AP US History teacher Dorothy McGirt of Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia.

One of the most beloved educators at Henry W. Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia, was Dorothy McGirt. She taught Advanced Placement US History. She also served her school as the Chair of the Social Studies Department.

In 1984, Dorothy tackled the Advanced Placement teaching assignment. She was a “trailblazer in terms of introducing the program at Grady,” remembers former colleague Lisa Willoughby. Willoughby’s relationship with Dorothy goes way back. “She helped mentor me as I was starting out as a student teacher, then a teacher,” explains Willoughby. “She helped me figure out how to strike a balance between providing rigor and also being supportive to students and helping them be ready to do what they were doing,” she said.

Dorothy is also fondly remembered by former student Michael Fishman, who graduated from Grady in 1987. “She was a really good teacher,” Fishman said. “Very tough, but you learned a lot from her. Out of all the history teachers I had, she was probably the most challenging to have. She didn’t give you book work or anything like that, you had good discussions in her class,” he continued. “I think she left a really good impact on us. She just let us know that the … outside world is much tougher,” he concluded.

Sadly, Dorothy passed away on April 12, 2020, from coronavirus. She was 92 years old. To read more about Dorothy, read her obituary at The Southerner Online.