‘Citizen’ Gilbert Savors Classroom Visit

While 91-year-old Palisades Charter High School English teacher Rose Gilbert was lecturing her 35 Advanced Placement English students about feminism last Wednesday, she received a surprise visit from the Palisadian-Post. ‘I have tomorrow’s newspaper today,’ said Post Publisher Roberta Donohue, holding up the Thursday, March 4 edition of the newspaper, so that Gilbert could see a photo of herself gracing the front page with the headline ‘Citizen of the Year Honors to Rose Gilbert.’ The Post has given the prestigious award since 1947 to a Palisades resident who has made a lasting contribution to the community.   ’Wow! Oh my goodness,’ Gilbert responded. ‘Citizen of the Year! I’m humbled.’   Gilbert then read the article to her class, inserting ‘Wows’ at the end of some of the paragraphs. ‘I am overwhelmed; I don’t know how to thank you,’ she said when she finished.   One student called out, ‘You deserve it Mrs. Gilbert!’   The Post is honoring Gilbert for launching a campaign to build a state-of-the-art aquatic center on campus and for donating $2.1 million toward the project. Gilbert, who lives above the Getty Villa and provides numerous scholarships to PaliHi seniors and UCLA students every year, has also given PaliHi a $750,000 loan to help complete the center by early summer. The center, with a 12-lane competitive pool and adjacent two-lane teaching pool, will be named after her late daughter Maggie, a swimmer.   Gilbert, a teacher at PaliHi since the school opened in 1961, will be recognized at the Citizen of the Year banquet on April 22 at the American Legion Hall on La Cruz Drive. At the event, the Pacific Palisades Community Council will also present its Golden Sparkplug awards.   Post Managing Editor Bill Bruns told Gilbert, ‘This is a culminating award for your career as a teacher and a philanthropist.’   He then urged Gilbert to take the first dip in the pool once the aquatic center is completed. Gilbert, who had both of the editor’s children as students, replied that she might have to wear an old-fashioned swimsuit; however, one of her students shouted that she should sport a bikini.   Gilbert then posed for a photograph wearing her infamous plastic firefighter helmet, which she dons during her literature lessons to ‘fire up’ the students.   ’I’m on fire today,’ Gilbert said, laughing.