As a student opens the door to the library, they encounter an environment filled with students and staff working diligently. Take a few more steps in and one may hear a student shout, “Hey Mr. Dublis” followed by a caring conversation with a man whom many call their favorite teacher.
Dublis’s work around the school has not gone unnoticed; he just won the 2023 Michigan Online Mentor of the Year award.
Dublis started his days in Grand Rapids growing up and going to Grand Rapids Catholic Central. Dublis said his most notable memories from high school were getting beat by EGR in football.
“I remember always getting smoked by East in the football playoffs, they were just so good and would always end our season,” Dublis said.
After high school, he spent the next four years at Loyola University of Chicago where he graduated and decided to follow his passion for acting. When Dublis was asked to describe his acting career in three words, he said, “Very brutal failure.”
After deciding acting was not for him Dublis went into sales until realizing that sales was not his true passion and that he wanted to start teaching. Dublis began his teaching adventures after moving back to Grand Rapids where he spent a few years working for GRPS.
“Working in the elementary school classrooms was so enjoyable for me because I loved working with the young kiddos,” Dublis said.
Going through the pandemic caused Mr. Dublis to think about what he wanted to do and how he could best impact kids he ended up leaving GRPS and making his way over to EGR becoming the Student Online Coordinator.
While I was interviewing Mr. Dublis, a fellow student Harry Reed ‘24 interrupted the interview to say, “Mr. Dublis, you are my favorite teacher and when Thursdays come around for our weekly check no matter how down I may be feeling about my class, you have the unique ability to always light up my day.”
This opinion is not just Reed’s.
“While I have the opportunity to leave school and go home to do my work, sometimes I choose to stay at school purely because of how much fun it is to talk with Mr. Dublis and get to know him better,” Jake Tietema ‘25 said.
“It feels good to know that the work I do has an impact on people through education and it also feels great to know that my students like me because this is a student-nominated award so without them I am nothing so I am thankful to the students,” Dublis said.
Teacher and Student Life Coordinator Mr. Shattuck said, “What I see of Dave when he is interacting with students is truly special. He can connect with kids better than anyone.”
As I am currently writing this article, Mr. Dublis is out on the field judging a 40-yard race between two fellow students and if that doesn’t show the impact that he has on a day-to-day basis with the student body of EGRHS, then I don’t know what does.