When Palisades High English teacher Rose Gilbert donated another $900,000 for the school’s state-of-the-art aquatic center on July 15, she did so with one stipulation’that the groundbreaking ceremony be held August 1, one day before her 90th birthday. So Gilbert was glowing last Friday when, just as she had requested, officials pool broke ground on the blacktop playground south of the gym’the very spot where she expects students to be swimming by fall 2009. ‘The next goal I have is to ensure that every student at PaliHi is going to be a certified swimmer by the time they graduate,’ said Gilbert, who has been teaching at the school since it opened in 1961. ‘When it’s done I want to be the first person to jump into that pool!’ Gilbert has worked with 14 principals at PaliHi and she recognized four of them — Merle Price, Don Savarese, Linda Hosford and Gloria Martinez (all of whom were on hand) — as part of the lifeblood of PaliHi. New principal Martin Griffin also attended, along with PaliHi facilities director Chaz Yench, athletic director Rich McKeon, chief business officer Greg Wood and parent Jeanne Goldsmith, whose consulting firm was hired to fundraise. ‘Rose is one of the oldest teachers in America,’ PaliHi Executive Director Amy Dresser Held said in her opening statement. ‘She’s amazing, she’s inspiring and her generosity is the reason we’re here today.’ Gilbert’s most recent donation brings her total contribution to $2 million’more than half the estimated $3.5 million needed for the project. Still, as she pointed out, ‘As we dig into the ground, we need people in the community to dig into their pockets to raise the rest of the money.’ The facility, called the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center in memory of the teacher’s late daughter and swimmer, will consist of a 12-lane competitive pool and a shallower two-lane instructional pool. ‘Next month will be 20 years since I sat in her class and Rose was 15 years past retirement then,’ said Maggie Nance, PaliHi swim coach and chairman of the pool committee. ‘Thanks to her, today we cross the line from theoretical to practical. In a little over a year, where you sit now will be deep water.’ In October, a party will be held for past PaliHi swimmers to raise money for the project. Carol Pfannkuche, executive director of the Palisades-Malibu YMCA, has donated two lifeguard towers. ‘The secret to a long life is to do things that matter and keep doing them,’ local City Councilman Bill Rosendahl said. ‘I asked Rose once what keeps her going and she told me ‘I’m teaching today, and I will teach tomorrow.” Also addressing the audience were Lee Barkesdale, commander of American Legion Post 283, which made a $50,000 donation to the pool fund; and Jay Flood, parent of three PaliHi graduates and one of the chief architects for the project. When the speeches were over, Yench passed out hard hats and handed Gilbert a golden shovel, which she used to dig up the first pile of dirt. Pictures were snapped, then Held and Nance presented Gilbert with her birthday cake and joined the audience in singing her ‘Happy Birthday.’
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
