Gulf High School long-time science teacher Doug Stobbs will retire from teaching at the end of the school year.
Mr. Stobbs began teaching at Gulf at the start of the 1991-92 school year. Before coming to Gulf, he taught one semester at Ridgewood High School, but except for that brief time at Ridgewood, his entire teaching career has been spent at Gulf.
This year Mr. Stobbs taught Biology and Environmental Science. He has also taught Anatomy and Physiology and AP and IB Biology.
He sponsored the LEO Club for six years, and was on the board of directors of the Cotee River Lions Club. One year he collected over 1,000 cans of tuna for a Christmas food drive.
He said that he has enjoyed his 25 years here. “It’s been my life,” he said. He has been in room 203 for 24 of those 25 years. He was in room 204 the first year he was at Gulf.
Mr. Stobbs was born in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Garfield High School in Akron, and obtained a B. S. degree in Biology from the University of Akron (even though the sign above his door indicates he attended Ohio State. Mr. Stobbs said he only went to Ohio State on weekends.)
He came to Florida on Dec. 28, 1990, to be near his sister, who was living in Palm Harbor.
Mr. Stobbs plans to continue to work in another field for the next ten years or so. He says he expects that he will soon take a two- or three-week ride on his bike somewhere, perhaps the Grand Canyon or up north. His hobbies are riding his bike, camping, and woodworking. He owns a Harley and a Triumph. The smaller Triumph is the bike students saw him ride on stage at the most recent lip sync contest.
Mr. Stobbs has a daughter who lives in St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. She will be getting married in October.
His wife Amy works in cancer research for Florida Cancer Specialists. They live in Holiday.
