June 24, 2008 — A desire to move to a rural area brought George Spicer to Lassen County in 1972 to work for the Office of Education as a speech therapist and he has remained for 36 years. “I always liked camping and wanted to go to an area like that, so when I graduated from college I looked into rural areas. Lassen County was the first area to offer a job, so I took it,” explained Spicer, who was raised in Orange County in Southern California.

This year he retired from his position as the special-education teacher assigned to Westwood High. During the years he has worked for Lassen County, he has been an itinerate speech therapist for two years and the rest of the time he has held positions at either Fletcher Walker Elementary or Westwood High, teaching students with learning disabilities in math, reading and writing.

Although education was not Spicer’s original career goal, it has been a good choice.

“It is neat working with the students that realize the importance of education and are looking forward to using the education to be successful in life. I guess the greatest satisfaction is working with students who really appreciate it and want to better themselves,” said Spicer.

Originally Spicer majored in forestry, hoping to be a national park ranger but soon discovered his chances of obtaining such a position were slim unless he was in the top 5 percent of his class. Working in a state park at the time required 20/20 vision, which he did not have. After learning from his sister-in-law that speech pathology was a career area that provided lots of job opportunities, he switched majors in his junior year of college.

Spicer attended Fullerton Junior College for two years and finished his education at California State University, Sacramento, where he earned a master’s degree in speech pathology.

His jobs at Westwood schools have conveniently been close to home. He has lived in Clear Creek, Chester and now makes his home at Bailey Creek.

Retirement as a special education teacher for Lassen County does not mean that Spicer will no longer be working. He decided to retire because he needed a change, but will continue to work as a substitute teacher for the Lassen County Office of Education and he will work part time for the Westwood Charter School, helping families set goals for students enrolled in this form of alternative education.

However, the change will provide more free time and he hopes to make use of it catching up on chores he couldn’t fit into his schedule before, such as painting his house. He is looking forward to gardening and keeping his yard in good shape. Also he plans to take short trips to local areas, such as Lake Tahoe and Crater Lake, as well as visit his father more often, who lives on the Rogue River near the California and Oregon border.

“I think I will be as busy as I am now. I don’t want to retire into a retirement community away from the needs of the community. There are so many needs and if I have free time, I want to contribute so I will look for ways to serve,” said Spicer.