The World According to Gilbert: Meet Harley Alum and Middle School History Teacher, Doug Gilbert '87

Middle School History Teacher, Doug Gilbert

Meet Harley alumnus, Middle School History teacher, intrepid globe trekker, and all-round bundle of energy, Doug Gilbert.

Middle School history teacher Doug Gilbert

“You guys better know your Zheng He from your Hong Xiuquan!” quips history teacher Doug Gilbert to his 8th grade class. In his classroom, you might also hear him say, “Pay special attention to current events this year, because you will be telling your grandchildren about the Election of 2016.” Doug says, “We talk about current events a great deal–too much, some students would say. But an essential goal of this course is to open their eyes to the broader world.”

Another day, the group holds a formal debate on communism vs. capitalism. The class chatters boisterously, but as calm descends, the debate begins. He makes an encouraging comment after each student gives his or her argument. “You spoke slowly and clearly—very good.” Or, “I liked that little bit of passion—you spoke from the heart.”

Doug has dry wit, irrepressible energy, and looks a little bit like the poor man’s Hugh Grant. A Harley lifer and the son of a Unitarian minister, he was raised with a sense of social consciousness and internationalism which eventually led to degrees in political science and history, and a serious case of wanderlust. As a senior at Harley, he says, “I was became increasingly aware that Harley was not typical, but I it led me to be increasingly curious about the rest of the world.” He went on a senior trip to Scotland and stayed in London, and after graduating, returned to London through a program through Ithaca College. Thus began a passion for travel and a global perspective which he brings to teaching.

Doug’s father, the former minister of the Universalist Church in Rochester, had been a chaplain at Cornell and active in the 60’s civil rights and anti-war movements. That social and political consciousness rubbed off on Doug in his college years, where he worked for a peace group in Philadelphia and went to Haverford College as a political science major. In his junior year, Doug traveled to Kenya to study international development.

Kenya was an eye-opening experience. For one thing, Doug says, “It was a mild dictatorship. You did not see full freedom of the press. But the real experience was encountering poverty. American poverty is quite different from African poverty. Our homeless are people who’ve fallen through the cracks. But to have cracks means you have a floor to begin with. That floor doesn’t exist for many in poor countries.”

While in Africa, Doug met Kimi, an American plant biologist who was later to become his wife. They hitchhiked around central and southern Africa, including Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), which was very challenging at times. “The mud roads had holes that were deep enough that trucks drove down into them. There were teenage soldiers with poor training in military discipline. You realize that someone you don’t fully trust is in control. It’s stuff like that that really stretches your boundaries.”

Despite bad roads, guns, civil wars, and chronic gastrointestinal distress, Doug loved Kenya. His last six weeks there, he volunteered to be a farm laborer. “I worked for this farmer named Alexander Mwangombe. He was one of the most intelligent and decent people I have ever met. I was amazed this man who had done so much to develop his farm and yet had so little. I had more money in my bank account–as a kid–than he probably saw in a year. But he was clearly a great man.” Every day, Doug would toil in fields of banana trees and passionfruit. “I was barefoot, and the first couple weeks I shredded my hands because I had soft hands and no gloves. It was a wonderful experience. I loved digging in the dirt.”

After returning from Africa, Doug finished his senior year at Haverford, then he and his girlfriend—now wife—went to teach English in Japan. From there, they decided to backpack in Central and South America for three months, where he said, “It was not as safe as we thought it would be.” He spent a month in Guatemala near the end of the Civil War, and hitchhiked in Peru during the heyday of the terrorist guerilla group, the Shining Path. They visited an old friend of his father’s, a world authority on llamas and a member of the Peruvian upper class. “He lived in a nice townhouse, but it was behind a ten foot wall with electrified barbed wire,” Doug says. “You had to pass a machine-gun toting guard. There was a lot of fear among the upper class because the Shining Path were kidnapping wealthy people. In fact, a wealthy hostage had been held secretly in their own neighborhood for months before the safehouse was discovered. My friends had this beautiful little garden, but they were walled up. It was nuts. Like living in a POW camp.”

From there, more journeys—to SUNY Binghamton where he earned a masters degree in U.S. History and Social Studies teaching. Then on to Boston, then Tucson, and eventually back to Rochester, where he began teaching at Harley in 1999. But when asked what his greatest journey has been, Doug says, “Fatherhood.” He has a three kids, Sam, Jack, and Ellie, who attend Harley.

Doug says his love for history and international relations began at Harley. “I had fabulous history teachers as a kid. The ones that stand out in my mind are some of the legends of Harley—the much beloved Bill Dalton; and Scott Reisinger was a major role model for me. I stay in touch with both of them.” Doug was originally hired as the “non-western guy” to teach the histories of China, India, the Middle East and Latin America, but he is now also teaching American history.

Teaching 7th and 8th graders is a fun challenge. “Middle School is when a lot of kids decide they are bored by certain topics,” Doug says. “History can be right up there on the list for some students. It’s easy to believe it’s dates and facts about random things that happened years ago—so the primary function of the middle school teacher is to make kids like history.” As much as possible, Doug uses discussions, simulations, debates and activities to engage students.

For example, when trying to explain the unrestrained capitalism of Dickens’ and Marx’s London and how it led to class division, he has his 8th graders take on roles—employee, factory owner, banker—to walk them through the process of supply and demand. He says, “It’s a lecture disguised as a simulation. The kids are standing up and being the characters, so it feels more active and engaged.”

Doug says his job is to let kids learn how to teach themselves. “Everyone learns differently. Kids need to teach themselves how they learn best. We can give them all the strategies in the world, but ultimately it’s up to them.” Although there are hands-on activities, Doug says that often the simple art of discussion where the deepest learning happens. “The great moments in teaching are when the kids are leaning forward, asking questions, absorbing. I love it when they click on whatever it is we’re talking about because that’s when they’re learning to love history. That’s when the best learning occurs—when their curiosity takes over.”

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Harley’s Approach to College Counseling is highly individualized and student-centered. Students have direct access to college counselors throughout their Upper School experience, but really, each student is part of a team including faculty, administration, and staff. It’s our job to support each student and we want nothing more than to send students on to the next step of their journey at a right fit school for them. The student centered and driven process is wrapped in care, expertise, and professionalism.

We host college reps during times students are available (no need to miss a class) so they can make connections and learn more about potential schools. We also arrange campus visits for classes as field trips, host an alumni college day (where recent Upper School graduates return to share advice and answer questions), and help connect students with our international alumni network. In fact, representatives from schools all over the world actively seek opportunities to come to Harley and meet with our students!

Our college counselors are accredited and are part of national/global conversations on admission trends. They also attend and present at conferences across the country.

Beginning with our Grade 11 parent night, we offer informational sessions for parents, including one devoted just to financial aid. Our partnership with families is critical, as the college admissions world changes very quickly and having an expert to guide students and families through the process is essential.

View the downloadable College Counseling Guide

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“Club Rush” is an afternoon every fall in the Upper School when students have the chance to sign up for clubs for the year, and each year it is very different because new clubs are created based on student initiative and enthusiasm.

A few of this year’s choices: Sports Media, Social Action Club, Journalism Club, Feminism Club, Student of Color & Allies (SOCA), Gay-Straight Alliance, Tri M (music honor society), E-Sports Club, Euchre, Key Club (service), Animation Club, Dungeons & Dragons, Sustainability Club, Jewish Cultural Club, Astronomy Club, Biomimicry, and Beyond Soup (social justice/service).

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Each and every year, students at The Harley School participate in HAC Athletics, and their success continues to be impressive, both as students and athletes. Our athletic program is an integral part of Harley, teaching student-athletes invaluable lessons about teamwork, time management, persistence, and competition. Our program allows them to develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally as they represent their school on and off the field. They grow, mature, and work hard to be the best teammate they can, while creating lifelong memories with teammates who often remain friends for life.

Helping our athletes to reach their potential are some of HAC’s best assets: our coaches. More often than not, they are drawn from the ranks of our faculty and have a deep understanding of the personalities and abilities of the student-athletes on their teams.

We strive to find the right balance of academics, exercise, and personal growth for everyone. By offering a variety of sports at many different levels, all student-athletes find a sport they can be successful in. It is with great pride and pleasure that my team and I work to enrich the athletic lives of all our HAC student-athletes. Go Wolves!

To learn more check out our athletics page.

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Our Upper School is filled with formal and informal opportunities for students to take on leadership roles. Whether following passions or learning new skills, student-driven opportunities take many shapes.

– Independent study: one trimester, full year, and multi-year projects have included automating our solar chimneys, coding handmade musical instruments, or developing a class on financial literacy for underserved high school students.

– Serving on student council

– STEM: Climate curriculum program, biomimicry program, NASA Hunch program

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Hospice

Unlike this class, death is not an elective. Although it is one of two universal human experiences, our culture often ignores, denies, or misconstrues the true nature of death and dying. What happens when we bear witness to this natural process in the cycle of life and develop our ability to be fully present with others when they need us more than ever? It has the potential to change us deeply and fundamentally while shining a brilliant light on the path of our own lives.

With the support of their classmates, teacher, and comfort care home communities, senior students are offered the chance to care for others who truly need their purposeful, non-judgmental attention. In the home-like setting of a comfort care home, opportunities for learning extend beyond a traditional classroom rubric and conventional methods of evaluation. In this course, students will certainly find tangible “learning outcomes” by studying the medical/physical processes associated with dying and the basic nursing assistant skills of comfort care. The ultimate goal, however, will always be rooted in true relationships and connection, which occurs only through empathy and compassion.

Learn more about the Hospice Program at Harley HERE.

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This program utilizes environmentally-focused approaches to education and hands-on learning in order to foster the next generation of leaders through a lens of sustainability and problem-solving.

Food & Farm: These year-long and trimester-long classes are held outside as much as possible, allowing students to become leaders in our various growing spaces. They cover environmental justice issues as well as hands-on work such as planning and overseeing planting, harvesting, and preparation of the gardens.

Past year-long focus projects have included: Creating a native plant shade garden in the Wild Wood area, redesigning our hydroponic system, overhauling Harley’s high tunnel, and improving the irrigation system for the MicroFarm.

Culinary Arts: These classes have a two-fold purpose: to give students practical skills in cooking and the science behind different techniques in the kitchen, learning about food justice, food sourcing, labor topics, and sustainability.

Past topics have included: Examining a plant-based diet, looking at the carbon footprint of different meals and food preparation methods, proposing a low carbon footprint menu to the dining hall, links between food labeling and environmental issues of food production.

Beekeeping: This one trimester class provides hands-on training in beekeeping, how to be a beekeeper, and safety and other techniques for working with bees. Once trained students help with all aspects of Harley beekeeping such as hive inspections, honey collection and extraction, and teaching students in Lower School about our hives.

Students pick a research topic addressing honeybee health and the larger environmental picture.

Social Justice

At Harley, our students learn how to evaluate social systems in order to identify complex problems in society through a lens of social justice. They take a hands-on approach to working for a fair, equitable society by researching, exploring and evaluating different perspectives, and offering solutions—both theoretical and practical.

Our faculty integrate social justice into our broader curriculum to assist students in gaining a foundational knowledge about what makes a democracy function. By gaining skills in ideating supportive pathways they become more exposed and experienced to how communities can undergo healing and restorative actions.

Capstone/Independent Studies

Students may create independent studies with supervising teachers throughout their Upper School experience or, during Grade 12, they can design Capstone projects—intensive collaborations with Harley faculty and off-campus mentors—involving rigorous academic study and culminating in public presentations. They are empowered to create their own curriculum, set goals, and work on time management skills in order to accomplish their objectives.

Independent Studies run the gamut from The Psychology of Sports to Furniture Design to The Neuroimaging of Alzheimer’s Disease. Capstones, meanwhile, are as diverse as the students who pursue them: Fictional Rochester, Autobiographical Art, Biomimicry Education, Organic Fuel, and Rochester Refugees.

Indicative of Upper School curiosity and creativity, pursuits such as these distinguish our graduates in college. Through deep dives of this sort, Harley students master more than speaking, writing, and computing: they learn to communicate, advocate, collaborate, organize, listen, and empathize.

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The World According to Gilbert: Meet Harley Alum and Middle School History Teacher, Doug Gilbert ’87