At Del Mar, Jay Grover is known for teaching biology, IB environmental systems, and forensic science, but students might be surprised to learn about the world he inhabits outside the classroom.
“In the past, I’ve also taught earth science in this district, and I, part way through the year, took over teaching IB environmental systems,” said Grover.
Grover credits his love of science to its straightforward nature.
“Even when I was in high school and younger, I just felt like science was one of the more sort of fun subjects,” he said. “It was also one that had kind of, you know, concrete answers and processes. I wasn’t a very strong writer… Science and math were kind of my main focuses.”
But science is just one facet of Grover’s identity. When asked what Del Mar students might be surprised to learn about him, Grover replied, “I collect samurai swords and study Japanese history. That sort of goes along with trying to figure out who made a sword and how old it is and what part of the island it comes from… because they all had an effect on… why the swords were being produced.”
His passion for Japanese culture began early.
“I first maybe got involved or interested in Japanese culture in high school with anime and doing bonsais… apparently, I’ve always had a fascination with knives, even when I was extremely young.”
That interest has only deepened over the years.
“Trying to look at reference books and determine whether or not signatures are real is a large part of the hobby,” Grover explained, describing how swordsmiths’ marks are often faked and must be scrutinized.
Grover is also a longtime anime fan.
“Akira is my favorite anime movie… some of my other favorite series would be, like Ghost in the Shell, Samurai Champloo.”
In recent years, his focus has shifted to language learning.
“I’ve only listened to Spanish music for the last year and a few months or so since I tried to start [learning Spanish]… it’s really kind of fun, because basically for any style or genre of music, there’s also some sort of equivalent Spanish bands and artists out there.”
A favorite quote of his comes not from a modern source, but from a samurai-era philosophy.
“It comes from the book Hagakure, which… was a time of sort of cultural change in Japan, and the old ways of the samurai were sort of fading out,” he said. “I just think that that sort of idea that, like, the world is always changing… but really it’s more sort of just about your way of life fading out and a new way of life sort of taking over and moving in.”
Teaching seems to run in Grover’s blood.
“Three of my four grandparents were teachers. Two of my three aunts were teachers… my dad was… interested in natural resource interpretation and being a park ranger, which… has some educational components to it,” he said. “I’ve always liked working with kids. And, you know, it’s a really difficult job, but it could also be really rewarding. You know, when it’s a good job, it’s the best, and when it’s a bad job, it… could be one of the worst.”
And though he didn’t always plan to be a teacher, fate had a funny way of showing him the path.
“I actually had kind of a crazy high school teacher my sophomore year who made us write a letter to ourselves that she then held onto for 10 years and mailed it to our parents… in that letter… I mentioned that I might like to be a teacher or a lawyer.”
Today, Grover continues to explore new interests—from sharpening Japanese cooking knives to staying active through biking and tennis.
“Being able to stay, you know, somewhat physically in shape is important in this job, because a lot of it is indoors and not very active,” he noted.
Grover’s story is a reminder that educators are often much more than meets the eye—and that passion for learning doesn’t end at the classroom door.
