{"id":12150,"date":"2025-08-21T19:30:37","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T19:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/?p=12150"},"modified":"2026-03-12T16:18:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T16:18:32","slug":"helen-gilbart-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/2025\/08\/21\/helen-gilbart-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Retiree Believes Technology Inspires Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.24.0&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.24.0&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.24.0&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_blurb image=&#8221;https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/files\/2025\/08\/HelenUFToday012-1030&#215;686-1.jpg&#8221; alt=&#8221;Helen Gengler&#8221; icon_placement=&#8221;left&#8221; image_icon_width=&#8221;400px&#8221; content_max_width=&#8221;100%&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.24.0&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_third  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_two_third  el_before_av_one_full  \">\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\">\n<div class=\"avia_textblock \" itemprop=\"text\">\n<p><strong><span><em>\u201cI feel like we all have something to contribute, and we should do it.\u201d \u2014<\/em>\u00a0Helen Gilbart, BAE \u201965, MEd \u201967<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_one_third  el_before_av_hr  column-top-margin\">\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\">\n<div class=\"avia_textblock \" itemprop=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.24.0&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\">\n<div class=\"avia_textblock \" itemprop=\"text\">\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_one_third  el_before_av_hr  column-top-margin\">\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\">\n<div class=\"avia_textblock \" itemprop=\"text\">\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\">\n<div class=\"avia_textblock \" itemprop=\"text\">\n<p><strong>Lifelong educator Helen Gilbart (BAE \u201965, MEd \u201967) may be a softspoken\u00a082-year-old retiree, but she defies her peers\u2019 stereotypes. This Kindle-sharing, smartphone-toting, iPad mini devotee uses her technology to read and learn about all kinds of new things. Her enthusiasm for learning is infectious, as she often lends her devices to neighbors and book club members. Even the local high school students she mentors get in on the action.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just like to see people blossom through the possibilities that are out there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Helen, who says she adopted her gentle teaching style from her college professors Hal Lewis and William Purkey, taught English and humanities classes and administered a variety of programs at St. Petersburg College from 1967 to 1997. Her interest in technology skyrocketed in the 1980s when her college purchased 25 Macintosh computers and housed them in her department\u2019s learning center.<\/p>\n<p>TEACHING<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw miracles happening with how much students were learning. I said, \u2018I\u2019ve got to learn how to use these,\u2019\u201d Helen says.<\/p>\n<p>Helen and her late husband, Donald Gilbart, also a lifelong educator, believed technology could open doors for students and people with physical and learning disabilities. That\u2019s why they supported an educational technology program at UF\u2019s College of Education with a cash gift and later added a provision in their wills to provide for the program\u2019s growth over time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe way to get teachers more involved and to use technology in the classroom is to train them while they\u2019re still in school,\u201d Helen says. The Gilbarts\u2019 fund allowed UF to purchase iPads for education students and for K\u201312 students at the college\u2019s developmental research school, P.K. Yonge.<\/p>\n<p>Helen says creating these learning opportunities through technology is important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a feeling out there of, \u2018Let someone else do that,\u2019\u201d Helen says. \u201cI feel like we all have something to contribute, and we should do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"hr hr-invisible  avia-builder-el-10  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_hr \"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.0 (Yoast SEO v22.0) - 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