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A difficult goodbye
2/22/17
Assistant principal and Center for Advanced Technologies coordinator Peter Oberg helps sophomore Dedrell Freeman with a schedule change on Jan. 5. Oberg is retiring in the Spring after working at Lakewood High School for 27 years. “I’m not looking forward to Lakewood withdrawal. ... When you put over a quarter of a century of your life into something, it’s difficult to walk away,” he said. (GISSELLE ZAYAS | SNN)
BY ALEXIS GARCIA
SNN Staff Writer
Assistant principal and Center for Advanced Technologies coordinator Peter Oberg has worked at Lakewood High School for 27 years, but now his time is coming to an end.
Oberg is scheduled to retire sometime in the Spring, though he said he might stick around to finish some projects.
“I’m not looking forward to Lakewood withdrawal. ... When you put over a quarter of a century of your life into something, it’s difficult to walk away,” he said.
Before Oberg started working at Lakewood, he was a musician. When he first started getting into music, he said he was 16 years old and living in Connecticut.
“It started off as me playing for family, friends and at church, but eventually I grew out of that,” he said.
Oberg said his band didn’t have a name and the number of band members varied based on the gig. He said it could be anything ranging from a solo to having up to eight members.
His instrument was the keyboard and he played whatever people wanted to hear.
“The big part was the ‘70s and ‘80s for me. That’s the kind of music that paid,” he said.
Oberg was the number one person hired to play keyboards at that time.
“I got the number one jobs that paid the most - $500 a night depending upon who or what the job was,” he said
Oberg made the majority of his money playing live music at venues.
“A good portion of my income came from wedding receptions, clubs and dances, and today they all have DJs,” he said.
As the DJs started popping up, Oberg said jobs started disappearing so for a while, he even became a music contractor.
“When the shows came in, I provided contents for the show, whether it be services, instruments or musicians,” he said. “It was a job, like any job you could easily lose it and that was the thing, because these jobs were so scarce and kept getting smaller. It was your job to lose.”
The biggest venue Oberg ever contracted was one the size of the Amalie Arena in Tampa.
“It was contracted with Sinatra. I did a lot of popular groups throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s,” he said.
But as the music buisness slowed, Oberg took a job teaching chemistry at a high school in Connecticut, because he heard about a federal program that pays off student loans if you teach in a high needs subject area like science.
He was a teacher by day and a musician by night.
For two years, he balanced teaching chemistry from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and then playing music on nights and weekends.
Before he came to Lakewood, he said he was transitioning out of the music industry and into teaching.
“One of the big reasons I stopped was that I didn’t find it fun anymore. I thought teaching was fun. You have to enjoy what you do,” he said.
CAT office assistant Beverly Mitchell-Brown has known Oberg for the nine years she has been working at Lakewood.
“My favorite thing about him would be that he’s a people person. He doesn’t just focus on CAT students, he focuses on all students and he has an open door policy for students and parents,” she said.
Mitchell-Brown said she is sad Oberg is retiring.
“He’s a good person and a good administrator. It’s going to be sad to see him leave,” she said.
Oberg comes to work every day thinking about his job and responsibilities. He said he likes to think of himself as a do-er and not a complainer.
“People sit around and talk about things, but what about getting them done and making things better?” he said.
Because of this work ethic, he said he has no idea what he’ll be doing after he retires.
“To be honest, it’s one of those things I try not to think about because I’m thinking about what I’m still doing now,” he said.
As of now, he’s working on making the school better and he hopes people see that he’s optimistic and is looking for solutions.
“You always want to leave something better off than when you first started,” he said.
Oberg said when he retires he will probably miss the people the most.
Junior Zachary Blair-Andrews has known Oberg for four years and is one of the many students who will miss him. Blair-Andrews said he talks to Oberg on a regular basis.
“We mess around a lot. We joke, he’s funny and chill and I like that. That’s my favorite thing,” he said. “I don’t think of him as the vice principal. I think of him as everything. He’s the go-to really.”
Blair-Andrews said he thinks Oberg’s retirement is disappointing.
“I’m sad because he’s such a great CAT administrator. He’s always working and is an asset to the CAT program,” Blair-Andrews said.
During his freshman year, Blair-Andrews attended St. Petersburg High School and was in the International Baccalaureate program. He decided he wanted to go into the CAT program because he thinks that it’s more project based and provides more career opportunities.
“He let me into the CAT program my sophomore year. I wanted to come into CAT and he made it happen,” he said.
Despite his nickname, the “CAT daddy,” Oberg doesn’t only associate with CAT students.
Senior Cierra Lynch is not in any specific program and said Oberg has been helping her since her first year at Lakewood.
“When I have schedule conflicts or I don’t understand something in my classes or around the school, I go to him because he’s the facility manager and he always knows what’s going on,” she said.
Lynch said she likes how real Oberg is and how he helps everyone.
“He doesn’t sugar coat anything … That’s my dog. If I need something I can always go to him for help. He’s a listening ear, someone I can always go to if I’m lost,” she said.
Lynch said she is glad Oberg didn’t retire last year because he’s been so helpful.
“Every time I’m with him is a great memory and I’ll be sad to see him go,” she said.
It is not clear yet who will be replacing Oberg but principal Erin Savage and other district members are talking about some options for exactly how and when Oberg will retire.
“I have some unfinished projects that I’d like to see start. They probably won’t be finished, but I’d still like to see them on their way,” he said.
Some of these projects include school renovations surrounding areas like the gym, hub, courtyards, auditorium and the front of the school.
Overall, Oberg said his experience at Lakewood has been a good one.
“I have nothing bad to say (about Lakewood). If you’re in a place where you’re looking at the glass half empty, you need to be somewhere else,” he said.