Dr. Steven Drouin is a history teacher at Tracy High and he enjoys spending time with his family, eating food, and going to parks. If he was not teaching at all, he says he would most likely be selling shoes.

What is your favorite style of music? “I guess it would be categorized as indie rock. I do not like all types of music, there are some types that I find absolutely repulsive. For example, I’m not a huge fan of almost any form of country. I do like Johnny Cash who some would consider him as country, but I consider him as punk.”

Who is your favorite artist? “One of my favorite bands, they’re called Cursive, is an indie rock band that had a cello player. I also like old Arcade Fire and indie rock bands that use orchestral instruments.”

What is you favorite song? “The song that just came to mind is from a band called Godspeed You! Black Emperor and they have a song called ‘Moya’ which is the most beautiful piece of music that I have ever heard in my entire existence. There are no words, but it’s just absolutely fantastic.”

What’s your idea of a perfect day? “It would be driving with my family to go eat La Notes in Berkeley and then going to a park to hang out with my family. After that we would go have Cheese Board Pizza, which is also in Berkeley. Then we would go over to San Francisco and go over to a park, probably Dolores Park, and would eat at either El Farolito or Papalote. Then we would go have Mitchell’s Ice Cream and probably go to another park.”

What do you love most about your job? “I like helping people learn about themselves and help them become critical consumers of knowledge. I’m a huge fan of democracy and the only way democratic styles of government works is if people are smart and can make decisions on their own. I love it when my students debate and come to new understandings about various issues.”

What is the most difficult part of your job? “I receive lots of praise from students and colleagues, but I think that there are lots of ways that the system of education will tell me that I am not of importance. When the school district doesn’t value my opinion or doesn’t help share power with me that makes me feel powerless as a teacher, especially when it comes to creating structural changes. I have a lot of power over my classroom and what we do, but there is not a lot that I can do to deal with other situations outside of my classroom. I feel like I should do something, but I don’t know how because I don’t have the power to do so which frustrates me.”

Any hobbies you enjoy doing outside of school? “I like to play music with my friends, we were in a band in college. Since then, we currently like to write music that goes with movies. I used to sing, but I’m not very fond of singing anymore, so this gives me a way of making music without having to sing.”

What is the best trip you ever took? “A couple summers ago my family and I went to Belgium for a week and rented a house. We drove around, went to parks, and ate. We also went a visited my wife’s pen pal and they showed us around. We basically went on a road trip in Europe and it was awesome.”

Where would you like to travel in the world and why? “I would like to go on a really interesting tour of Mexico. I think it sucks that Mexico has so much political and social instability and it makes me really sad because their food is delicious, their people are wonderful, and the sights are beautiful.”

What super power would you like to have? “I would want the super power to make people be able to see other people’s perspectives on issues.”

What are some of your biggest fears? “Everything involved with being a parent to your children, like seeing them get hurt and other bad things happening to them. Them inheriting the world that we have almost destroyed, all of it is horrendously depressing.”

What is the best advice you have ever received? “That you don’t have to be smart, you just have to work really hard to achieve success. I don’t consider myself to be a very intelligent person, but I have worked very hard and kept working at what I wanted.”