By Parnia Mazhar
Staff Writer
After the retirement of English teacher Pamela Jenning, Matthew Wheeler rolled his way into the prestigious staff of Mira Costa.
A panel made up of Principal Ben Dale, Vice Principals Ian Drummond and Deborah Hofreiter, Executive Director of Human Resources Carolyn Seaton, Department Chairs Jonathan Westerberg and Alan Zeoli, and English Administrator Shawn Chen recently selected Matthew Wheeler as Costa’s newest 9th and tenth grade College Prep English teacher to replace Jenning.
“I personally thought [Wheeler] was a great fit for the job because he had lots of great experience and just jumped off the page,” Dale said. “I loved how he seemed to be super student centered, engaging, and very passionate about teaching literature and literacy.”
When deciding who would fill Jenning’s position, the panel considered a large number of criteria, such as how closely aligned the applicant’s degree was to their subject matter and where each candidate had previously taught.
“Because I am a principal, I also like to see a letter from the previous principal,” Dale said. “I want to get a feel for how that principal felt about them as an employee and as a teacher.”
There were between 85 to 100 applicants for Jenning’s teaching position. According to Westerberg, out of the top eight applicants, after Wheeler’s interview, he was the obvious choice.
“He was very easy to get along with and was very thoughtful when answering the questions,” Westerberg said. “He had a nice mild demeanor about him, so everybody felt very comfortable in the room.”
According to Dale, Wheeler was the right fit for the job because of his passion for teaching kids and his ability to engage. During his class, students are intrigued by how he is able to bring lessons to life.
“Mr. Wheeler definitely engages all of us in class by preparing many activities while still moving the class at a steady pace,” freshman Cole Lewis said. “I can tell that he is passionate about teaching us because it looks like he spends a very extensive amount of time planning his lessons.”
Wheeler previously taught ninth and 10th grade English at El Segundo High School for six years, and tutored in English Language Arts and History. According to Westerberg, Wheeler’s previous teaching experience helped him gain the position because he was already accustomed to the area, making it easier for him to adjust to the school.
“It is always helpful to have a teacher that has experience and we can trust has gone through some of the growing pains of being a young teacher,” Westerberg said.
Wheeler still keeps in touch with Jenning, not only to become familiarized with her previous classroom routine, but also to learn from her teaching style.
“I am not new to teaching English, but at the same time I know there is always more to learn, and who better to learn from than a living legend [Jenning] who was beloved by the school, the community, and certainly her students,” Wheeler said.
So far, a large number of Wheeler’s students have been responding well to his teaching style. They are impressed with how engaging Wheeler is in class and his ability to make less interesting lessons more intriguing.
“During lessons there is a lot of class discussion and there is a lot of me running around the classroom impersonating characters from stories, or some of the plays we might be reading,” Wheeler said. “I really try to make as lively of an experience as possible for my students.”
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