Community Voices: Paul Kilgore

Meet Paul at a Glance

“Being around young, optimistic people makes me feel okay about life.”

It’s not the answer you might expect from someone who has spent more than 25 years teaching high school English.

But then again, Paul Kilgore isn’t the kind of teacher who talks much about himself. Ask him about his career, and before long he’s talking about the teachers who inspired him, the students who continue to surprise him, and the books that changed the course of his life.

For more than two decades, Paul has taught English at Dubuque Senior High School. He teaches AP Literature, public speaking, and concurrent enrollment English courses that allow students to earn college credit while they’re still in high school. Before that, he spent time substitute teaching throughout the district, and before that, he was a student at Senior himself.

Long before he was leading classroom discussions, Paul was wearing black and gold as a student-athlete. He played basketball and baseball, graduating from Dubuque Senior in 1993. Even after college, he stayed connected to his alma mater, competing for years on Senior alumni basketball teams that brought generations of Rams back together. Later, he coached track and field at Senior for nearly twenty years, working with middle- and long-distance runners.

For Paul, Senior has never been just a workplace — it’s been part of his life for decades.

The Teachers Who Changed His Life

Paul didn’t always plan on becoming a teacher.

When asked why he chose to go into teaching, he jokes that, “I realized that professional baseball probably wasn’t my future.”

He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life, but fortunately a handful of his teachers recognized something in him before he recognized it himself: Paul would make a great teacher himself someday. Two of Paul’s teachers at Senior were particularly inspiring: Dennis Healy and Rob Gomoll.

English teacher Dennis Healy filled the classroom with energy and enthusiasm. “He had charisma through the roof,” Paul recalled. “You couldn’t help but be engaged. He made me realize teaching could be fun.”

Another teacher, Rob Gomoll, had a very different style. Calm and understated, Gomoll was known for bench pressing 400 pounds, making up poems on the spot, and encouraging students to think a little differently. One day, he offered Paul a simple suggestion:

“Maybe you should be a teacher, Paul.”

The idea followed him to the University of Dubuque, where English professor Dr. G. Bert Carlson encouraged him to major in English and pursue teaching.

Looking back, Paul realizes how much those mentors shaped his life.

“I had teachers who inspired me, guided me, and encouraged me,” he said. “I wanted to do that for someone else.”

Learning Goes Both Ways

After more than 25 years in the classroom, Paul has learned that teaching isn’t a one-way street: “I learn from my students every year,” he said.

Sure, they’ve introduced him to emojis, memes, and whatever the latest internet trend happens to be, but the lessons that stay with him run much deeper.

“I think people underestimate kids,” he said. “They’re actually pretty good at face-to-face communication. They’re friendly, they can carry on conversations, and the students I teach today are much more accepting and tolerant than past generations.”

Spending every day with teenagers has given Paul a perspective that often gets lost in the headlines.

“The world is in good hands,” he said. “They’re optimistic. They’re energetic. They genuinely want to make things better.”

Being around that kind of optimism every day, he says, has changed him, too.

“It makes me feel okay about the future.”

More Than a Job

Teaching isn’t an easy profession.

Paul estimates he spends well over 50 hours each week planning lessons, grading papers, preparing for class, and helping students succeed. While he’d like to see teacher salaries increase — not because that’s what keeps him in the classroom, but because better pay would encourage more talented people to consider the profession — that’s never been his motivation.

“I’ve always felt appreciated,” he said.

Over the years, former students have reached out from college, stopped him around town, or simply sent a message to let him know they remembered something they learned in his class. Those conversations remind him that the impact of teaching often isn’t fully visible until years later.

“I know I’m making a difference,” he said. “That’s what keeps me coming back.”

Ready for Another School Year

When summer arrives, Paul enjoys biking, running, reading, tackling projects around the house, traveling with his wife Michelle (also an educator), and following the Tour de France. (Ask him about being an unofficial Highpointer.)

Of course, summer is also a time for an enthusiastic English teacher to spend some quality time reading. This summer’s reading list has included everything from Edgar Allan Poe to Watership Down and contemporary Japanese short stories.

By August, though, he’s ready to be back in the classroom.

“I have fun with my job every day,” he said. “It’s a rewarding profession, and I’d encourage people to consider it.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Strong Schools Create Strong Communities

Strong communities don’t happen without intention. They’re built every day — in classrooms where students are encouraged to ask questions, discover new ideas, and grow into thoughtful citizens. That work begins with dedicated educators who choose to invest their time, talent, and hearts in the next generation.

As another school year begins, we’re grateful for Paul Kilgore — and for every teacher, counselor, paraprofessional, bus driver, librarian, custodian, coach, food service worker, school nurse, administrator, and support staff member who helps students learn, grow, and discover what’s possible.

Thank you for helping shape the future of Dubuque County.

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