Gordon Woods was born in 1916 in Jerome, Arizona. He received his bachelors degree in Animal Husbandry and masters degree in Horticulture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He taught at Santa Paula Union High School from 1942-1975 where he became Chairman of the Agricultural Department. During his tenure, he took two sabbaticals. In 1960-61 he and his family moved to New Zealand where he taught at Palmerston North Boys High School. From 1967-69 he went to Thailand with a team from Cal Poly to develop college agriculture programs.

Gordon was very committed to his profession and to his students. His real fame as an educator lives on in the hearts and minds of those he mentored and taught to become outstanding, contributing citizens. The standards and principles he instilled in the lives of those he educated reflect in their work ethics and moral dealings with their superiors, peers and subordinates.

Gordon was a disciplinarian. He made sure his students were prepared and paid attention in class, demonstrated competent communication skills and participated in hand-on projects further developing their scientific and technical skills. He taught his students that regardless of their background, they could excel intellectually and professionally no matter what area of expertise they chose to pursue.

Gordon had a unique, refreshing way of identifying with each of his students challenging them to always reach higher goals, look forward to the future and accept nothing less than high standards in their personal work ethics and dealing with others. After 33 years of teaching at Santa Paula High School, Gordon lives on in countless students who have gone on to succeed in life and pass on the same high standards they learned from him.

Gordon never looked for personal gratification or accolades. His pride was in seeing his students achieve excellence in their future careers, families and in society. Indeed, Gordon was the epitome of a true educator.

Gerald K. Swanson known as Gerry by most, was born on August 3, 1937 in the state of Illinois. Gerry grew up in Sycamore, Illinois, and earned his bachelor’s degree in History from Augustana College in Rock Island in 1959. He went on to seminary at Augustana and was ordained in 1963. He served as pastor at Lutheran churches in Ohio and Michigan before he and his wife, Janice, moved to Thousand Oaks where he joined as staff of Cal Lutheran College, now Cal Lutheran University, where he became its first full-time campus pastor.

At that time, when the college was a small institution struggling for its financial survival, Reverend Gerry Swanson found himself not only responsible with providing a spiritual foundation for the staff and students, but also with playing an important role as a member of the school’s executive cabinet. This shaped and allowed him to serve as a pioneer in forming the ongoing culture and climate of the college. Gerry’s contemplative spirit and compassionate counseling serviced students well during those challenging, formative years. His calm, steady presence helped the leadership team guide the young school through its financial crisis and into a prolonged phase of growth.

Not too long after, Gerry began to serve as an assistant professor of English alongside his role as pastor, later transitioning to become the Director of Cal Lutheran University’s learning assistance center. As both pastor and teacher, he challenged students to evaluate and debate social and political issues in a measured and balanced manner. As a professor, he developed three popular classes, “Literature of the Earth” that combined the study of literature with environmental issues, “Man, Men and Nature” which featured many camping trips with faculty and students and “Humanities Tutorial”, a team-taught course by professors from English, history, philosophy, and religion that provides intellectual stimulus to outstanding freshman each year.

Gerry was an excellent role model, not only as a spiritual guide, but as an educator. His genre of choice was most often that of literature and poetry. He engaged people through literature and poetry, visual arts and political reflection with the desire for transformation of his own thinking and for engagement with the community and world at large. He regularly supported both students and faculty at Cal Lutheran University in clarifying what they valued and why. He used literature to invite reflection and dialogue. He helped many reflect deeply on the issues of the day and how they might respond, teaching they were to make a difference in the world, not in order to get something out of it, but because they were free to do so and response-able.

Earlier in life, Gerry had himself struggled to make the transition from high school to college. He understood on a personal level the needs for those who wanted to learn, but did not have the skills or habits to thrive in a collegiate environment. He was especially effective in working with students who were the first in their family to attend college or university.

And do you made 1970s, Gerry shared a community-wide resettlement effort for Vietnamese emigrants. His vision and gift of presents involved many in this welcoming hospitality that supported these new friends in every way, including helping them find appropriate educational opportunities. He had a hand in many of them receiving college and advanced degrees and entering meeting for areas of service including education in computer programming and medicine.

In 1998-99 Jerry was asked to develop the Study Assistance Center at Cal Lutheran University, a program which he designed to assist students in all aspects of their college experience. He succeeded admirably in these efforts over the next 15 years and the center is still an important facet of the Cal Lutheran educational program.

Throughout his 46 years in Ventura county, he always sought the best in people, their traditions and beliefs. His three decades of outstanding work at CLU, and a lifetime dedicated to service to the greater community reflect in the high praise he regularly received from students, both as campus pastor and as English professor. He was a cherished teacher, administrator, Pastor and colleague to those he worked with.

Betsy Potts was at La Reina High School, a Catholic all girls’ school in Thousand Oaks, for 42 years. For 37 of those years, she taught English, mostly to seniors. As English Department Chairperson for 20 years, she was privileged to help hire and mentor a number of alumnae, many of whom are in the English Department today.

As the second oldest in a family of ten children, Betsy learned a great deal about how to take charge at an early age. She says, “My siblings unwittingly prepared me to be an educator. By the time I stepped into my first classroom at Tucson High School, I was already pretty bossy and demanding. I have also been blessed with wonderful mentors throughout my teaching career.”

In 1971 she and her husband, Chuck, and their two children, Jim and Katey, moved to Thousand Oaks where their third child, Christy, was born.

Betsy began teaching part-time at La Reina in 1973. Linda Piera Avila, a member of that first class, says, “Betsy Potts guided our young lives with wisdom, patience, and humor, as well as grammar, composition, and literature. She always exhibited that kind of personal caring and academic support which exemplifies La Reina’s mission which is to provide a quality education ‘where the individual student is valued and respected.’ “

In 2010, she retired from teaching, but remained at La Reina in a part-time position for five more years, serving as a teaching mentor and continuing as Director of Alumnae Relations, a position she had held since 1999.

In 1997 she was selected Distinguished Teacher of the Month by the Thousand Oaks/Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce; in 2000 she won an Amgen Award for Teaching Excellence.

For years, Betsy and several other teachers, chaperoned students on trips to Europe. During this time, she caught the travel bug. She says, “What I wanted more than anything was to be able to travel with my husband and friends, and not with 40 girls who were looking for adventure.” Her goal has been reached, she says. “My husband and I now travel frequently. Occasionally, we are accompanied by friends over 50.”

In her retirement, she has been taking classes at Conejo Valley Adult Education, tutors through its Literacy Center, and writes a mostly humorous blog. An Associate of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Betsy is a member of St. Julie Billiart Parish in Newbury Park where she is a volunteer with the Winter Shelter Program, a lector and on the Pastoral Council.

She has been married to her husband, Chuck, for 52 years. Their three children have blessed them with nine grandchildren.