On May 22, English teacher David Kinberg will flick off the lights to his classroom in G-2 and close the door for the last time. After 32 years at Oak Park High School, he will be retiring from his position as an English teacher.
If you had the privilege of visiting his classroom, you know that the now empty walls were once filled with hundreds if not thousands of pictures of students, baseball, environmental advocacy posters, books and more. His room was a reflection of the various parts of who he is and what he has done with this school.
Kinberg’s class is located in G-building, alongside the history teachers. Naturally, he’s become extremely close with them.
“In our lunchroom, I’ve sat across from him for the last 29 years,” history teacher Eric Pryor said. “I’ll miss all those times, just seeing him almost every day. That’ll be a hard adjustment.”
Students will also miss Kinberg. The lessons he taught didn’t end with a diploma; they are carried beyond the doors of his classroom in the hearts of those who listened.
Alumni Adin Guata, a student that took both Kinberg’s Environmental Literature and Cinematic Texts classes, still sees Kinberg as his favorite teacher.
Kinberg has been in the Conejo Valley since 1973, graduating from Newbury Park High School in 1985. He has witnessed the evolution of the Oak Park community, from new construction to new people. You can imagine the community he’s built in that time.
“I can’t go to the grocery store, or out to a restaurant, or to Home Depot, or any place without running into my family, or friends, or people I went to high school with, or former students, or current students,” Kinberg said.
As the oldest of five siblings, he treasures his family and how close they have remained throughout their lives. Four of his siblings still live in the Conejo Valley, and they frequently host family dinners and get-togethers.
“If somebody doesn’t know me, they know my brothers, or they know my sisters, or they know my mom,” said Kinberg. “My moms in the area, she substitute teaches here (OPHS) and has for 23 years.”
Before becoming a teacher, Kinberg spent his college years at San Diego State University. He is very proud to be an SDSU alumni and still refers to the school as the “greatest university on the face of the earth.” He received his undergraduate, graduate and teaching credentials all from SDSU. He also found the love of his life on campus.
In his first year of college, when moving into his dorm, he was instantly starstruck by a woman that was in line to move into the same dorm building.
“I saw her and decided I was going to marry her,” said Kinberg.
It took Kinberg four weeks to get his wife to go out with him, but she finally said yes, and they have been married now for 36 years.
After getting his teaching credential from SDSU, Kinberg taught at OPHS and also coached baseball. While Kinberg has not coached baseball for the past two seasons he still holds a deep respect and love for the sport.
“His most talked about subject is baseball, by far,” history teacher Dr. Victor Anderson said. “But he has opinions on nearly everything. He is truly a literary renaissance man.”
Outside of teaching and coaching, you will find Kinberg at the beach.
“He’s always at the beach,” Pryor said. “I mean he pretty much lives at the beach. If I see him off campus, I’d have to go to the beach to see him. He loves surfing.”
Kinberg has been surfing since he was 15-years-old and is planning on spending a large part of his retirement surfing. As a vegetarian, he enjoys cooking and has become quite creative with his meals.
While Kinberg will be missed, for him, it’s time to move on.
“He said just today that ‘he is ready for the pasture,’” Anderson said. “Meaning he wants to spend more time surfing with his family and grandkids.”
Kinberg is excited for the next chapter.
“I am super excited—thrilled about it,” Kinberg said. “I’m going to miss Oak Park, but I have a lot of other things I want to do. I want to surf almost every day. I want to just read as much as I can read. I want to take a bunch of cooking classes and language classes. I want to travel, and I want to spend as much time as I can with my wife and my family.”
His parting advice:
“Get out and risk failure,” Kinberg said. “The people who get to do the cool stuff in life are the people who go out and do the cool stuff. They don’t sit there and wait for life to happen to them. They seek opportunities. They don’t wait for somebody to tell them or ask them to do something.”
