Physics teacher Bill Drennan has touched the lives of countless students in the classroom, on the wrestling mat and on the golf course. For 35 years, he has challenged students them to open their minds and think outside the box, but at the end of this year he is retiring.
“I think that we are losing a huge personality in the science department. He is just such a character; he is a legend,” science teacher Kristen Thomson said. “No one can replace him, no one can come close to him, he’s just a legend and it’s definitely the end of an era.”
Where did he come from?
Drennan was hired to Saratoga in 1976; it was the only teaching job he had ever applied for.
He was hired primarily as a wrestling coach who would also teach math. Reflecting on his time at the school, Drennan noted how much the the place has changed.
“Priorities have radically changed through the years. The school is much much more academic now than it used to be,” he said. “As much as I value athletics—that’s where I learned my most valuable lessons in my life—no question, academics have to come first.”
Drennan was inspired to get his teaching credential when, as a young man, he worked at a school for wards of the state and witnessed how they were mistreated by the owner of the school. He wanted to be able to help them and he dreamed of one day starting his own school for these kids. Drennan attended UC Los Angeles on a wrestling scholarship and later got his teaching credential from UC Santa Barbara.
Since he started at the school, Drennan has taught 10 different classes; everything from Algebra 2, Geometry, General Math and Science to Chemistry. Drennan currently teaches his favorite subject, AP Physics.
According to Drennan, his retirement has been a long time coming and “it’s about time.”
The Drennan experience
Students who have been in his class have mixed feelings about his teaching style but most agree that the “Drennan experience” is very unique.
“It is so sad that he’s retiring because no one will truly appreciate the ‘Drennan experience,’” senior Kent Paisley, who has known him well from his years on the golf team. “It’s kind of an important thing to go through, in my opinion.”
Drennan is best known for the famous stories that he tells. Yet Drennan stories are more than just entertaining. According to Drennan, his stories are part of his teaching strategy.
“I get their attention, then I throw in some physics. They start fading away and I’ll tell a story and get their attention and I’ll throw in some more physics,” he said. “So it’s not just getting off subject, that’s how I get more out of the classroom.”
According to Drennan, students prefer stories where Drennan gets “humiliated and degraded,” like in his popular “worst day” story.
Drennan’s favorite story that he tells is about how he got his first dog, Hermes.
“First time I ever saw him he knew, absolutely knew he was going to be my dog. He broke out of the house where he’d lived all of his life—he was six months old—and chased my car down the road. He jumped through my window of my Volkswagon Bug, first time I’d ever seen this dog in my life.”
Three months later Drennan adopted this dog when it turned up at the pound. According to Drennan, the dog would run all the way from Drennan’s house to school and wipe his feet at the door before he entered the classroom.
“I like dogs better than humans. After my family I think my dog would have come next.”
In addition to the stories, Drennan engages with his students through other antics. Before he had back surgery, Drennan would run, jump and kick the celling of his classroom.
“I taunted my students for so many years before my surgeries. When I could compete with them, I could beat them all,” he said. “They were foolish enough to make a bet and if they didn’t want to lick chalk [as punishment for losing the bet], I never made anybody [do it], but they made a bet.”
At a retirement part, superintendent Cary Matsuoka presented Drennan with a ceiling tile to honor his tradition of breaking lights and ceiling tiles while kicking the ceiling.
“I would like to thank the science department and administration for tolerating me. They’ve left me alone to a large degree because they know I’m gonna do the job so they let me go do it.”
A passion for teaching
Although he likes to joke around, he truly loves teaching. He believes that there is not only one correct method of teaching.
“I think a big mistake [educators] are making is using teaching strategies, now they want every one to teach the same, well we are not all the same, my way [of teaching] is my own way and it’s the best [way] for me and my students.”
In his class, he values a combination of learning and fun. In his end of year evaluation he ask students three questions: “How much did you learn?”, “How much did you enjoyed it?” and “how hard did you work?”
Not all students appreciate Drennan’s style of teaching, but despite criticism, many defend his methods, believing that his class offers experiences and lessons.
“When kids hear that they have Mr. Drennan for physics they think it’s a joke and don’t even really give him a chance,” said senior Keerti Shukla, a current student of Drennan . “If you really pay attention, I think you can learn a lot for him. You just have to give him that chance to teach you.”
Coach Drennan
Drennan coached wrestling for his first three years at Saratoga. In that time the team improved drastically, going from last place in the league to second place at Regionals.
Drennan had to stop coaching wrestling when he had a kidney transplant, but his passion for the sport lives on.
“Wrestling I know probably better than anything in the world,” he said.
Drennan helped reintroduce golf to the school when he started a golf club, and later, a school team in 1991. He has been coaching boys’ golf ever since.
“Drennan is one crazy [guy] but it’s important for the golf team to have a guy like that because golf is a game of nerves. He does a very good job of making everyone laugh with his antics,” said Paisley, who has been golfing since his freshman year.
Drennan has developed close relationships with many of his athletes such as Paisley.
“I think the closest relationships come through coaching,” he said. “There’s just certain things when you’re working physically hard, there’s a certain connection that happens there.”
Plans for retirement
Drennan does not yet know exactly what he will do after he retires.
“I might just not do anything at all for about a half a year and just get used to what life’s like without the pressure,” he said.
Throughout the year, he has been working hard to stay in good physical shape after three back surgeries.
“[I am] just getting healthy and staying fit so I can do whatever I want, enjoy this time. I can’t wait. I don’t know what it’s going to be like not having that pressure.”
Although he does not have an exact plan, Drennan has many hobbies that he would like to continue to pursue. He plays three-cushion billiards and loves to shoot pool. He also plans to play golf and work on projects around his property where “there’s always a lot to do.”
Drennan has taken several surveying classes and is considering becoming a surveyor.
“I like that kind of stuff outdoors; I can take my dog with me,” he said.
He doesn’t want to stop teaching and hopes to continue to teach through private tutoring and golf instruction.
“I’ve always liked coming to class, but other things to do with teaching I’m not really fond of,” he said. “If I just [spent time in the classroom] and nothing else then I’d probably keep teaching.”
Although he will miss aspects of teaching, Drennan feels that he is leaving on a positive note.
“I’m very very happy right now. Looking back, you know you have good years and bad years but over all I feel proud and I’ve had a lot of kids come back and tell me nice things, this year especially,” he said.
A legacy of “speaking truth to power”
Drennan hopes that he leaves a legacy by teaching his students to “speak truth to power” by “standing up and speaking out” when they believe something isn’t right and training them to question everything.
”I’ve always said that I think it’s so important that students see teachers as models of courage. I hope I’ve made them question—and I don’t just mean laws of physics. I mean what their contribution to the world is; how their life is going to make the planet better or worse.”
Drennan practices what he preaches at school as part of his legacy. He is known for speaking up when he feels that something is not right. This passion for questioning and teaching is Drennan’s greatest legacy at Saratoga.
“I’m not sure if I’m ever going to find someone so passionate about things as him,” Thomson said. “I’ve had some great discussions with him and I think he is definitely one of the smartest people that I know. I will miss him and his antics.”
