Palisades High Celebrates Gilbert’s Legacy

Rose “Mama G” Gilbert, an English teacher at Palisades High since the school opened in 1961, was honored at a gala event on Saturday.

At 94 years old, Gilbert was likely the oldest classroom teacher in the country when she announced her retirement the end of January. She was teaching three AP English classes.

Lined up outside Mercer Hall, Gilbert’s former students waited for a chance to say thank you to an educator who taught in the L.A. Unified School district for 63 years. She taught at University High School in West L.A. before coming to PaliHi.

“I’m one of six kids and all of us had Ms. Gilbert from about 1974 to 1983,” said Robert Madok (Class of 1981). “One of the first papers I wrote [at Georgetown University], the professor came back said, ‘You write clear and concise prose that is excellent,’ and I attribute that to Mrs. Gilbert.”

Madok, a real estate lawyer, added: “She was tough, and that was one the best things to have happened to any student—to have teachers like her.”

The event also included ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the newly renovated Mercer Hall and the former B-101 classroom (now named Gilbert Hall), both made possible through a $1-million donation from Gilbert.

Gilbert, who inherited millions from her late husband Sam, donated $3.1 to fund construction of the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center, named for her late daughter, and has contributed generously to other projects on campus.

“I know that I have only been here a short time but I have learned so much from Mama G,” said PaliHi Principal and Executive Director Pamela Magee. “I had to race down the hall to beat her to school every morning because she was here earlier and more enthusiastically than any of the rest of us.”

Gilbert, speaking to hundreds outside Mercer, said: “I am overwhelmed at the crowd. I am so pleased to see all of you and especially the classes from the 60s—it seems like only yesterday, but years go on.”

Gilbert’s biggest smiles came when she awarded 12 of her annual scholarships totaling $21,000 to PaliHi seniors, during a ceremony inside Mercer.

A daughter of Polish immigrants, Gilbert said that she grew up in an area (Boyle Heights) where “most of us didn’t go to college unless you got a scholarship. I remember going to my kindergarten class and hearing ‘Go home and learn English.’ So I did,” Gilbert said, smiling, to the audience.

In retirement, Gilbert said she would continue working to help others. She is already volunteering with A Window Between Worlds, a Venice-based nonprofit organization that helps victims of domestic violence by using art as healing tool.