~ June Issue ~
 

Mr. Westover
 

At the end of this school year, the seniors are not going to be the only ones embarking onto the next segment of their lives, as Mr. Westover comments, “I am retiring in a sense from my job here, but it feels more like I am graduating with the rest of the seniors, onto a new stage of my life…it is very exciting.” Although his career as a teacher has come to an end after twenty years, he considers his retirement to be just another stepping stone, and an allowance to pursue other hobbies and interests with more time.

            Mr. Westover was born in Torrance and has grown up in Southern California all his life. He attended Aviation High School in Manhattan Beach, but it was not until after high school that he first became interested in the arts and becoming a teacher. In fact, he found high school rather tedious and was happy to get out when he graduated in 1967, a year when the Vietnam War was in full session. This motivated Mr. Westover to go to college and take the required classes. One of them happened to be art appreciation, and a spark was lit. “I loved the art appreciation class, and began taking more of those types of classes because they interested me. I finally felt a connection with my teachers that I did not share in high school. Teachers who were friendly, able, interested, and masters at what they were teaching… art teachers who were actually accomplished artists.” He first attended El Camino College before he transferred to Brigham Young University where he got his masters in graphic design.

            His experience in college inspired him to send a few letters out about teaching and in 1987 he was hired to teach at Arena, before he was eventually moved down the street to ESHS where he has remained until this year. “I love my students and I love art, so it is a great combination.” The most sustaining part of his job is the genuine friendships he has developed with some of his students, and the satisfaction he feels when his students go on to bigger and greater things in the field of art, some winning exhibitions.

            After his retirement, Mr. Westover plans on staying involved in art like he has always been doing because it is his passion. “Teaching was good for me because it was creatively fulfilling, and I think I am an idea-rich person so I will jump back into doing my own thing.” During his years of teaching, he had professional projects on the side, so he will not necessarily be starting anything new but continuing where he left off. He wishes to go back to exhibiting his work, and devoting more time to his family. ****hobbies and what he will miss the most about teaching******

            For his last piece of advice to his students, Mr. Westover says, “Embrace life and seize the day, ‘carpe diem.’ Don’t hesitate, don’t stand back, and ‘play hard.’ Take the plunge because life is so rewarding. That makes me different from the seniors who are leaving the high school, because I know what the world has to offer. I don’t have a fear of life; I anticipate it with optimism because there is so much good out there. I only envy the youth because they have more years to participate in. The scary thing is when they don’t use them. Find yourself and enjoy it. Embrace life.”

            Even though Mr. Westover may think that his life was “unplanned” and a “series of corrections,” then it was to El Segundo’s High School’s benefit that fate brought Mr. Westover here. Good luck Mr. Westover on your next stage of life, you will be missed but not forgotten!