Retiring teacher Don Gable helps sophomore Jonathan McGee in Pre-Engineering. Photo by Paul Szewczyk ‘12

by Maya Lennon ‘14

Technology education teacher Don Gable is retiring from a teaching career that began in 1972. Gable taught at Sherwood for 39 years, which he described as the “fastest of his life.”

After teaching thousands of students throughout his career, there is no way to measure the impact Gable had on them. However, one former student, Steve Allen (’97), recently sent a thank you note to Gable in which he wrote, “When I thought I was going to be an engineer you were the one who steered me in that path and opened my eyes to think about the world differently. When I discovered that was not the path I was called for, I decided to become a teacher. I thought about what kind of teacher I wanted to be and thought of you again. You were a teacher who would never let me take the easy way out and always pushed me to do my best, even if I did not think I could do it …”

Technology, business and consumer sciences resource teacher Jason Daigle has been a colleague of Gable’s for 15 years, and has observed the qualities that made Gable a memorable teacher for many students. “Two things that come to mind when I think of Mr. Gable are integrity and a commitment to doing what is right, even if it’s difficult,” said Daigle. “In his own, low key way, Mr. Gable has instilled these ideas in many students and staff, always highlighting the positive work that others have done while holding people accountable for their actions, especially those that impact others. Making students think for themselves day in and day out is a trait that many current and former students respect about Mr. Gable.”

Gable will be honored at a retirement dinner tonight alongside physical education teacher Gene Orndorff, who is retiring after 40 years in Montgomery County, including three decades at Sherwood during which time he also coached and was the long-time director and tech producer of Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival (profiled in February 17 Warrior, page 7). Additionally, Spanish teacher Sabine Hamidi retired in January after 36 years as a teacher with 24 of those at Sherwood (February 17 Warrior, page 3). Composition Assistant Paul Lasky retired in November after working at Sherwood for four years.

The Warrior asked Gable to reminisce about his long career teaching at Sherwood.

What drew you to technology and to teaching it?

I was an Industrial Arts teacher when I started in 1972. I taught woodworking, general shop, architectural drawing and mechanical drawing until the curriculum changed to Technology Education in 1989. At that time I had to retrain to teach the new curriculum. In the new curriculum I have taught Pre-Engineering, Technological Innovations and Communications Systems Technology.

What have been other highlights outside of teaching?

I have always liked architecture. Architectural drawing and my skills in woodworking have allowed me to create over one-hundred sundecks in the area. I built my first home in 1976-77 and just completed a five-year historical restoration of a 100-year-old home in Virginia.

What is the best part of your teaching experiences?

Seeing people graduate, move on and hearing of their success—seeing students get recognition for their accomplishments.

What will you and won’t you miss about working with teens?

I like working with young people because they keep you on your toes. You hang out with old people, you get old. You hang out with young people, you feel young. I will not miss the part of having to be a parent for those students whose parents do a miserable job in raising them.

What changes in education, good and bad, have you seen over the course of your career?

What goes around comes around most of the time. Usually new catch phrases are just another name for what you have had done before or continue to do … More and more, testing and final exams take up more and more instructional time. I have concluded that students really don’t care about taking exams. And teachers find increasingly that they wind up teaching the test. I have always thought the teacher’s role was to create the passion for learning, that learning is not only essential but can be fun, too. I know it’s time to move on when I find myself teaching tests rather than people.