List of 12 frequently asked questions.

  • My primary roles at Thacher

    I am the director of the Golden Trout Wilderness School in the Sierra Nevada.

  • What my students call me

    Spauldo.

  • I knew I wanted to work at Thacher when

    I visited Golden Trout in the fall of 2001 on a trans-Sierra backpacking trip.

  • Favorite Thacher teaching moment

    Impossible to pick out one. 

  • Favorite job perk

    Soft-serve ice cream and living in the Sierra and in Ojai. 

  • When not in the classroom I can be found

    In the wilderness. 

  • Favorite place at Thacher

    Outdoor Chapel. 

  • Favorite places on earth

    The Sierra Nevada, the Big Island (Hawaii), and the confluence of the Clearwater and Big Blackfoot Rivers in Montana.  

  • Hardly anybody knows that

    I once worked as a florist. 

  • The book, movie, work of art, or piece of music I cannot imagine life without

    Hmmm. East of Eden, The Big Lebowski, the foxtail pine, and Blood on the Tracks.

  • What I wanted to be when I grew up (when I was 10)

    A marine biologist. 

  • What I want to be when I grow up (now)

    Self-sufficient.
A college preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12
5025 Thacher Road
Ojai, California, 93023
Tel: 805-646-4377 Fax: 805-646-9490 Email: info@thacher.org 
Thacher is committed to maintaining an atmosphere of respect and dignity free from harassment. Our school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, and ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, or any other characteristics protected by state or federal law in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, tuition assistance, and athletic and other school-administered programs, or any other basis in law.