Paul Andersen
After 40 years in various wonderful positions in public education, I am now retired and enjoying it with my family and friends. My latest effort has been the Varsity Golf Team reunion. I have personally spoken to five so far, which isn't too bad. We did pull this off in Monterrey Bay and shared our interesting life stories . I could tell the guys sharpened up their games for this one!
After leaving Cleveland, I went to UC Davis for four years and majored in Math. I played on the golf team and was a member of the all-male Marching Band despite not playing an instrument. Davis was tough and I had to study a lot to keep up my grades. The college had a lot of spirit despite being stuck out in nowhere. My, how it has grown since then. After graduating I returned to Northridge and began a career in teaching at McClay Junior High School in 1969 in Pacoima. While not knowing it then, I met my future wife, Joanie. there as she was an English teacher. I only taught one year and returned as a graduate teacher. I only taught one year and returned to graduate school at the old family school, Oklahoma University. I majored in Economics and was offered a scholarship to pursue a PhD but I passed as I wanted to work in the corporate world. Nothing opened up.
While playing golf with a Superintendent, I was given the names of good paying Districts in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. I was hired in Taos, NM in 1971 to teach Math again. Learning to ski became my second love to golf (two sports you can do most of your life). Taos was fun but a closed community and I knew I wouldn't be happy there for the long haul. So I gave up my quaint little adobe apartment to return to Northridge where I luckily picked up a job at Patrick Henry JHS after a family friend told me of an opening. In the interview, I promised I could do it all...I got the job and found that Gail Goodin was on the staff too. I remember her as fellow Cleveland classmate. She was great! I was at Henry for ten years or so teaching Math, working in the office and gaining experience to become an administrator. I also starting going to UCLA at night, working on my Doctorate. Joanie had returned to Boston and then relocated to Key Biscayne, FL. We kept in touch with holiday cards. Didn't really keep in touch with high school friends, as they all seemed to have moved away to parts unknown. We didn't have the Internet then.
In the late 70's, tax revenues were drying up and the school district was laying off teachers. I got reassigned to East Los Angeles. Hated the drive but I had been in system long enough that I qualified to take a sabbatical. I used the time to finish my dissertation studies and pass my orals. After eight years, I finally had my Ed.D. I returned to teaching hoping an administrative position would open up in LAUSD. That never happened, so I left and went to Riverside where I was the Dean of Students at Ramona HS for two years. The school had a reputation of being a "jock" school and the Principal told me to get the kids competing in academic competitions like Academic Decathlon, Mock Trial and College Bowl. I coached all the teams and helped guide Ramona to several county championships. We even went to the National Finals in College Bowl. My talent must have been recognized and I was asked to be the Principal at Riverside Poly High School, home to the Miller basketball phenoms, CIF Football champs, etc. It was a tough job and very time consuming. Luckily, I had Joanie by my side. After 14 years apart, she had come to see the Olympics in '84 at my invitation. Love blossomed and we married in '85. I decided after three years at Poly to take a new path and pursue what I had specialized in at UCLA, facilities planning. Life got much better then! Going to the beach and short day trips around Southern California became a regular thing. The world of school facilities planning really allowed me to use all my past academic degrees to plan and design schools in the growing areas of Riverside. I ended up building three elementary schools, one middle and one high school (MLK). My family life was wonderful too. as we traveled to West Palm Beach regularly to see Joanie's parents and have a great time at the beach resort we always stayed at. In 1990, a little bundle arrived and we became a threesome. Scott Richard was a special "little guy" kid and we took tons of pictures to remember it all. I continued to work in Riverside and reside in the Anaheim Hills/Yorba Linda area. Joanie became a full time mom and maintained a wonderful home life for the three of us. I was given more responsibility and elevated to Director of Facilities where I supervised maintenance of the older schools as well. I left Riverside in 2000 when I was hired as the Assistant Superintendent in the Chino Valley USD. There I helped pass a local bond, which led to the construction of six schools and modernization of several. However, when you are in the Cabinet, the nasty world of politics always gets involved. Our school district in the six years I was there had four Superintendents and lots of controversy on the School Board. After all that, the fit wasn't there anymore and I left in 2006 to return the Riverside County Office of Education to be the Director of School Planning for the county. It was a wonderful time building schools for students who didn't fit in the mainstream. I retired in 2009.
In 2012, I organized another reunion of the Cleveland Varsity Golf Team. We got together for a few days of golf in Mesquite, NV. Attending were Roger Buckles, Jack Gay,, Larry Wolf, Greg Boylan and myself. We had a wonderful time and are now planning our next reunion in Florida. Scott and I are doing fine. He's finished at Fullerton College now... We have traveled to Scotland for skiing, Alaska and the Caribbean....But, we really miss Joanie, who passed in 2008. She was the light of our life. I didn't leave the state this year but did travel on the train to Santa Barbara for Fiesta Days. Great Fun! I traveled to Texas in October 2013 (So I guess I did leave CA!!) to see the Texas-Oklahoma football game in Dallas. Go Sooners. Scott is working full time for Firestone in an auto tech position. He has a girlfriend, Holly. She is a Sophmore at Santiago Canyon College working towards a teaching credential eventually at Cal State Fullerton. I am working part time again doing marketing work for an architectural firm which does school designs (had too much spare time on my hands). Just published my first school facilities article for them. Wow, Google has me listed! Shot a one over 73 in the Long Beach City Seniors tournament. Finished 4th in my age flight. Best round in years!! Looking forward to the Fairs this summer and concerts galore.
After leaving Cleveland, I went to UC Davis for four years and majored in Math. I played on the golf team and was a member of the all-male Marching Band despite not playing an instrument. Davis was tough and I had to study a lot to keep up my grades. The college had a lot of spirit despite being stuck out in nowhere. My, how it has grown since then. After graduating I returned to Northridge and began a career in teaching at McClay Junior High School in 1969 in Pacoima. While not knowing it then, I met my future wife, Joanie. there as she was an English teacher. I only taught one year and returned as a graduate teacher. I only taught one year and returned to graduate school at the old family school, Oklahoma University. I majored in Economics and was offered a scholarship to pursue a PhD but I passed as I wanted to work in the corporate world. Nothing opened up.
While playing golf with a Superintendent, I was given the names of good paying Districts in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. I was hired in Taos, NM in 1971 to teach Math again. Learning to ski became my second love to golf (two sports you can do most of your life). Taos was fun but a closed community and I knew I wouldn't be happy there for the long haul. So I gave up my quaint little adobe apartment to return to Northridge where I luckily picked up a job at Patrick Henry JHS after a family friend told me of an opening. In the interview, I promised I could do it all...I got the job and found that Gail Goodin was on the staff too. I remember her as fellow Cleveland classmate. She was great! I was at Henry for ten years or so teaching Math, working in the office and gaining experience to become an administrator. I also starting going to UCLA at night, working on my Doctorate. Joanie had returned to Boston and then relocated to Key Biscayne, FL. We kept in touch with holiday cards. Didn't really keep in touch with high school friends, as they all seemed to have moved away to parts unknown. We didn't have the Internet then.
In the late 70's, tax revenues were drying up and the school district was laying off teachers. I got reassigned to East Los Angeles. Hated the drive but I had been in system long enough that I qualified to take a sabbatical. I used the time to finish my dissertation studies and pass my orals. After eight years, I finally had my Ed.D. I returned to teaching hoping an administrative position would open up in LAUSD. That never happened, so I left and went to Riverside where I was the Dean of Students at Ramona HS for two years. The school had a reputation of being a "jock" school and the Principal told me to get the kids competing in academic competitions like Academic Decathlon, Mock Trial and College Bowl. I coached all the teams and helped guide Ramona to several county championships. We even went to the National Finals in College Bowl. My talent must have been recognized and I was asked to be the Principal at Riverside Poly High School, home to the Miller basketball phenoms, CIF Football champs, etc. It was a tough job and very time consuming. Luckily, I had Joanie by my side. After 14 years apart, she had come to see the Olympics in '84 at my invitation. Love blossomed and we married in '85. I decided after three years at Poly to take a new path and pursue what I had specialized in at UCLA, facilities planning. Life got much better then! Going to the beach and short day trips around Southern California became a regular thing. The world of school facilities planning really allowed me to use all my past academic degrees to plan and design schools in the growing areas of Riverside. I ended up building three elementary schools, one middle and one high school (MLK). My family life was wonderful too. as we traveled to West Palm Beach regularly to see Joanie's parents and have a great time at the beach resort we always stayed at. In 1990, a little bundle arrived and we became a threesome. Scott Richard was a special "little guy" kid and we took tons of pictures to remember it all. I continued to work in Riverside and reside in the Anaheim Hills/Yorba Linda area. Joanie became a full time mom and maintained a wonderful home life for the three of us. I was given more responsibility and elevated to Director of Facilities where I supervised maintenance of the older schools as well. I left Riverside in 2000 when I was hired as the Assistant Superintendent in the Chino Valley USD. There I helped pass a local bond, which led to the construction of six schools and modernization of several. However, when you are in the Cabinet, the nasty world of politics always gets involved. Our school district in the six years I was there had four Superintendents and lots of controversy on the School Board. After all that, the fit wasn't there anymore and I left in 2006 to return the Riverside County Office of Education to be the Director of School Planning for the county. It was a wonderful time building schools for students who didn't fit in the mainstream. I retired in 2009.
In 2012, I organized another reunion of the Cleveland Varsity Golf Team. We got together for a few days of golf in Mesquite, NV. Attending were Roger Buckles, Jack Gay,, Larry Wolf, Greg Boylan and myself. We had a wonderful time and are now planning our next reunion in Florida. Scott and I are doing fine. He's finished at Fullerton College now... We have traveled to Scotland for skiing, Alaska and the Caribbean....But, we really miss Joanie, who passed in 2008. She was the light of our life. I didn't leave the state this year but did travel on the train to Santa Barbara for Fiesta Days. Great Fun! I traveled to Texas in October 2013 (So I guess I did leave CA!!) to see the Texas-Oklahoma football game in Dallas. Go Sooners. Scott is working full time for Firestone in an auto tech position. He has a girlfriend, Holly. She is a Sophmore at Santiago Canyon College working towards a teaching credential eventually at Cal State Fullerton. I am working part time again doing marketing work for an architectural firm which does school designs (had too much spare time on my hands). Just published my first school facilities article for them. Wow, Google has me listed! Shot a one over 73 in the Long Beach City Seniors tournament. Finished 4th in my age flight. Best round in years!! Looking forward to the Fairs this summer and concerts galore.
A recent photo of Paul
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I returned to Norman, OK for the Notre Dame football game in 2012. Here I am in front of my old rooming house
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The 2012 Grover Cleveland High School Golf Team Reunion in Monterey, CA. From l to r , Jack Gay, Larry Wolf, Roger Buckles, Ralph Mena, Greg Boylan & Paul Andersen.
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Celebrating my 60th Birthday at the Santa Fe Opera
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