Ben Cassel

Ben Cassel is a theatre teacher and director at Sweetwater High School in National City, CA. He was born in Chula Vista, California, the fifth child of Milo and Helen (Coble) Cassel. He made his stage debut in a little theatre production of "All the Way Home" in 1966. He graduated from Hilltop High School in 1972. While attending nearby Southwestern College as a Theatre major, he played small, forgettable roles in Dogs (1977) and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978) He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1977-1981, at Kadena Air Base on the island of Okinawa, Japan, and at Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane, Washington. While stationed at Fairchild, he completed his degree in English from Eastern Washington University. Returning to California, he began his teaching career, and continued to work in various capacities in community theatre. He is also active in union work, serving on the Board of Directors and Bargaining Team of his local, Sweetwater Education Association, as well as the California State Council of Education and the National Education Association Representative Assembly. He has also worked for humanitarian causes, including Water Station, an organization that places emergency water along highways, desert roads and migrant trails along the U.S.-Mexico border in California. He worked as a volunteer in 2005, then served on the Board of Directors for two years, and then was President for three years. During that time, he was awarded the Cesar Chavez Si Se Puede Human Rights Award from California Teachers Association, and appeared in The Tinaja Trail (2014), a documentary about the humanitarian crisis at the border.