In the very recent past, many long-standing educators here at NHHS have retired.
Throughout the past few years, there has been an influx of young teachers here at NHHS, in this transition, many of the older teachers have resigned, retired, or moved onto different pursuits either within the school or outside.
One figure at NHHS who will soon depart from his career here at school is Mr. Hamrick, the school librarian.
Mr. Hamrick has been working at NHHS since 2011 as a teacher librarian but has been teaching within the LAUSD school district since 1990.
He was a high school English teacher until 2001 before he began his first job as a teacher librarian at Fulton Middle School.
During his 13 years here at North Hollywood, he has seen the school change physically and saw the shift in young students with their connections to technology. Despite the obvious changes over the past 13 years he has worked here, he said that teenagers are still the same as they have always been.
Mr. Hamrick expressed his fondness for NHHS, saying, “I like the library space, our old-fashioned room where the library is being renovated now, I think it’s a beautiful space.”
He continued, “It is important to have a warm welcoming environment. Just having that space and sharing it with students has been a great joy. Opening it up every day and helping students find whatever they need in there. Compared to other schools I’ve been at, it’s been a beautiful space.”
He added his own experience saying that in his teen years, he’d spend his free time in the library, bringing it full circle that he has now been able to create a safe space for students.
“When I was in junior high school, I used to hang out in the library. It was a favorite space for me, where I felt comfortable and safe. It was a refuge of a certain kind for me and any other student. It tends to be that safe place for you. That’s one of the things that I like about the library,” he said.
Following his retirement, he plans to spend time working on his house, and spending time with his grandchildren, though he says he may continue to work later down the road if he feels that he wants to continue.
His closing statement was, “Appreciate your teachers. Your teachers are all making a sacrifice spending their entire adult lives around people who are still developing and becoming adults. Appreciate those teachers. It [teaching] is a labor of love.”
