As Scott Guttentag leaves Dos Pueblos High School, his impact is being widely appreciated by students, staff, and alumni. His contributions to DPHS over his 36 years of service were celebrated at his retirement party on May 22.
The party, which was held in the newly dedicated Scott Guttentag Greek Theater, drew many members of the DPHS and Santa Barbara community. Current students and staff, former colleagues of Guttentag, and alumni from all places and ages gathered together.
“I worked with Scotty very closely from 1996 to 2009,” former colleague Lori Hill Dun said. “I don’t think there’s one person that can fill his role at DP… but I’m super thrilled for him that he is moving on, and that he’s moving on in his own terms, he’s contributed so much and I know that he’s proud of what he’s done and we are all proud of him too.”
The party began around 5:30 p.m., with attendees greeted and served drinks by student volunteers and staff members who independently planned the event. There were also many food vendors servicing attendees at the Greek, including Thiago’s Brazilian Barbeque and Kona Ice. Several activities were also set up, with options to leave Guttentag an audio message via telephone, sign a memory book or streamer, and watch several hundred videos of people voicing their appreciation for Guttentag.
Guttentag had an impact on student life at DPHS through his work as Director of Student Leadership and Activities. While many former students arrived at the party, there were also many older alumni from before Guttentag started working at DPHS who appreciated the way he had contributed to the school, as well as current students who will graduate without him.
“[Guttentag] brings this whole school together, he organizes events, he makes stuff happen, he makes DP the school it is,” James Hogg (9) said. “One of the great things I’ve been doing with him was all those varsity football games on Friday nights. He and I would stay late and help clean up, and it’s with this really incredible team. After a long week of doing stuff, actually doing hard work and being happy every day, he still shows up with a smile on his face.”
At 7:00 p.m., once most guests had arrived and eaten, the presentations commemorating Guttentag began. Principal Bill Woodard gave a speech introducing the work Guttentag has done and called him up to the stage of the amphitheater.
“This is certainly Scotty’s happiest place on earth, the Scott Gutentag Greek Theater,” Woodard said. “Decades and decades of students and staff have felt his joy, his love, his devotion, his care, his energy, he has been the heart and soul of this
institution for many, many years, as long as I’ve been here. When I got here in 2004 we were between principals, and everybody just said, ‘Go see Scott for everything. [Can’t] remember my room? Go see Scott. Where do I go? See Scott. Just go see Scott.’ And then that was the way it worked for my whole entire career.”
After Woodard’s speech, the heads of the DPHS Associated Student Body came on stage to share how Guttentag impacted them and the leadership class through his direction.
“Scott has had an immense impact on me. I’ve been working with him for the past four years, which is over a fifth of my lifetime, which is kind of crazy to think about,” ASB President Justin Ji (12) said. “As high schoolers, we’re in that intersection between being awkward teenagers and fully fledged adults, and Scott really helped make that transition possible. Scott, he’s an incredibly patient and mature person, and seeing him interact with other students, it really rubbed off on me.”
To top off the party and Guttentag’s years of work, DPNews screened their documentary on him and his legacy at DPHS.
“As the doors to his office lock one last time, a legendary Goleta chapter comes to a close,” the video said in closing. “To generations of students, he is certainly Mr. DP.”
