Performing Arts teacher Andrew Villaverde will leave the school at the end of the year to teach at the Polytechnic School in Pasadena.
At Polytechnic, he will work on lighting and sound during performances.
At Harvard-Westlake, Villaverde worked with students to set up lighting and sound for assemblies.
“When I think of [Villaverde], I always think about how he can always make the best of a situation, and he is always so funny,” DJ Lesh ’18 said. “Even if it’s 5 a.m. and he and I are setting up for one of the big assemblies, or it’s midnight on a Saturday after a long show, he always is his same old kind and funny self. He and I work great together, and I definitely think things will feel very different in the theater without him.”
His students said his presence will be missed.
“I think the thing I will miss most about Mr. Villaverde is his personality,” Lesh said. “I have never met anyone so kind and open to learning than him. Even though I am younger than him and I am his student, he is always willing to listen to my ideas and sometimes he even learns from me. While there are so many small technical things he has taught me, the best thing he has ever taught me is about life itself. He has taught me a new level of respect and a great deal about how to work with others.”