John Close:
CLASS OF 1958
Joaquin Miller Elementary SchoolClass of 1958
Oakland, CA
Skyline High SchoolClass of 1964
Oakland, CA
Montera Junior High SchoolClass of 1961
Oakland, CA
John's Story
Like many of you, I've seen American Graffiti several times. Occasionally, I even show it to my high school classes. Much of it seems spot-on to me, except that it has kids of all types - jocks, popular/social types, honor students, gearheads, nerds, even The Pharoahs - playing around and enjoying one another's company. Would that high school really was that way.
Looking back, I see myself in the good student, gearhead and nerd categories. These groups, in my experience, were pretty mutually exclusive, so I had sets of friends, many of whom didn't know one another. Seems funny and a little sad. Since then, I've worked with and known a much more diverse group of people, some with vast sch...Expand for more
ool-learning, some with street-smarts, some lucky ones with both. I think that's a more accurate picture of life - more fun too.
A teacher I'd like to see again is Don Cherrington, the math teacher, an excellent instructor who also had a relaxed classroom; occasionally we could coax a war story out of him. Like my dad, Don had served in the naval aviation community. He had much to do with my decision to become a naval aviator, and also my eventual decision to become a math teacher.
Biggest hero? Ted Williams, of course. Sure, he had a temper, but, in addition to being one of the all-time best hitters, he was a marine pilot in two wars. He also took cr*p off of no-one. He didn't have to.
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