By Emily Burich
After 20 years in education, Roma Martwick is retiring! She taught at both Del Mar High School and Westmont High School for 17 years at Westmont. She plans on spending her retirement by traveling and spending time with her family, especially her cat Mila. Her favorite Westmont memory was dressing up for Halloween every year. She adds, “I will miss my co-workers and the fact that each day is different from the next. There’s never a dull moment at Westmont.” When asked what students taught her, Roma responded, “each student is unique and should be treated with respect and kindness.” Some former students who became colleagues include Denise Picard, Ben Judd, and Matt Schembri. She decided to work in a setting with high school students because she worked in high tech for many years. She believes “working with students is much more rewarding.” The weirdest experience she’s had in school is getting many calls from people wanting her to take their animals for the Ag program. She includes, “they let us know the chickens are loose. I just tell them the chickens are just trying to get to the other side of the street.” To conclude, she’d like to shout out her fellow secretaries she’s worked with over the years: Lynn Pragastis, Kuldip Johal, Maria Parrish, Alba Ramans, Tessa Corona del Conde, and Gail Arenberg.
Here’s some crazy statistics about Roma Martwick’s time at Westmont:
Number of meetings: “40, I only attend the first and last faculty meetings of the year.”
Days missed: “Rarely out, maybe 40 days total. About 2 days per year.”
# of emails sent: “About 100 a day.”
# of times you found the microwave dirty: “12 and they got an email with a picture of it telling them ‘your mom doesn’t work here.’”
# of principals you’ve worked for: “4.”