Schools

Peninsula Science Teacher Headed to Afghanistan

Jonathan Stamper is scheduled to leave today for training before heading to Afghanistan.

When Jonathan Stamper received word he'd have to head back to a war zone, the Peninsula science teacher and Army Reserve sergeant felt panicked by a particular detail—his date of departure.

Listed as Jan. 9, a little more than a week before exams, Stamper was well aware of the bad timing.

“They originally wanted me to leave Jan. 9,” he recalled. “I said, ‘That’s a no-go. I have to do finals, I have to finish the semester.’”

Find out what's happening in Palos Verdeswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After successfully pushing the date back, the physics and chemistry teacher worked up until the last minute to prepare students for finals and administer the tests, finally saying goodbye to students and staff Jan. 20.

“That’s the type of person he is,” Peninsula Principal Mitzi Cress said. “He is a professional. Very, ‘Yes ma’am, yes sir.’ Just a gentleman.”

Find out what's happening in Palos Verdeswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Scheduled to leave today for training on the East Coast, Stamper will head to Afghanistan sometime in April and is slated to stay about a year. He’ll work in Civil Affairs, or what he calls “the Peace Corps side of the Army."

“You’re helping the people,” he said. “Not going out looking for the bad guys.”

Stamper said he’ll most likely work with local mayors, and on projects such as new schools.

This isn’t the first time Stamper has had to leave the pop quizzes and chalkboards behind. He was deployed to Iraq in January 2010 for one year. Still settling in from his return, Stamper said he knew being deployed again was “always a possibility.”

“You kind of prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” he said. “That’s just being in the Army. … U.S. Army stands for ‘U.S. ain’t released me yet.’”

A second chance

Enrolled in Army ROTC in college, Stamper had plans to join the military when he finished school. A lack of job offerings in the field eventually led him to teaching. Now his 20-year career includes the past six years at Peninsula.

Decades after his college graduation, Stamper’s father asked if his son regretted his decision to not serve the country. And what might have seemed like a missed opportunity at the time actually led Stamper to another shot at his former goal.

In 2006, a student came into class in his uniform and told Stamper the enlistment age had gone up to 42. At 41, Stamper was shocked to learn he still had a shot. He began pursuing his enlistment the next day.

“There my second chance came up,” he said. “By the time I took the oath, I was about a month away from my 42nd birthday.”

His father didn’t live to see him deployed, but Stamper tried to let him know in a different way.

“I said a prayer,” he said. “‘Dad, there’s my second chance.’”

Little victories

In Iraq, Stamper worked on agricultural projects. He worked with farmers and conducted inspections of greenhouses and livestock distributions. He said what he learned there has given more meaning to the material he teaches in the classroom.

“Your perspective of preparing [students] to survive in the world is altered,” he said. “You need to be an effective communicator and a lifelong learner.”

Stamper remembers the small victories in Iraq, which included times when he checked up on local farmers and learned their crops had grown. But Stamper said he also serves in part for his students.

“The whole point is to go there and try to clean things up … (so) we don’t have to come back,” he said. “I’m doing it so that these students, so that their kids, don’t have to go there and die."

And as he heads to Afghanistan, Stamper will be armed with one new tool to keep his mind off the “ugliness, destruction and death” of the war zone—his new Kindle.

“I was the guy who would use the library on the base,” the Hermosa Beach resident said of his time in Iraq.

This time, he’ll bring the gift from his wife to read works from some of his favorite authors, like Jack London.

Cress said the school will try to keep in touch with Stamper while he’s away.

“I don’t have children over there, I don’t have friends over there, he’s my connection,” she said. “I read it in the newspaper, I hear the stories, he brings it to life for me. … It’s real.”

Stamper plans to return to the same classroom at Peninsula at the end of his service. He said the first day back, while it will be a relief, will still give him the jitters.

“Every year you have those first day butterflies in your stomach,” he said. “… I’ll be back.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here