Mr. Field

Patterson High School
201 North 9^th St.
Patterson CA 95363

I graduated in 1959, from Roosevelt High School Fresno, California. I attended Fresno State College. In 1964, I received a BA in general biology then in 1967, an MA in biology with an emphasis in botany. My first teaching experience was as a lab instructor in beginning botany and a plant physiology class at Fresno State College. I taught for three years in a private Methodist boys high school, Westminster, in Adelaide, Australia, from 1968 to 1970. I have taught at Patterson High School since the fall of 1971. I retired from full time teaching in 2004. Since then i have been teaching the Adult Education class for the Patterson Unified School District and Biology 111 for Modesto Junior College. I also do classroom observations for the Stanislaus County Office of Education.

I got my first taste of traveling in 1967, when I decided to go to Australia. I had the desire to see a bit of the world before settling down to a job and a family. I decided on Australia for this experience. I had the good fortune to be hired by a new secondary school, Westminster School, in the suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. Adelaide is a city with similar climate to Santa Barbara, CA. The school was new and they were looking for teachers with unusual backgrounds. I was the "Yank" from California. There I taught 8^th grade general science, 9^th grade chemistry, 10^th grade biology and advanced biology to junior and senior year students. The junior year in Australia was known as the "leaving" year because the majority of the students left school to get jobs after that year. The senior year was known as the "matriculation" year and was basically a year of preparation for college.

These are some of my students from Westminster School in Adelaide. The back row is Bradley Selway, Ian Berkefeld, Geoff Both and Andrew Bednall. The front row is Doug Spencer, Bronte Koop, me, David King and David Heightman. This photo was taken at my going away party in December of 1970, at Geoff Both's parents' home.

     This photograph was taken on a beach near Adelaide. This group of boys called themselves the "Super-6". The are left to right, Tim Potter, Bruce Jennison, Tim Simpson, Mark Holden and Geoff Both. Michael Bond is kneeling down. It was this group of six boys that made me feel welcome at Westminster School. They and their families invited me and then Anne and I to do things with them. They made us feel at home in Adelaide. I am especially indebted to Mr. Doug Forder, the headmaster of Westminster School. He took a chance on an unknown Yankee and gave me my first teaching position. That job started me on a very satisfying and fulfilling career as a biology teacher.

     I have two children, Lucie and Victor. Both were born in Adelaide, Australia. Lucie is a graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Her BA is in history with a minor in geography/anthropology. She was self-employed as a substitute teacher at PHS for seven years. While there she became closely associated with the drama department. Working with Steve Dias she helped direct and produce several plays. In the spring of 2000 she directed The Odd Couple, the female version. She has taught photography after school and has been involved in the TOPS program, Adult Education and the Community of Caring program. She also administered major tests for the school. She is now living in San Francisco. She attended San Francisco State University where she earned an MA in Drama and Theater. She is now working on her secondary teaching credential in social studies. She works in the Graduate Admissions Office on the San Francisco State University campus.

     Victor is a graduate of San Diego State University, 1997. His degrees are in History and Philosophy with a minor in English. Victor has his own business, Ataraxia Design. He designs art work and sells T-shirts with Chinese characters. He sells them at craft fairs and trade shows. He lives in Arcata in northern California. He likes to write both poetry and prose and hopes to publish some day.