Heres a wonderful note we received from John Koegal, who will be attending our 40th Reunion, enjoy! As all of our classmates must say, it is difficult to believe that 40 years have passed since we graduated. But I am glad to know so many of us are still around and able to attend the upcoming festivities. This will be the first high school reunion I have attended. In 1984, I was in graduate school in New York; in 1994, I was back in California, but missed the notice of the event. In 2004, I had returned again to California from university teaching jobs in the Midwest, but was unable to attend; and now, in 2014, I look forward to seeing those with whom I shared those four impressionable and anxious years. I have many happy memories of SGHS, and some bittersweet ones. I am very appreciative of the good education I received there. As a result of playing tuba and other instruments in the SGHS Band, music became my lifes passion and career. I went on to major in Music Education and Spanish at Cal State Northridge, and then pursued graduate studies in Musicology (music history) at universities in California, Indiana, New York, and England. I taught instrumental music for many years in Los Angeles-area public schools before transitioning to the life of a university professor of music history in the mid 1990s. I have combined my interest in music and Spanish in my teaching and research, and have taught music at all levels, Kindergarten through doctoral studies; since 2001, I have been Professor of Musicology at Cal State Fullerton, in Orange County, fairly close to my family and where I grew up in the San Fernando Valley. SGHSs music program had a transformative effect on my life, from the age of 15, and for that I am sincerely grateful. Peter King was the one who got me into music. Sadly, I dont know what happened to him ultimately—he left SGHS in our senior year and Bruce Knowlton, a young, energetic teacher took his place. (Knowlton was then completing his teaching credential at Cal State Northridge.) Although we in the SGHS Band were not high at all in the social pecking order, we had a fine time, worked hard, and enjoyed playing good music together. I look forward to seeing you again. Best wishes and many thanks, John Koegel
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 05:49:04 +0000
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