By Cat Kemp and Diego Mantelli
In room one, where every ag kid has spent countless hours, resides Randy Wallace, a teacher we both have loved. Wallace has taught us not just everything we know about chemistry and physics, but agriculture, leadership, and most importantly, the value of hard work. One of the FFA advisors, I (Diego Mantelli) was lucky enough to go on car drives with Wallace two to three times a year, whether it be speaking competitions, regional meetings, or state conferences. Despite his iffy driving, every trip with Wallace has been amazing, largely due to his dedication and love for his students. On the countless occasions that someone forgot a button up, needed new nylons, or had to make a late night run to CVS, Wallace was always there for us, ready and willing to drive us around so that we could be ready for whatever the trip had coming. His dedication to the farm and the animals is unmatched, he frequently encouraged us to bring the rabbits to various community events, so that the community could learn about the amazing program that is FFA. Even though Cat Kemp and I had some of our worse arguments in his classroom, we loved every minute, and will miss the camaraderie formed in room one with our fellow ag kids, and as we go our separate ways come next fall, we will be missing Wallace and his endearing antics dearly.
How will you spend your retirement
I wanna do some volunteer work, and maybe keep a job part time.
Favorite Westmont memory
Having Catherine Kemp in my classroom, duh!
What will you miss about Westmont
Catherine Kemp
What did students teach you
A lot! It’s hard to articulate but students come from all walks of life and you really get to learn what they’ve been through and where they come from and it’s really educational and exciting.
Number of meetings (staff, department):
Oh my… around 40-60 per year. Times 25 is about 1250.
Students whose parents taught:
Probably more than I know! Couldn’t give you an exact number though.
Former students who became colleagues:
I only know Ms. Picard, but I never taught her. I can’t think of any others but I have taught students who are teachers at Del Mar or other schools.
Days missed:
I miss days because of FFA, so probably more than your average teacher.
Number of detentions given:
We don’t do that here.
Homework questions assigned:
An indeterminate number.
Favorite lesson/book/unit: Evolution
Why did you want to work in a setting with high school students?
Well my parents both worked in this district and I tried some substitute teaching and realized I liked it.
What’s the weirdest experience that you’ve had in school?
Well, kinda depends on what you call weird. I think one time we made root beer in class and one of the batches turned into alcohol. So we had a very happy batch of students. There was a teacher who came to try too, she left happy as well.