WALT GRIFFIN COMES INTO THE VALLEY FOR NDHS CLASS OF 1957 REUNION.

The year was 1957 and I had just graduated from Notre Dame High; I then went on to Valley College, where I played basketball for two years. In 1959 I entered the Holy Cross Brothers order; I initially worked in Chatsworth, later, Long Beach and finally New Orleans. I left the brothers in 1968 and got a teaching job at Berylwood Elementary School, in Simi Valley, CA. In 1970 I married a wonderful English lady named Janet; whose passion was gardening. In 1972 we moved to Oak Park and I started teaching at Brookside. In 1974 we adopted our first child, Elizabeth; and in 1978 we adopted our second daughter, Olivia.
I taught at Brookside from 1972-untill 1987; I then transferred to Oak Hills elementary and retired from public school teaching in 1999. In 2001 I started teaching at Our Lady of Peace Catholic School and taught there for five years. Along the way I volunteered to help startup St. Maximilian Church. I then volunteered and started a Model RR Club, served as president of Rancho Simi Foundation, served as a member of Our Lady of Peace Justice and Peace committee, took offensive stats for Oak Park football, and I also volunteered at Home Boy Industries getting jobs for ex-gang members.
Both daughters are now grown and living away from home. Elizabeth works and lives in the San Louis Obispo area. Olivia is married to her husband Scott and lives in the Thousand Oaks area. They have a son named Cory Robert Christopher Crowther. I now live in Simi Valley and still volunteer with several organizations!