Greg Dawson has been a speech icon for thousands of students, but after 41 years he has made the decision to leave the school. Dawson initially came to Blake after working at Columbia Heights High School for three years, turning down the school’s offer twice before finally accepting.
At Columbia Heights, Dawson kept himself busy, working as “the speech coach, the debate coach, the theatre coach, I did the student newspaper, did all of those things, and I was the director of the spring play as well.”
He said the decision to leave his previous high school was difficult, but “Blake was a totally different kind of school. . . and [I] inherited a wonderful debate program.”
Dawson says the one thing he will miss the most is interacting with students. Reflecting on the emotional last week of senior speeches, he says, “I was working with one of the student speakers, and it dawned on me that she was the last student I would ever work with and the tears just welled up. . . it really dawned on me that I won’t be working with the students again.”
After 41 years at one school, the next step can be difficult to consider. However, Dawson has a plan for the coming years. His first priority is “spending more time with my grandchildren.” He will also continue to do professional work in the community and at Mitchell-Hamline Law School as an adjunct professor.
Outside of Hamline, Dawson plans “to do some volunteer work with the Native American community, in training their outreach people for presentations.”
