Every June, the graduating class leaves campus, scattering across the world to pursue their own journeys. In the fall, 500 new students replace them.
Amid this continuous cycle of incoming freshmen and graduating seniors, the Palo Alto High School population is ever-changing — but some presences on campus have remained constant for decades.
After 10 years of service and every five years after that, the Palo Alto Unified School District gifts teachers with a mug to recognize their contributions. While teachers who have worked in the district for 10 to 30 years are given porcelain mugs, teachers with 35 years of service are awarded a special glass mug.
We spoke with three of the longest-serving Paly teachers on campus and the only currently employed recipients of the 35-year glass mug — Kathi Bowers, Natalie Docktor and Debbie Whitson — about their time at Paly.
Kathi Bowers – Mathematics
What has changed the most during your time at Paly?
“There seemed to be a lot more activities on campus. People still went to Town and Country, but Town and Country also wasn’t the way it is now. There were three places where kids got food and they would get their food and come back here.”
What’s kept you at Paly for so long?
“As far as Paly is concerned, I still think it’s the best place to work on the peninsula. … Interestingly enough, if I had to pick what’s changed the least in the last 35 years, it would be the kids … they look like their parents and act like their parents.”
Do you have a favorite memory from your time at Paly?
“About 6:30 in the morning they [Paly graduates] started arriving [at the hospital]. …There must have been 40 kids … in this tiny room, maybe 35 kids outside the door. The nurses thought it was the greatest thing, and they’re passing this baby, my little newborn all around.”
Debbie Whitson – Economics
What has changed the most during your time at Paly?
“Of course, technology has changed. You know, in a way, it’s changed a lot of things. But on the other hand, we get used to it so quickly. It’s kind of the same thing. I’m still dealing with high school students and they’re still dealing with me as a teacher.”
What’s kept you at Paly for so long?
“I enjoy it [teaching]. … [Every year, I] feel like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna do it a little better, a little differently. I’m gonna meet more students.’ It’s always fun when students come back and they’re like, ‘Oh, this helped me so much’ or ‘I remember your room being a really safe place.’”
Did you plan on being a teacher?
“It never occurred to me that I was going to be a high school teacher. In fact, my first job I worked in a venture capital firm … I took this funny part time job at Pinewood School … And I was like, I love this, so then I went back and got my teaching credential.”
Natalie Docktor – Mathematics
What has changed the most during your time at Paly?
“When I started teaching Paly had 1100 students. We were very small. It was fun. It was great. We only had like nine math teachers … But we’ve grown, you know, we’ve gone to over double … it feels less homey a little bit. So it’s evolved in that respect, but it’s still a fabulous place to be.”
Did you plan on being a teacher?
“I studied math not knowing I was going to be a teacher … But then I started taking classes in San Diego through the education department … I loved being in the classroom and doing lectures on the board. That inspired me to go to grad school.”
Do you have a favorite memory from your time at Paly?
“Some of my favorite times were way back in the beginning. I took the whole math department sailing. My dad has a boat, [and] I grew up sailing. And so that was really fun. Taking the whole math department out there … [is] a good memory.”
SETTING SAIL - Palo Alto High School math teacher Natalie Docktor recalls her favorite memory from her time at Paly, "Some of my favorite times were way back in the beginning," Docktor said. "I took the whole math department sailing." Photos courtesy of Natalie Docktor