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What books San Diego teachers read
Jane Eyre, Catcher in the Rye, for starters
A book on a nightstand
What books lie on teachers’ nightstands?
This innocent question about reading habits and tastes has the power to befuddle, embarrass, or provoke impressive lists. Some teachers lament not having enough time or energy to turn pages until summer vacation. Others blush while mentioning Cosmopolitan and Stephen King in the same breath. Still others admit to having books lying around untouched, everything from And the Band Hayed On to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Most, however, reveal an intimate connection with books — whether for temporary escape or enduring inspiration.
Doug Zoffel is a special education teacher at Parkway Middle School in La Mesa. His nightstand is overloaded, topped by Paul Theroux’s latest novel, My Secret History, Travel literature is also abundant, including PJ. O'Rourke's raucous Holidays in Hell. However, books desorbing South America and Mexico predominate: Redmond O’Hanlon’s In Trouble Again, detailing modern-day explorations on the Orinoco and Amazon rivers: Peter Matthiessen’s Cloud Forest, a classic chronicle of the Amazon wilderness; and Graham Greene’s Lawless Road: A Mexican Journey, "which is not just any old travel book." he says. Dante's Inferno lies in the stack also (“because a kid in the Theroux book was reading it"), along with a new collection of short stories edited by Tom Jenks, Soldiers and Civilians: Americans at War and at Home, which includes fiction by Tobias Wolff, Richard Ford, Jayne Anne Phillips, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Ward Just.
Sarah Peckham is a former English teacher who now serves as a teaching librarian for Parkway Middle School in the La Mesa-Spring Valley District. Her dedication to books and reading is evident in her enthusiastic voice and demeanor, not to mention her purposeful choices at home; the Peckhams have no television. "With TV around, there’s no way to get any reading done" Peckham explains. "Too often, people only read if they’re bored, as a last resort. I want my children to cultivate the habit of reading, to understand that reading is a necessary activity." She loves to re-read classics such as Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Speare’s Witch of Blackbird Pond.
A freelance reading specialist who is also a substitute teacher. Nancy Paulis's favorite books are J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. "I don’t know why I like that one so much, since I’m a very conventional, middle-class person." she says. Another perennial favorite is Kurt Vonnegut. Lately, she has been reading Margaret Atwood’s books, a writer who "makes writing seem so easy."
Candace Finn teaches third and fourth graders at Logan Elementary in San Diego. Much of her reading includes children’s literature — books she reads and evaluates at home for possible use in the classroom. Current favorites include Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, Chris Van Allsburg’s Polar Express, The Real Story of the Three Little Pigs (told from the wolf’s point of view), and two books by John Steptoe, The Story of Jumping Mouse and Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters. "Most of these new books have incredible drawings." Finn observes, "which help keep my classes interested in reading’’ When not screening books for school. Finn enjoys a good mystery', particularly those portraying women in the role of the private-eye protagonist. On her nightstand. one of Sue Grafton’s alphabetical titles, F Is for Fugitive, and Sara Paretsky’s Burn Marks.
A former mechanical engineer with a taste for Shakespeare, Art Tabanao teaches kindergarten at Tiffany Elementary School in Chula Vista. He recently re-read Richard II and two of Hermann Hesse's classics, The Glass Bead Game and Magister Ludi. Buddhist parables and works by the philosopher Alan Watts also grace his nightstand, along with fiction by Gore Vidal and Joseph Heller. "I grew up in the ghetto of East Los Angeles," he reveals, “and didn’t receive too much of a liberal arts education. So I’ve tried to make up for lost time." The last book he read was Stephen Hawking’s Brief History of Time.
Mary Luedke is a reading specialist who teaches first, second, and third graders at Prospect Avenue Elementary School in Santee. Her favorite books are mysteries. She just finished Ellis Ffeters’s Monk’s-hood, one of a series of Brother Cadfael exploits set in medieval times. Another mystery on her nightstand, waiting to be read, is Elizabeth Peters’s Curse of the Pharoahs. In addition, Luedke is very much involved with children’s literature, having been awarded several grants in recent years to purchase new books for her school. She majored in art in college and enjoys children’s books that are skillfully illustrated. Recent reads in the young persons’ arena include vivid work by Tommie de Paola, James Marshall, Steven Kellogg, Trina Schart Hyman, Susan Jeffers, and Maurice Sendak.
Jay Trousdale is a physical education teacher at Roway High School who also coaches the girts’ varsity basketball squad. Sports magazines are his first reading priority. He's also in the middle of a book about Lakers’ basketball star Magic Johnson. Recent trips to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Grand Canyon have inspired him to read books describing both attractions. Linda Trousdale, Jay's wife, is a resource specialist at Wegeforth and Juarez elementary schools in the Mission Village area. Literacy and Literature was her last reading accomplishment, along with "lots of trashy mystery novels," some by Agatha Christie.
A poet, playwright, and novelist who also leaches composition part-time at Grossmont College. Kamal Kapur is literally reading three books at once: Mary Shelley’s Monster by Martin Tropp, The Idea of a Theater by Francis Fergusson, and Cervantes’s Don Quixote. "I read things all at once which are geared toward a certain project I’m working on." she reveals. “Reading is one of my favorite things in life.”
In his final semester as a counselor, Dick Davis has worked for decades at the La Mesa Middle School. Inspired by plans to retire in New Mexico. Davis has been studying appropriate books; his last three reads include the scholarly Folklore of Spain in the American Southwest, a collection of historical vignettes by Tony Hillerman entitled The Great Taos Bank Robbery, and Black Elk’s Sacred Pipe. John Nichols’s Milagro Beanfield War is another favorite. Davis’s nightstand also supports lighter works, such as an anthology of weird news items called Man Suffocated by Potatoes: the explanatory Why Do Shoes Squeak? and a collection of word and phrase origins, Why Do We Say It?
Here's something you might be interested in.
What books San Diego teachers read
Jane Eyre, Catcher in the Rye, for starters
What books San Diego teachers read
Jane Eyre, Catcher in the Rye, for starters
A book on a nightstand
What books lie on teachers’ nightstands?
This innocent question about reading habits and tastes has the power to befuddle, embarrass, or provoke impressive lists. Some teachers lament not having enough time or energy to turn pages until summer vacation. Others blush while mentioning Cosmopolitan and Stephen King in the same breath. Still others admit to having books lying around untouched, everything from And the Band Hayed On to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Most, however, reveal an intimate connection with books — whether for temporary escape or enduring inspiration.
Doug Zoffel is a special education teacher at Parkway Middle School in La Mesa. His nightstand is overloaded, topped by Paul Theroux’s latest novel, My Secret History, Travel literature is also abundant, including PJ. O'Rourke's raucous Holidays in Hell. However, books desorbing South America and Mexico predominate: Redmond O’Hanlon’s In Trouble Again, detailing modern-day explorations on the Orinoco and Amazon rivers: Peter Matthiessen’s Cloud Forest, a classic chronicle of the Amazon wilderness; and Graham Greene’s Lawless Road: A Mexican Journey, "which is not just any old travel book." he says. Dante's Inferno lies in the stack also (“because a kid in the Theroux book was reading it"), along with a new collection of short stories edited by Tom Jenks, Soldiers and Civilians: Americans at War and at Home, which includes fiction by Tobias Wolff, Richard Ford, Jayne Anne Phillips, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Ward Just.
Sarah Peckham is a former English teacher who now serves as a teaching librarian for Parkway Middle School in the La Mesa-Spring Valley District. Her dedication to books and reading is evident in her enthusiastic voice and demeanor, not to mention her purposeful choices at home; the Peckhams have no television. "With TV around, there’s no way to get any reading done" Peckham explains. "Too often, people only read if they’re bored, as a last resort. I want my children to cultivate the habit of reading, to understand that reading is a necessary activity." She loves to re-read classics such as Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Speare’s Witch of Blackbird Pond.
A freelance reading specialist who is also a substitute teacher. Nancy Paulis's favorite books are J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. "I don’t know why I like that one so much, since I’m a very conventional, middle-class person." she says. Another perennial favorite is Kurt Vonnegut. Lately, she has been reading Margaret Atwood’s books, a writer who "makes writing seem so easy."
Candace Finn teaches third and fourth graders at Logan Elementary in San Diego. Much of her reading includes children’s literature — books she reads and evaluates at home for possible use in the classroom. Current favorites include Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, Chris Van Allsburg’s Polar Express, The Real Story of the Three Little Pigs (told from the wolf’s point of view), and two books by John Steptoe, The Story of Jumping Mouse and Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters. "Most of these new books have incredible drawings." Finn observes, "which help keep my classes interested in reading’’ When not screening books for school. Finn enjoys a good mystery', particularly those portraying women in the role of the private-eye protagonist. On her nightstand. one of Sue Grafton’s alphabetical titles, F Is for Fugitive, and Sara Paretsky’s Burn Marks.
A former mechanical engineer with a taste for Shakespeare, Art Tabanao teaches kindergarten at Tiffany Elementary School in Chula Vista. He recently re-read Richard II and two of Hermann Hesse's classics, The Glass Bead Game and Magister Ludi. Buddhist parables and works by the philosopher Alan Watts also grace his nightstand, along with fiction by Gore Vidal and Joseph Heller. "I grew up in the ghetto of East Los Angeles," he reveals, “and didn’t receive too much of a liberal arts education. So I’ve tried to make up for lost time." The last book he read was Stephen Hawking’s Brief History of Time.
Mary Luedke is a reading specialist who teaches first, second, and third graders at Prospect Avenue Elementary School in Santee. Her favorite books are mysteries. She just finished Ellis Ffeters’s Monk’s-hood, one of a series of Brother Cadfael exploits set in medieval times. Another mystery on her nightstand, waiting to be read, is Elizabeth Peters’s Curse of the Pharoahs. In addition, Luedke is very much involved with children’s literature, having been awarded several grants in recent years to purchase new books for her school. She majored in art in college and enjoys children’s books that are skillfully illustrated. Recent reads in the young persons’ arena include vivid work by Tommie de Paola, James Marshall, Steven Kellogg, Trina Schart Hyman, Susan Jeffers, and Maurice Sendak.
Jay Trousdale is a physical education teacher at Roway High School who also coaches the girts’ varsity basketball squad. Sports magazines are his first reading priority. He's also in the middle of a book about Lakers’ basketball star Magic Johnson. Recent trips to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Grand Canyon have inspired him to read books describing both attractions. Linda Trousdale, Jay's wife, is a resource specialist at Wegeforth and Juarez elementary schools in the Mission Village area. Literacy and Literature was her last reading accomplishment, along with "lots of trashy mystery novels," some by Agatha Christie.
A poet, playwright, and novelist who also leaches composition part-time at Grossmont College. Kamal Kapur is literally reading three books at once: Mary Shelley’s Monster by Martin Tropp, The Idea of a Theater by Francis Fergusson, and Cervantes’s Don Quixote. "I read things all at once which are geared toward a certain project I’m working on." she reveals. “Reading is one of my favorite things in life.”
In his final semester as a counselor, Dick Davis has worked for decades at the La Mesa Middle School. Inspired by plans to retire in New Mexico. Davis has been studying appropriate books; his last three reads include the scholarly Folklore of Spain in the American Southwest, a collection of historical vignettes by Tony Hillerman entitled The Great Taos Bank Robbery, and Black Elk’s Sacred Pipe. John Nichols’s Milagro Beanfield War is another favorite. Davis’s nightstand also supports lighter works, such as an anthology of weird news items called Man Suffocated by Potatoes: the explanatory Why Do Shoes Squeak? and a collection of word and phrase origins, Why Do We Say It?
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