generally useless unless a student specialized in it. Dick said what students learn in the auto shop can be applied throughout their lives, whether they work in that field or not.
Briefly, the hope for adults to be able to take classes at Cal too became reality when mechanics from local dealerships would attend a smog, brake and headlamp training class that Cal offered.
“Mechanics getting their certifications was a quick way to get a job and make a good living,” Dick said.
During Dick’s time at Cal, the district had an influx of Vietnamese students. In Dick’s auto shop class, many white students held prejudices against them to a point where physical confrontations almost started, which he had to learn how to deal with as a teacher.
“[It took] major adjustments for myself as well as the students to try and understand other cultural life styles.” Dick said
Now 50 years later, the school’s campus is much different, but Cal is still Cal. In another 50 years, perhaps current teachers’ experiences now will end up in a news article too.
