Stephen Drew:  

Life I graduated from Hilltop in 1965, which was the last year that the football team beat Chula Vista, I think. As a child of the Sputnik era, where we were all supposed to major in science and beat those Russians to the moon, I majored in chemistry at SDSU and graduated in 1970. Instead of research, I wound up at USIU and got my teaching credential in 1972. I spent 33 years teaching chemistry, physics, and math at San Marcos High School, repairing TV's, working with technical theater (lighting and sound), and filming (later videotaping) the football games for the coaching staff (I was transferred to Mission Hills High for the 2005 school year). In 1987 I married an English teacher, Sandy Robinson (a Vista High graduate). In 1999 Sandy's daughter from a previous marriage and her husband adopted their first child and I went directly to grandparenthood without the usual intervening fol-de-rol. We now have three grandchildren, and it's wonderful. In 2005 the school district offered us "old guys" an incentive to reitre and Sandy and I both "hit the silk." We now live in the Mission Hills area of San Diego in a 1922 Craftsman home that we remodeled and restored. We love the city life. We travel a lot and see our grandchildren regularly. Just started volunteering at the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. Doing everything from teaching science to serving on a buffet line at corporate events. Spent Christmas 2011 on "The Big Island" playing golf and visiting friends. Mele Kalikimaka! Took a month on the East Coast in October, 2012. Great trip. 2 days in NYC to make sure our luggage caught up with us, then ten days on the cruise ship, then back to NYC for five more days. Amtrak to Washington, DC for three nights and then Amtrak again to Boston for four more nights. Great Fall colors, ate Manhattan clam chowder in Manhattan, Maine lobster in Maine, and Boston clam "chowdah" in Boston. Just realized that I didn't post about our trip to New Zealand and Australia iin 2010. Spent nearly a month "Down Under." Played golf at the Pambula Merimbula Golf Club where the course was home to hundreds of kangaroos. Shanked a three-wood and hit one. No harm done. Ate kangaroo pizza in Sydney. Attended a concert at the Sydney Opera House. Now planning a big trip to Europe in June and July, 2013. More later. Retirement is fantastic! Report from Europe: Started in Paris for a week at a wonderful B and B in south of the city (in the 13th, for you Francophiles). Took several trips per day to the boulangerie and the fromagerie, visited all the major attractions, and took a day trip to Nornandy to pay our respects at the D-Day memorial (Kudos to Mr. Tom Rice, our Civics teacher) and the cemetery. Went to Giverny, the home of Claude Monet, and to Versailles Palace. Flew to Copenhagen for three days, then boarded a cruise ship for ten days in the Baltic. Visited St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Berlin, and the Neuengamme concentration camp, among other places...total of eight countries. Returned to Copenhagen and flew to Amsterdam for three days, and then flew home. Extraordinary experience, many new friends from all over. Chosen "Volunteer of the Year" at the Fleet Science Center. Why? I don't know, but I'm flattered. Sandy is taking her school accreditation skills to the Sandwich Islands for a month at a time, and I get to tag along. Honolulu and Hilo so far, but all the islands are involved. Aloha! Did a road trip to the western national parks last year, and then this year flew to Chicago for a week, doing all the tourist stuff there. Came home for six days and took off...Expand for more