Nicolette Olson
Staff Writer
After almost three decades at Mira Costa, science teacher Randy Brissey had to take a leave of absence after contracting the whopping cough.
Brissey has recently come back to Mira Costa High School as a full time teacher, after recovering from a bad case of the whopping cough and consecutive brain damage. His brain damage was caused by a condition in which some of his body parts were being constantly choked of oxygen. He is currently teaching four classes of college preparatory Chemistry.
“I came back to Mira Costa because I felt I have to make a difference for the future of my students. I want to give them a good education that pushes them to think outside of the box and apply concepts to real-life problems,” Brissey said.
Brissey’s teaching career has outlasted many obstacles, and through his personal experiences he now knows what works, in terms of teaching. He believes that teachers who have been around understand how to handle students better than new inexperienced administrators. Compared to the four classes of Chemistry that Brissey teaches now, in his earlier days at Mira Costa he taught an extensive number of diverse classes.
“When I first starting teaching at Mira Costa, which was in 1979, I taught regular chemistry, Chemistry Honors, astronomy, oceanography, Algebra 3-4, and for a short while U.S. History. I taught eight different subjects. Now, I just teach four periods of Chemistry,” Brissey said.
Before coming to California to attend college, Brissey lived in Florida, Seattle, and Virginia. He attended El Camino College for an associate’s degree in science, Cal State Long Beach for his undergraduate in science, and received a graduate degree in science at UCLA. Before becoming a teacher Brissey worked at REI and test rode motorcycles and cars for Honda research.
“When I was a young man, I was a bicyclist at the national level. I competed and won in many races. Also I was on the cover of the ‘La Times Metro’,” Brissey said.
Brissey has many goals for all of his students; he wants them to excel in their future by being prepared for learning at the university level. Since he knows that thirty percent of students have to take basic math and science in college, he tries to prepare all of his students in high school well.
“When he teaches us, he runs from one board to the other, writing down sometimes only one word. I think he has a brilliance that is hard to understand, and hard to get across from him to us,” sophomore Lauren Hagedorn said.
In his free time outside of school, Brissey is an advocate against discrimination in all forms. Having grown up in a segregated society in Virginia, he knew that something had to be done.
“Discrimination is personal to me. My wife is considered too old to be accepted into medical schools, and my primary concern is to get my wife what she deserves without discrimination. This also goes for others with the same types of problem; discrimination should not stop people from doing what they love,” Brissey said.
Compared to other Chemistry classes, Brissey’s class is taking a slower approach as to thoroughly learn each and every one of the concepts.
“Mr. Brissey gives out practice sheets in order for us to understand the concept. He wants us to be able to apply concepts to problems in the real-world. All in all, I think he’s a very interesting teacher. Nothing he does is ever boring,” sophomore Kelsey McIntire said.
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