By Keane Muraoka-Robertson
Five Middle School faculty members and Upper School English teacher Jennifer Raphael will not return next fall. Departing Middle School faculty members include Technical Director Will Adashek ’01, Associate Director of Admission and Enrollment Manager Davin Bergquist, part-time librarian Juliana Goitein, math teacher Garrett Stern and English teacher Jill Turner.
Will Adashek ’01
Adashek will be leaving to work professionally as a light designer and cinematographer.
He oversaw the technical and production elements of performing arts events and assemblies at the Middle School. He also taught Stagecraft and Advanced Stagecraft classes.
“I will miss working with my students the most,” Adashek said. “I am tremendously impressed by their ability to think as designers, and especially by their ability to work with the advanced equipment in our amazing facilities. I am proud of the work we did together these last few years.”
Jill Turner
Turner, who has taught English at Harvard-Westlake for six years, will be leaving to take care of her 3 year old son. Turner taught at both the Upper School and Middle School during her tenure at the school.
“Our second son was born with a very rare medical condition called TEF/EA,” Turner said. “He has experienced most of the complications that go along with it. While he’s doing really well, the next couple of years are going to be full of a number of medical challenges for him,” she said. “I’m going to be focusing on him, his medical appointments and our other 6-year old son.”
Davin Bergquist
Next year, Bergquist will serve as the Associate Director of College Counseling at the Cambridge School of Weston, an independent secondary school located outside of Boston, Mass. Though he enjoyed his time at Harvard-Westlake, Bergquist said that Los Angeles clashed with the East Coast dynamic of his childhood. Bergquist managed school enrollment, interviewed and evaluated prospective students, taught a summer school class on writing college essays and advised Choices and Challenges classes.
“This is a really remarkable place,” Bergquist said. “I am lucky to have been a part of this community.”
