History teacher Drew Maddock has fulfilled his various interests throughout his life. He was arrested in communist Czechoslovakia, got “clean for Gene” while campaigning for Senator Eugene McCarthy in 1968 and taught 28 years at Harvard-Westlake. He will retire at the end of this year.
“I’ve been teaching for 46 years,” Maddock said. “That’s enough teaching, I think. My kids have finished their educations and are out of the house, and now [my wife and I are] sitting around staring at each other, and I think it’s just time to go.”
In addition to teaching United States history classes, Maddock also teaches AP World History, which has been canceled for next year.
Maddock said his favorite part about working at Harvard-Westlake was the students, and that he will miss teaching them every day.
“Being in a classroom is actually fun if you’re talking about something interesting,” Maddock said. “That’s actually the most fun of all.”
Maddock has lived through some of the material he teaches in class. He said that his opinions are part of a wholesome teaching experience and that he encourages his students to share their opinions, even if they are different than his own.
“I’m happy to say who I campaigned for in an election or what I thought,” Maddock said. “We’re all people, we all have opinions, so let’s talk about them. The teacher who punishes you for having opinions is what we don’t want.”
Although Maddock has no specific plans for his retirement, he wants to travel with his wife.
“My wife and I have talked a bit about traveling,” Maddock said. “She wants to go to Europe for a long time, not just a week or two, and you can do it when you retire.”
He said that he would like to revisit Asia and take a road trip across America as well as continuing to pursue his hobbies, which include reading books from his “enormous” home library and working on an old British MGB sports car.
Students said that they will miss Maddock next year.
“He had a great ability to bring history to life for our class and make it a truly immersive experience, and I’m really sad I won’t get to take [AP] World History with him next year,” Aidan Luscinski ’17 said.
