From the waters of Costa Rica to the volcanoes of El Salvador to the ruins of Honduras, English teacher Tom Wiegman has seen it all.

Born in Texas to Protestant missionaries, Wiegman grew up moving around to a total of five different countries and five states within the United States. 

By the time he graduated high school, he had attended nine different schools and moved 18 times.

However, after receiving his teaching degree from Biola University in 1986, Wiegman put a halt on his nomadic lifestyle and settled down in Whittier. 

And for the last 35 years, he has stayed put at Sunny Hills High School — until now. 

“I like the students, the teachers and my content area,” said Wiegman, one of two retirees for the 2023-2024 school year. “But I’ve just been [teaching] for such a long time.”

Wiegman said that the idea of retiring came to him early in the school year, primarily because his wife retired two years prior. He then mentioned it to principal Craig Weinreich throughout the months until he gradually decided to turn in his letter of resignation the week of Monday, April 22. 

“Wiegman has been an icon within our English department since I was an English teacher here,” Weinreich said. “He’s done a great job with a variety of classes…and is somebody that I know our younger English teachers have looked toward.” 

STORIES OF THE PAST 

The educator, who has taught Advanced Placement Literature and Composition [AP Lit], AP Language and Composition [AP Lang], Bible as Literature and English 1 Honors, has stayed relatively constant in the courses he has taught for the past 35 years. 

Beginning his work without a teaching credential, Wiegman said he first taught at a small private school called Parkstone Christian Academy in Pennsylvania from 1981 to 1983. 

However, English wasn’t Wiegman’s first interest. When he moved to Texas and attended Baptist University in 1985, he pursued a bachelor’s degree in theology and religion. 

“I think I always wanted to be a teacher because my mother tells me that I used to line up my stuffed animals and lecture them before I could really even speak,” said Wiegman, who also received a graduate degree in English from the University of California, Irvine. “So then I decided [as a kid] that I liked reading and literature, so I stuck with it.” 

He later moved to California and began student teaching in the Whittier School District at California High School. 

After hearing from his master teacher there about Sunny Hills, Wiegman coincidentally joined the teaching staff after receiving a call from then-principal George Giokaris to set up an interview. 

That same year, in 1989, he was hired and began taking over the two English AP courses as well as the Bible as Literature class. As of this year, Wiegman has taught both for 64 semesters. 

“I always told Giokaris sarcastically that it was the best decision he ever made,” he said. “I feel very blessed to have spent my time here.”

THE BEST OF TIMES

Throughout the 35 years Wiegman has worked here, he has been able to make a reputation on campus for his intriguing stories. 

Known for his unconventional side jobs he performed in his young adult years, the teacher often shares about his means of making money during high school, working as a combine operator in the Great Plains. He said he often garners positive reactions from his students.   

“One story from this time that I had come up occasionally is about one of the guys on our crew who was killed in a farming accident,” said Wiegman, who has numerous scars on his fingers from his three summers of work there.

Besides the random stories that come up daily, Wiegman said he coordinates some of his stories with separate units in his courses. 

For example, whenever he teaches the Romeo and Juliet Capulet tomb scene to his freshman English classes, Wiegman said he tells his students about his time working near graves. 

Many of Wiegman’s students say that they find his stories particularly inspiring as the teacher has had the opportunity to complete so many of his dreams and gain experience from each one. 

“It’s kind of inspiring because he has done so much stuff with his life,” said senior Brandon Flores, who is in the teacher’s second-period AP Literature class. “So it makes me think that maybe I should just try stuff.”

Wiegman also had the opportunity to teach his son in 2008 for five semesters in his AP Lit, AP Lang and Bible and Literature classes.

With this being his favorite memory throughout his teaching career, he said that the school’s value on education played a large role in his decision to send his son to the campus. 

“I think it was effective,” said Wiegman, who claimed that by the end of the year, his son was one of his most improved writers. “Students ask me about being too easy on him, but I tried not to be too hard.”

The English teacher also features numerous pieces of student art on his walls and cabinets, dating back to the beginning of his teaching days. 

The letter “A,” a well-known symbol from The Scarlet Letter, decorates various regions of his classroom and a prosthetic guillotine sits atop a cabinet near numerous other book-themed posters. 

Many of these former projects can be seen around Room 14 and display aspects of books read in class, such as A Tale of Two Cities.  

“Some of the things students do are pretty remarkable,” Wiegman said. “Some of them have real artistic talent, much better than I could ever do, so I put them up.” 

However, the decor of the room is not limited to student work.

On the walls hang full texts of books read within his courses, such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, which he plans to take home with him.

PARTING IS SUCH A SWEET SORROW

During retirement, Wiegman says he hopes to catch up on his reading, starting with The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Wiegman also teaches one of Dostoevesky’s more popular novels, Crime and Punishment, and is the only teacher on campus to include it in their lessons, he said. 

Moving down his list to authors such as C. S. Lewis, Jane Austen and Stephen King, Wiegman said he plans to read some modern thriller novels together with his wife. 

“Unfortunately, I spend a lot of my time reading [and grading student] essays, so I am looking forward to being able to read other stuff [for entertainment],” he said. “So that’s what I’m going to spend part of my [retirement] time doing.”

Besides that, Wiegman said he and his wife plan to continue their travels, exploring the world and the locations found in novels. Together the two have traveled to countless countries, aside from the five previous ones from his childhood.

In fact, to celebrate their 43-year anniversary, the couple plans to take a cruise boat down Europe, starting in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and making their way to Prague, Czech Republic.

“We like to travel and see new places, especially those that have some kind of historical or literary importance — London (the Tower of London, the British Museum), Stratford (Shakespeare’s hometown), Paris (the Louvre, Notre Dame), Athens, and a number of Greek islands,” he said. 

Continuing the legacy of his parents, Wiegman will also be embarking on a mission teaching trip in the summer, which is based in Havana, Cuba. 

“I think travel is a big part of my life,” Wiegman said. “I’ve had the chance to go all over the world.”

Fellow English teacher Randy Oudega, who was hired around the same time as his co-worker, said that Wiegman has been an integral part of the school community and will be missed. 

“We have done a lot of things together, so I will miss him,” Oudega said. “Though I am happy for him [as he gets] to retire and move on.” 

In the end, as a teacher of seniors, he will also be leaving the campus along with his students this year. 

“I’m at the end, they’re at the beginning of whatever they’re going to do,” Wiegman said. “I tell them that I will be graduating with them — I just won’t walk across the stage.”