He was a lawyer and then a miniature-model maker. Those careers for Hal Sanford were a good way to make a living, but they didn’t bring him the same happiness he experiences today.
If you spend a class session or talk to him for a few minutes it is evident Sanford has a passion for teaching speech. He has taught speech at Santa Rosa Junior College since 1994. If it’s up to him he will teach until the day he decides to retire. “If I could push a button and only do one thing, it would be teaching speech and forensics,” Sanford says.
Sanford teaches different types of speech classes, and coaches SRJC’s speech and debate team. He is a representative for the Academic Senate and a member of the Mass Communication Task Force on campus. He uses his experience and knowledge to get the most out of his students and forensic team members.
Sanford grew up in Glenbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. At Glenbrook High, Sanford joined the debate team, and struggled at first to build a compelling argument. “A debater from another school walked up to me and looked at my tiny recipe card evidence box, and said, ‘Ah, Sanford, you’re not smart enough to be a debater. Why don’t you find something else to do, loser,’” Sanford says.  His struggles continued until he met a man who believed in him.
George Stege was the teacher who molded Sanford into a good debater. Sanford credits Stege with spending as much time as was needed to improve his debating skills. Stege had such an impact on Sanford’s debating skills that Sanford became Illinois state champion his senior year. One of the schools that Sanford and his partner defeated along the way to the championship was the school of the debater who called Sanford a loser.
Just as Stege went out of his way to make sure Sanford’s debating skills continued to improve. Sanford wants to go the extra mile for his students.
Current student Sophia Lufrano  notices Saford’s dedication.  “I never felt comfortable speaking in front of an audience, but after a debate, Hal offered to meet with me to discuss my anxiety about speaking in front of an audience. That gesture alone makes me more comfortable.”
Sanford received a Bachelor’s of Science from Northwestern University in speech, and a law degree from University of Southern California.
Sanford became a litigation lawyer at a prestigious law firm in Los Angeles and after a few years decided being a lawyer wasn’t the right fit. His next career choice could not have been more different.
He decided to get into modeling. Not “runway modeling,”  Sanford jokes, but building miniature models. His new career choice turned into a book titled “The Illustrated Modelaholic.” Sanford says, “It basically speaks to the addiction of collecting and building models.”
His new career path took him on a journey building miniature models for films and music videos. Sanford clients included high profile celebrities like Michael Jackson and James Cameron.
The music videos he worked on for Jackson were “Smooth Criminal” and “Leave Me Alone.” “In Smooth Criminal, I helped construct a huge death-ray laser gun positioned inside a mountain, manned by actor Joe Pesci,” Sanford says. His work for James Cameron was on the Oscar-winning film, “The Abyss.”
When his wife became pregnant with their daughter, they decided they didn’t want to raise a child in Los Angeles. He moved to Santa Rosa in 1991 and needed to find another job because of the lack of filmmaking in Santa Rosa. He returned to law for a brief time before taking a “self evaluation,” and concluded teaching would make him the happiest.
He first started teaching at Sonoma State University in the Upward Bound program, classes focused on teaching first generation college students from low-income families. His job at Sonoma State led him to his current position at SRJC, which he loves.
Sanford says the most gratifying parts of the job are watching students grow in their speaking abilities and interacting with other students. “I appreciate the importance of shared governance and I take seriously my work on the Academic Senate and committees,” Sanford says. “However, interacting with students is what it’s all about.” He wants to give students the confidence to believe in themselves, and the skills to make that confidence not a mere empty affirmation.
He knows speaking front of a group makes many people uncomfortable. One former student refused to get up in front of the class and give a speech due to stage fright. What bothered the student so much was that everybody would be looking at her. Sanford wanted to make her go through with it. “I asked the students to put their heads down while she was giving her speech. ‘I told her, See, nobody is looking, proceed.’ She went on to give her speech.”
Sanford asks his class at the beginning of the semester to raise their hands if they are uncomfortable giving speeches in public. He is one of the people who raises a hand. It is a method that helps put students at ease from the beginning. “He took off the pressure of getting up and he made me feel like I would be fine if I put forth my best effort,” Justin Brown, an SRJC student said.
Sanford has heard countless speeches in his years at SRJC. “My classroom is a safe zone for students to explore their lives.”  He has listened to revealing speeches about addiction, rape, prison life and physical abuse. “Especially in Speech 1A and Speech 60, I like students to choose their own subjects because that’s where their interests lie. I provide the techniques for them to effectively express their insights.”
There is one particular speech that draws a tearful response from Sanford. The speech topic by a student was about practicing safe sex. The student had props like a condom and a banana and started talking about safe sex methods. She gets to the middle of her speech and tells the class that she contracted the AIDS virus. The student was taking the class for guidance in delivering effective speeches, so she could educate people about practicing safe-sex. It reinforces to Sanford that he made the correct career choice. “I really believe in what I do.”
Humor in the classroom is also very important to Sanford sometimes hops over tables instead of simply walking around them. If you ask a question, he might walk to where you are sitting and talk to you face to face. “I like how he brings humor into his classroom through interactions and conversations beyond just lecturing,” Brown says.
Of his use of humor, Sanford says, “My job is not to scare people, but to empower them.” What you see in the classroom from Sanford is what you get outside of SRJC, he says, “much to the embarrassment of my wife and daughter.”
It is skills and teaching philosophies like this that led him to receive two prestigious awards for his contributions to forensics. In 2010, he was voted “Coach of the Year” by coaches from the Northern California Forensics Association. The other award he received that year means the most to him. It is the Collie-Taylor coaching award, based on a student vote by all competitors at the Phi Rho Pi community college national championships.
In his down time, Sanford loves playing the guitar. He used to play in a band called the “Ultimate Staple,” a cover band that played a lot of Jimi Hendrix tunes. His biggest gig with the “Ultimate Staple” was playing the United Service Organizations in Chicago.
While Sanford’s life has followed many different paths, nothing seems to bring more joy than being an educator. “When I look back on my 17 years of teaching, I’m grateful for how much my students have taught me. They have stimulated my mind, warmed my heart and touched my soul. There is no more rewarding contribution than helping people achieve their potential. That is what teaching is all about.”