About Andy Allan

I was born in San Mateo (with an identical twin), in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1959. I attended schools in Hillsborough until moving to Stockton in 1973. I graduated from Stagg High School in Stockton in 1977, and received my bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1982. During the next few years I worked as a teacher/counselor with severely emotionally disturbed teenagers at the Hobb's Landing RE-ED program located on the Devereux Foundation campus in Isla Vista. It was the best possible training for my future in the classroom, though I did not realize it at the time.

Eventually, I decided to pursue a career in teaching, combining my love of science with the satisfaction that I get from working with teenagers. I returned to UCSB in 1985 to get my teaching credential in Life Sciences and Physical Sciences. With credential in hand, I signed my first contract with Visalia Unified Schools and began my first year in public schools at the age of 27.

I taught at Mt. Whitney High School from 1986 to 2003. During that time I taught Health Science, Earth Science, Chemistry, Biology, and the first AP Chemistry course at Mt. Whitney. In addition to teaching, I coached football as well as Track and Field. In 2003 I began teaching at El Diamante High School. Both schools are located in Visalia (pop. 120,000), at the center of California's agriculturally rich Central Valley. I retired from teaching in June 2019. Despite having retired, I continue to maintain and add to this website. I hope that you find it useful.

My family currently consists of myself, my wife Lori, our daughter, Madison, our dogs Onyx, Bonny, and Tucker, as well as cats named Socks and Simba. All of my animals are rescued strays. The dogs we adopted from Central Valley Rescue Railroad. The cats both found us. In my free time, I enjoy working out, and cycling, reading, and playing the guitar as well as some bluegrass and clawhammer banjo.