What do you
remember from your time at Gilbert?:
"A few specific
memories stand out: cheering in the crowd
at basketball games (the school spirit was
unmatched), traveling to Costa Rica with
the Spanish department, being heavily
involved in the music program & drama
productions, running down to the cafeteria
when Mrs. Wells cooked calzones for lunch.
Looking back broadly,
I am very grateful to have gone to a
“small” high school. The friend group I
keep in touch with from the 2012 class is
incredibly diverse in our interests. If we
went to a high school with a larger
student body, our paths may not have
crossed. But since our class only had
around 80 people, our choices of friends
were fairly limited so we found each
other. Although we’re scattered across the
US, we chat often and always get together
in-person for a catch-up brunch when we’re
in town for the holidays.
One of the memories I
cherish most was having my grandmother
(Janet Hall) work at school and knowing
she was always just a short walk away on
the 2nd floor. She is an amazing woman and
I am honored to have “shared” her with
many generations of students &
teachers that have walked the halls. She
worked at Gilbert from the time that her
oldest son (my father) was a senior in
high school (1974) to when her youngest
grandchild (my sister) graduated in 2016.
That's 42 years!"
Do you have
any family members who also attended
Gilbert?
"My entire family
attended Gilbert! Most recently my sister
Bri graduated in 2016. My mom & dad
(Danise and Rick Hall) graduated in 1984
and 1975 respectively. My older sister
Shannon (Hall) Emilia graduated in 1997.
My cousins Jamie Barber ('12), Haley
(Barber) Wheeler ('06), and Brittany
Barber ('04) also attended, as well as our
grandparents (Janet & Richard Hall)
who graduated in 1956 and 1952
respectively."
What lessons from Gilbert did you
apply to the real world?
"I
wish I remembered the exact quote, but our
Principal at the time (Mr. Hatch) would
always tell us to go through life with
goals in mind and that’s something I think
about every day. With goals, I find
purpose; I’m constantly setting &
working towards long-term goals
professionally and in my personal life,
and on a smaller scale determine weekly
and daily goals. If not a goal, then
finding something to look forward to like
a vacation or even something as simple as
getting together with a friend on the
weekend.
Also,
there was a sign in the band room that
read, “To be early is to be on time, to be
on time is to be late, and to be late is
unacceptable”. You would never catch me
dead being late to anything."
