Venice High Retirees Reflect On Their Teaching Careers

After 21 years of teaching at Venice High School, math teacher Laurie Chew '80 is retiring.  Chew is not only a math teacher at Venice—she’s also an alumnus herself.  “School wasn't just classes,” she said, reflecting on memories from her time as a student. “School was about homecoming, making floats, your clubs. You'd do a lot more in school than just classes.” Chew also comme...

Randall Chew will retire as a teacher at Venice High for over 20 years and an educator for 30.  Growing up, both his mother and father were teachers. Yet his desire to go into medicine earlier on was much more appealing in both a monetary and enrichment sense. “My dad said, ‘You're going to have to get a full time job after you graduate—to help your family, your brothers and sisters get ...

After teaching at Venice High School for 17 years,  Donald Holland has come across many new learning opportunities.  Mr. Holland teaches Algebra II and Principles of Engineering. He first started off as a chemical engineer for a company that made sonar equipment but then decided he wanted to start his teaching career. His main goal was to give students the tools to escape poverty.  Starting h...

Vidal Sandoval, history teacher and a cross-country and track coach, is retiring after teaching at Venice High for more than two decades. According to Sandoval, one of the most rewarding things about teaching is having former students return to say hello. “I just love it when some of my former students come back, and they're adults,” he said. “Sometimes students even come back with their...

After a short run of two years at Venice High, physical education teacher Steven Hosohama said that he’s gotten really close with the whole athletics department.   An educator with 30 years of experience, Hosohama has been a teacher and assistant athletic director at Venice for two years.  Before coming to work for LAUSD for 23 years, Hosohama taught at Calmont Private School in Topanga, CA...