Wendy Payton:
CLASS OF 1969
Leuzinger High SchoolClass of 1969
Lawndale, CA
Bear River High SchoolClass of 2013
Grass valley, CA
Claremont High SchoolClass of 1991
Claremont, CA
University of CaliforniaClass of 1973
Santa cruz, CA
University of Southern CaliforniaClass of 1973
Los angeles, CA
Wendy's Story
Life
First off -- does anyone know how to upload a picture from iPhoto on a Mac running OSX? I've tried so many times -- no luck. Please email me and I'll get a picture right up!
Okay, so now you know I'm a Mac person -- love my iBook! -- and you should also know that I teach chemistry and advanced placement chemistry in high school -- I love chemistry! I got my degree in Chemistry and Biology from UC Santa Cruz, hoping to go to medical school. When that didn't work out I got my masters in counseling and worked in a rehabilitation hospital helping chronic back pain patients and spinal cord injury patients make decisions about going back to school and work. After ten years I was ready for a change, something that would get me back to my science love -- so I visited the local high school and they practically hired me on the spot. That was 1986, and I haven't looked back.
I married Scott in 1981; we lived in Whittier until 1991, when we moved up north to the Grass Valley/Nevada City area -- one hour north of Sacramento, one hour west of Lake Tahoe. We have two great kids: Annie and Andrew, born in 1989 and 1991. They attended the high school where I teach, so that was really fun. We live on five wooded acres with a creek, own a Kubota tractor and a Malibu boat, raised 4-H pigs to show at fair, and have a yellow lab... all the good stuff. I'm hoping to retire when I'm 60 -- that won't be too long -- and then we'll start a new chapter of our lives.
We enjoy houseboating as a family vacation, usually traveling north to Lake Trinity , where we water ski and wakeboard. Locally, our favorite lakes are Englebright and Bullards Bar. We try to get out on the boat at least once a week from about May through October, though we don't always make it. In the winter we ski and snowboard up at Tahoe, Sugar Bowl and Northstar primarily.
If you're coming up to this area -- and I highly recommend it! -- drop me a note and we'll try to get together. This is not only to my old high school friends, but all you fabulous chem students I've had over the years at Claremont and Bear River. Lov...Expand for more
e ya!
School
Kit Carson was my first school, 5th grade Mr. Young my favorite teacher. He opened my eyes to what I could do. At Roosevelt, Mrs. Edge, both 7th and 8th grade, of course was the best. Leuzinger had Mr. Saunders, the fabulous physics teacher, and Mrs. Bryson, the incredible Latin teacher; they really top my list. Discipline and expert problem-solving at their best. I enjoyed school, liked going every day, really.
College
UC Santa Cruz provided my most meaningful college experience. It is broken up into small colleges; I was part of the first year of Kresge College. We started out in the married student apartments, built a geodesic dome that held the food co-op and poetry classes, and had encounter groups every night to work out "issues". All that, and we had to take classes, too. It was a marvelous time. Sunbathing naked on the apartment roofs was a number one activity; going to my chem professor's home for tutoring in calculus a real bonus. Santa Cruz was the greatest. A beautiful town, lovely folks, fond memories.
Workplace
I teach chemistry and AP chemistry at Bear River High School in Grass Valley, Northern California. This is a rural school with 1100 students, the second high school in the community. (Nevada Union High is the bigger school, with 2800 students.) I am the only chem teacher, so its me or nothin'. We have a fabulous girls' basketball team and nationally recognized FFA team. I've been at this school since 1991, and I'm planning on staying here until I retire, sometime around 2012.
Before this I taught at Claremont High School in southern California (1986-1991), and there I co-coached the Academic Decathlon team. (Love to hear from any of you guys.)
Before I began teaching I was a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor in the Chronic Back Pain Management Program at Casa Colina Hospital for Rehabilitative Medicine in Pomona, CA. What a fabulous learning experience and supportive environment that was. Lots of great people there, many of whom are still close friends.
That's pretty much it, besides the many summers I waitressed at Dennys...
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