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EARLENE WARD - SPECIAL TO THE SIERRA STAR
photo - JUDY DURR
David Read and his wife Margo are shown at the retirement/awards dinner
held early this month.
photo - JUDY DURR
Larry Pesetski and his wife Loretta at the retirement/awards dinner.
Two
long-time Yosemite High School educators are officially retiring this
year but both will be back on a part-time basis next year.
David Read is retiring as YHS assistant principal and adult education
coordinator. He will return to the duties of Regional Occupational Program
(ROP) coordinator and he will be training other staff members to write
the documentation for computer programs.
Larry Pesetski is retiring as a technology teacher. He will return to
be the International Baccalaureate/Advanced Placement coordinator and
a back-up facilitator for the Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST)
program.
The two men have shared much in common as YHS staff members and they will
share much in retirement. Both will work with Hammertech Systems, Inc.
to sell video editing boxes and other technology equipment. They both
hope to be technology consultants in the future.
They are both classic car enthusiasts and are frequently seen on campus
in their vintage vehicles. They will both also be busy “snapping images”
in retirement. Mr. Pesetski has a three-book commitment for books of photographs
and Mr. Read will be taking lots of pictures of his grandchildren.
Mr. Pesetski’s first book in the series, A Journey to Lake Tahoe and Beyond,
will be published this summer.
Mr. Read came to YHS as one of the original staff members in 1976 as a
math teacher. He has been an administrator for a number of years. Mr.
Pesetski came as a history teacher in 1984 and comments that he is now
teaching things that didn’t even exist when he started teaching, namely
technology.
As people who are involved on a daily basis with cutting edge technology,
they both reflect back that there were no computers when they started
their careers.
Mr. Read says “There were absolutely no computers when I started at Yosemite
High.” He recalls that the master schedule for classes was taken to a
mainframe computer in Fresno. After that initial work, everything else
was done by hand, including schedule changes, grades and so forth.
Mr. Pesetski marvels at the technology that students and staff use today
on a daily basis. “The commonplace use of technology has changed our job,”
he says. “Instructors and students are expected to use technology on a
daily basis.”
Mr. Pesetski has been the lead instructor in two major technology programs
at YHS, the EAST lab and the photo media/videography classes. Both of
these programs are expensive to operate, prompting Mr. Read to say with
a laugh, “one of my accomplishments was to find enough money to keep Larry
and his programs going.”
“My programs are like classic cars,” Mr. Pesetski says, “they need constant
attention.”
The two things of which Mr. Read is proudest is working with Mr. Pesetski
to establish and operate the IB program and working with Nancy Lusby and
Stephanie Samuels on the Peer Mediation Program.
Of the Peer Mediation Program, Mr. Read says “The goal is one-on-one working
it out. In a perfect world, this would work.”
Mr. Pesetski lists his favorite accomplishments as the IB program and
the EAST program. He is proud that YHS will have one of only seven IB
film classes in the world next year.
“I think the IB program has majorily changed the academic climate at YHS,”
he says, noting that a third of the students are involved in some way
with either IB or AP classes.
He calls the EAST program “the most powerful program I’ve ever seen in
terms of giving students ownership of their education. I sat and listened
to student presentations yesterday and I was in awe.”
He believes students learn real-life skills in the EAST lab and, he says,
“it’s what education is supposed to be.” He says one of the best things
is that IB students work side-by-side with special education students
solving problems. “All the stigmas and stereotypes break down when they
get in the classroom. They need each other’s skills. They all feel wanted
and productive, they develop mutual respect.”
“It’s one of the biggest things kids need to learn,” Mr. Read adds, “to
get along and not to pre-judge.”
While both men are excited about what is happening at YHS, they are not
excited about the direction education is taking through so much emphasis
on standardized tests.
Mr. Read comments “there is no statistical evidence that the drill and
kill of standardized testing helps anyone. It’s a waste of time.”
“The pendulum never stops where it is reasonable,” Mr. Pesetski adds.
“When politicians get involved they overdo it. How can you require testing
when the contents of the test don't align with the state standards? How
do you justify no waivers for students with learning handicaps.”
Mr. Read notes that “the legislators haven’t been through an EAST program
where they could have learned about diversity.”
Both educators say they have no problem with accountability, but they
don’t think one day and one test is a fair measure. “I have no problem
with evaluation based on logical, consistent criteria,” Mr. Pesetski says,
“but do it over a year, not one day, one test.”
Both agree that student portfolios make a lot of sense, showing what a
student can do and giving them something tangible to take with them from
high school.
Education is a family career for the Reads and Pesetskis. Mrs. Read is
a French teacher at YHS and also works with beginning teachers. Mrs. Pesetski
is principal at Spring Valley Elementary School in O’Neals.
Looking back over his 19 years at YHS, Mr. Pesetski says “I think when
we first came to Yosemite it wasn’t because we were leaving something
negative. The best moves are made when you see the potential and I saw
a tremendous potential at Yosemite. This job allowed me to do things and
grow in a way I could never have dreamed. I’m teaching things now that
didn’t exist when I started. The kids and the staff have given me far
more than I have given them. It is gratifying to see our IB students compete
with students world wide and they excel at that level.”
Mr. Read reflects back over 26 years at YHS, saying “I couldn’t think
of a better place to be an educator and raise my children than this community.
I’m one of the luckiest men in the world to find this place and stay here.
I have no qualms about the future of our country with the young people
we’re turning out.”
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