Born and raised in Fullerton, California, Mr. Lively spent the majority of his youth on the athletic fields and in the mountains, but from a very early age, he has been most fascinated with the events and people of our past. While in elementary school, he would often secretly, and sometimes not so secretly, read his history textbook during math lessons, and after acing his high school history courses, Mr. Lively continued his exploration of the social sciences at UCLA, where he earned a double major in History and the Study of Religion. During his time at UCLA, Mr. Lively spent two stints abroad, one in Rome and the second in Oxford; the latter of which inspired Mr. Lively to pursue a graduate degree at one of the oldest universities in the world. While in England, Mr. Lively earned his Master’s in Historical Research by illuminating the theological roots of seventeenth century English universalists, and most impressively, he did it all while wearing fancy ‘Harry Potter’ robes. When trying to decide whether to continue his education at Oxford or become a high school teacher, Mr. Lively remembered back to the time when he famously scared a bear away from a group of teenage scouts while he was a backcountry ranger. It was this moment that made him realize that just as he saved these boy scouts from a big, scary bear, he had a mission to save future high school students from the big, scary thought of undervaluing their social science educations. Since AP European History happened to be his favorite course in high school, Mr. Lively now had a clear vision of his dream job. After returning home, Mr. Lively earned his teaching credential from Cal State Fullerton and subsequently was offered his first teaching position and fortuitously his dream job at La Canada High School...the rest, as they say, is history!