Though the cardinal-and-gold-plaid carpet has been swapped for marbled stone and new CIF banners fill the Olive Garden ceiling, the spirit of Torrey Pines remains unchanged. After walking the halls as students, alumni return as substitutes, student teachers, coaches and now full-time educators.
Varsity assistant basketball coach and English 10 teacher, Jacob Gilliam (’17), played collegiate Division I basketball at the University of San Diego and now has his teaching credentials. He worked as a substitute and student teacher at the school, because he “always had a feeling [he] wanted to be a teacher here.”
Returning to a familiar campus helped ease the transition from student to teacher. Robert Collins (‘07), an English 10 and English 12 teacher at the school, shares his journey.
“After I graduated I started [football] coaching right away and that led me to being a student teacher,” Collins said. “From then on, in the bottom of my heart, I knew I would enjoy teaching.”
For some teachers, their decision was grounded in the desire to spend their days doing something they genuinely enjoyed in the environment of the school. Nicholas Diaz (‘10), special education teacher and assistant basketball coach, states “that’s how [he] ended up here.”
Revisiting her days as a student, Integrated Math 2/3 HP teacher Kristina DeVico (‘86) found comfort and purpose within San Dieguito Union High School District (SDUHSD) because “it’s a great district to be in.”
“The students are terrific here with the parents really caring about education, and that’s a really great environment to teach in,” De Vico said. “I’ve always been in this neighborhood, I grew up here, so I feel at home and I understand it. I did my student teaching in Carlsbad and other San Diego schools, but that didn’t feel like home to me.”
Even as the school environment remained familiar, many alumni also noticed differences as well as similarities over time. Paper gave way to chromebooks, which shifted interactions between students.
“Technology is a big [change],” Diaz said. “[Students] now have chromebooks for all four years and most of every school will, that wasn’t really a thing for us. We were filling out papers, typing up papers and printing them out to bring to school. I don’t think we were as attached to phones as kids are now.”
Outside of technological developments, each generation of students leaves their mark. Shifts in cultural changes affected the school over time — from punk outfits to student expectations.
“It was more of an open vibe, in the 80s, kids had more focus on music, they dressed their music or what they did,” De Vico said. “So there were kids dressed as punks, heavy metal, ska, new waves, surfers, skaters, there was a little bit of everything.”
In present years, there are also heavy societal expectations on students to get accepted to college.
“Stress is much higher now, and there was nowhere near the competitiveness,” De Vico said. “[Before], there were only three classes a day, it allowed more for a breather. Honors kids now are much more driven to do homework and study compared to before.”
Although course offerings have become more structured and rigorous, what hasn’t changed is the impressive caliber of the student body — something alumni teachers continue to admire in the classroom every day.
“The students I’ve had are from honors and accelerated programs, and I’m consistently amazed at not only these students’ academic prowess, but also their extracurriculars with their lives outside of school,” De Vico said. “[From] sports, bands, orchestras, speaking other languages, to doing all sorts of other events like robotics and many others. These multidimensional, multifaceted and fabulous students should be appreciated. I see talents and wisdom within [the people] in class.”
According to Gilliam and De Vico, the school always had a diverse population of students, with a place for everyone in terms of hobbies or programs.
“I love Torrey Pines, I loved it when I was a student and now,” Gilliam said. “I think our comprehensive school campus is awesome. There is something here for everyone, whether it would be the different clubs, the sports programs or theater programs … I had so many great teachers when I went to school here … I wanted to have that same impact on the students here.”
Much remains familiar. The school spirit and sense of community have stayed strong.
“I still think there is a community of togetherness, the enthusiasm for each other is the same, and deep down the kids are the same in terms of interest, humor and the way they interact with each other,” Gilliam said.
Having once been students themselves, alumni teachers are in a position to recognize transformations and constants, and their perspective helps them connect deeply with the students they teach.
Students recognize how alumni teachers bring a deeper level of empathy and adaptability to their classrooms.
“Being an alumni allows [Mrs. De Vico] to better understand her students,” current student Benjamin Goldberg (10) said. “She knows that all people learn and understand differently from having gone here herself, so she adapts her teaching style.”
Many alumni teachers understand the pressures of the school, according to Collins.
“[Alumni] have a bit of a unique perspective having been in their shoes and the competitive environment it can be,” Collins said. “Every teacher in their own way understands the culture and does their best to support students.”
However, as alumni grow older, some find themselves attempting to evolve with newer generations.
“Especially as I get older and have been more removed from going to school here,” Collins said. “When I started I was only five or six years older than them, and now I’m twice their age. The kids have grown up differently than I have, and I learn to be more patient to support them.”
Nevertheless, Gilliam explains that teaching keeps alumni connected to the student body, and there is a “special feeling that [he] prides when [he] walks on campus], knowing that kids are here to learn and work hard to get a good education.”
According to Diaz, the network at this school is powerful, and its name carries weight in the community and connects people across time.
“To this day, meeting someone who went to Torrey Pines feels like a bond that never leaves you,” Diaz said. “Building a really strong relationship with all these people really adds to the Torrey Pines vibe and how much we are a part of the community.”
The school holds strong personal memories: for many, these connections within the community last a lifetime.
“The relationships that I’ve built being both a student and a teacher are unforgettable, the people you meet, the lives you impact and the ones that have impacted you,” Collins said.
As they look ahead, alumni teachers hope to continue supporting students through all the changes, both personal and academic, that high school brings.
“I don’t plan to leave Torrey Pines,” Gilliam said. “I want to continue to make an impact that I can make, getting new groups of kids and guiding them through their adolescence.”
In the end, their advice to students is the same as what they wish they had known. Alumni teachers help shape the future of the place that once shaped them, guiding a new generation through the same hallways where they once found their own direction.
“Keep your eyes open, say yes to all opportunities that come to your door, all your corridors, even the venues you can’t imagine yourself in,” De Vico said. “Learn to love it, hate it, be indifferent, all are good reactions to have.”
