Hi readers! I hope you are doing well. I’m sharing a story today from The Talon, the student newspaper at Los Altos High School, where I work. One of its terrific reporters, Valerie Zhou, interviewed me and ther other other two health teachers about our program and how we ended up in this work. It’s reprinted here in full with permission.
Big love,
Christopher
LAHS Welcomes New Health Teachers
By Valerie Zhou, Senior Writer, The Talon
On a campus rampant with raging teenage hormones, being a high school Health teacher may not seem like a dream job. Los Altos High School’s three new Health teachers disagree.
Last year, LAHS’ long-term and only Health teacher, Vickie Christensen, retired, prompting the Mountain View-Los Altos District to hire a fresh set of teachers: Lewis LaHood, Christopher Pepper and Tad Jinguji.
Since the previous Health curriculum hadn’t seen many changes, the newly-formed team has jumped in head-first, working tirelessly during lunches and prep periods to create an entirely new curriculum that is as high-quality and engaging as possible.
“We’re meeting all the time, in every spare moment we have,” LaHood said. “We are planning this whole thing out together because we really want to bring a fantastic health program to the school.”
Although the three teachers have known each other for less than two months, their skill sets seem to align.
A Unique Opportunity
“This is the best team that I’ve ever worked with,” Jinguji said. “We all have different experiences, and our strengths seem to be in different areas, so when we work together, it’s phenomenal.”
While the three new teachers admit it is unusual for a school to only have male health teachers, this presents LAHS with a unique opportunity.
“We as adult men get to model being comfortable talking about topics like periods and pregnancy,” Pepper said. “It shows that men can speak up as advocates against gender-based harassment and violence.”
All three teachers are aware that they need to more consciously make the topics covered in Health less taboo, and they are designing the course and building classroom cultures accordingly.
“In this class, everyone is safe,” Jinguji said. “We respect everyone, we welcome everyone and we care about everyone.”
Lewis LaHood
In high school, LaHood always felt like his P.E. teachers and football coaches were living the dream.
“I was like, ‘Man, they’ve really got the life,’” LaHood said. “It just looked like so much fun.”
To chase that dream, LaHood began his career as a part-time P.E. teacher for Scotts Valley High School near Santa Cruz. He was offered a full-time position at the end of his third year, but only if he could switch to teaching health.
One of LaHood’s favorite parts is the age group he teaches. Although his students range in both age and maturity levels, LaHood says it creates balanced discussions of the material.
“Often the upperclassmen have had more experience with the things we’re learning about, and they can give great perspectives,” he said. “On the other hand, the freshmen are new to everything and they can be really objective.”
In his classroom, LaHood says he tries to inform rather than influence.
“I try to teach my students as much information as possible,” he said. “Then, they can critically think about what their values are and make the decisions that are best for them.”
One of LaHood’s biggest goals is to build individual relationships with his students, which he says will make awkward conversations much easier.
“I just want my room to be a space where kids feel free to laugh,” LaHood said.
In fact, that love for community brought him to LAHS. In 2016, LaHood’s former school and LAHS played a game so memorable that it’s stuck with him ever since. Although LAHS won 13–10, LaHood said everybody on the team was incredibly respectful.
“I was so impressed with their sportsmanship,” LaHood said. “I could tell they were playing the game the right way.”
For LaHood, the energy and enthusiasm from the students and coaches at that game sparked in him the dream to work at LAHS.
“I knew that if I ever left Scotts Valley, Los Altos would be at the top of my list,” he said.
In April, a position for health opened up at LAHS and LaHood jumped at the chance. Through his two months here so far, he’s happy with his decision.
“The energy on campus is so positive,” LaHood said.
Now that a new season has begun, LaHood is excited to get into football at LAHS.Despite having a smaller role on the football team than he’s used to, LaHood said he’s itching to get more involved. In the next few years, LaHood and his family plan on moving up towards Los Gatos, so he’ll be able to take on a larger coaching position while still being present for his family.
“I want to be 100% in,” he said. “I’m really excited to learn how LAHS’ team operates and see a different side of high school football and team culture.”
Christopher Pepper
Even straight out of high school, Pepper had always known that he wanted to work in health.
“Studies about health education and all that technical stuff are the sorts of things I nerd out on,” Pepper said.
Pepper started his career as a health journalist, working on getting information on the environment and health to the public. Now, his audience has gone from the confused public to confused teenagers.
“I saw that there was a real need for teenagers to get health information,” Pepper said. “They often didn’t have access to accurate information about health or their bodies.”
When he was in high school, the AIDS epidemic was at the forefront of public attention. At the time, health education took a fear-based approach: Don’t have sex or you’ll get AIDS! Don’t do drugs or you’ll die! Pepper says the programs he grew up with taught him what not to do.
“It was a scary time to learn about health because there was a real overlay of fear around death,” he said. “But creating a lot of fear or worry isn’t a good way to motivate positive choices.”
Pepper disagrees with the negative stereotypes surrounding teenagers.
They are not simply asking for more information. They are asking for guidance that helps them make sense of that information, align decisions with their values and build healthy relationships. Those insights suggest that preparing young people for sexual well-being requires more than delivering facts. It requires equipping them with the skills, confidence and support to navigate the complexities of adolescence.
Yet these priorities rarely shape how we design programs, evaluate success or decide what belongs in the classroom.
“Teenagers are really interesting; it’s a really dynamic time in life,” Pepper said. “They are going through a lot of change and developing into the people that they will be in the world.”
He said his journalist background lent itself to Health education, as both careers are about making information digestible for the public.
“The creation and curation of a Health class is a lot like being an editor,” Pepper said. “Both involve looking for the best materials we can find and how to reach an audience as effectively as we can.”
To get through to his students, Pepper says he prioritizes transparency and reflection in his teaching.
“You need a combination of information and care to connect with teenagers,” Pepper said. “I try to be honest and truthful, let them enjoy the stage of life that they’re at.”
Tad Jinguji
Jinguji was floating through retired life when he felt pulled back to full-time teaching.
“I did some substitute teaching, but it just wasn’t fulfilling,” Jinguji said. “I really missed getting to see students and creating those relationships.”
Jinguji has done a little bit of everything in the education world: Health, P.E. and life sciences in both middle and high school. Jinguji has even credentialed other teachers at Sacramento State University.
But even after teaching for over 25 years, Jinguji still feels as if he’s constantly learning — from his wife, who is the principal at Monta Loma Elementary School, to his students.
“My wife’s a way better teacher than I am,” Jinguji said. “And with my students, I learn just as much from them as I hope they do from me.”
Jinguji said his passion for teaching and learning comes from the values he was raised with: to always take advantage of educational opportunities.
“Education wasn’t ever something that you do, but something that you get to do,” Jinguji said. “We’re blessed here in the United States to get free education, and we want to take advantage of that because it’s the foundation of the life we build.”
Jinguji’s role as a mentor doesn’t end once the last bell rings. He believes that the field is just an extension of his classroom, as evidenced by the many pennants decorating his classroom walls. This year, he is an assistant coach for the football team and is in talks with Athletic Director Michelle Noeth about coaching other sports as well.
“It’s a different type of growth in a different environment, but yet it’s still the same,” he said. “I’m teaching, I’m supporting and I’m building those relationships with my kids.”
Jinguji’s love for coaching is influenced by his own experience in sports. In high school, he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball. Through his time on various teams, he learned to value relationships and connection deeply — something he carries into his teaching.
“My understanding of being a teacher is, yes, health is important, P.E., science, all of it is important,” Jinguji said. “But we’re in the people business. We don’t just teach subjects, we teach people.”
This story first ran in The Talon, the student newspaper of Los Altos High School. Reprinted with permission.
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I absolutley loved reading this article - teachers are such superstars💫. The students who are taught by this team are so lucky! High five Christopher Pepper!