Q&A: Mr. Green reflects on his teaching career at CHS

Mr.+Green+has+been+working+in+Carlsbad+Unified+School+District+for+30+years+now.+He+has+worked+at+Valley+Middle+School%2C+Aviara+Oaks+Middle+School%2C+and+Carlsbad+High+School.+

Courtesy of CHSTV

Mr. Green has been working in Carlsbad Unified School District for 30 years now. He has worked at Valley Middle School, Aviara Oaks Middle School, and Carlsbad High School.

Ethan Atkins, Reporter

Mr. Green has been teaching broadcasting at CHS for 30 years now. Previously teaching at Valley Middle school, Mr. Green has made a substantial impact on the CHS campus.

Lancer Link: How long have you been working at CHS?

Doug Green: I started teaching [at] Carlsbad in 1991. I started Valley’s broadcasting classes in 1996, Aviara’s broadcasting classes in 1999 and in 2002 I moved to Carlsbad High School to start the CHSTV program. So I have been at CHS for twenty of my thirty one years in the district.

LL: Why did you start your career here:

DG: The Valley and Aviara broadcasting programs had become so successful that students wanted to continue in broadcasting in high school and beyond. In 2002 I was asked to move to Carlsbad High School and it was in that September that CHSTV was “born.” We were in a portable classroom for the first year with no studio whatsoever, but CHSTV won four National Emmy Awards in our first year.

LL: What did CHS look like when you first joined?

DG: CHS was built in 1957, I believe, and the school was “tired.” Totally lacked in “curb appeal” and the classrooms were antiquated. My classroom/studio was an old science classroom in the 100 building (now the main parking lot) and it had no heat or air conditioning. Still, there was a sense of history in those old classrooms because many students were learning in the same classrooms that their parents learned in years earlier

LL: What was your first position at CHS?

DG: I have always taught Broadcast Journalism and I have always split my day between CHS and VMS.

LL: Who/what was the thing that made you teach?

DG: I love my job. I love that I get to teach a subject area that I am passionate about and I love that students who take broadcasting take it for up to six years (7th to 12th grade). Their passion for what we do is why the program has been ranked #1 in the USA for fourteen years in a row. I love that we get to tell important stories and I love that so many of my students find their dream careers in film and television, or public relations, or in any career where being a great communicator, great writer, and great collaborator is important.

LL: When did you have the idea of being a teacher?

DG: My dad was a school superintendent and I remember waking up before daylight (in the cold New England winters) as a high school senior and thinking “I could never be a teacher. I can’t do this for the rest of my life!” About 10 years later I was working as a social worker and was asked to be a guest speaker at Valley Middle School in a Health Class. And I loved it. So, I got my substitute teaching credential, and then my regular teaching credential and began my teaching career as an 8th grade language arts teacher at Valley. The rest is history!