RANDOLPH — When you first walk in to David Pihlblad’s classroom your eyes may wander a bit.

Adorned on the walls are posters of China, Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, world maps, as well as pictures and flags of several countries.

Pihlblad teaches Global History I at Randolph Central School.

Teaching is in his DNA.

A poster of an Egyptian Pharoah’s tomb. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

“It (teaching) is kind of in my family for generations. My mom was a teacher for a long time. My brother is a teacher, and my sister is in the school system,” Pihlblad said.

His grandparents also were educators. But Pihlblad didn’t immediately know that he would follow his other family members into education. It was not until he grew older, he said, that he started appreciating education more.

“As I got older, I just loved school, and learning, and I wanted to continue to be a part of the education system,” Pihlblad said.

A 2008 RCS graduate, Pihlblad continued his studies at Medaille University, and taught at different area schools before settling in at Randolph in 2017.

“I think the biggest thing with history is trying to get those connections with students of why it (history) is important and why it matters. You can make any history lesson really boring or you can make it mean something to them (students),” Pihlblad said.

Shown are instructions and board for the Egyptian Senet game.

The educator said he tries to find ways to show how the material impacts students’ lives, and making the material enjoyable, and interesting. In his classes, he likes hands-on projects where students can take the material and make it their own. One project that he has his students particpate in is the making of papyrus. He said he went to Egypt and brought back papyrus to show his students, and he decided it would be good for them to learn more about ancient Egypt by making papyrus.

According to metmuseum.org, in New York City, “the word papyrus refers both to the writing support invented by the ancient Egyptians , and the plant from which they made this material. … Papyrus continued to be used until the eleventh century A.D. even as paper, invented in China, became the most popular writing material for the Arab world around the eighth century A.D.”

In a recent class, he had his students learn about ancient Egypt by having them play a game of Senet or a “game of passing.” The goal of the game, he said, is trying to get from one end of the board to the other. He said elites would have played the game in their leisure time, but lower-class people would not have.

As part of the review for the final exam in his Global History I class, students get to incorporate technology by producing a podcast. The podcast must be 3 to 5 minutes in length and it has to be on a topic that was taught during the class. The podcasts are broken down into groups of 1 to 3 students and the format can be whatever the students want from storytelling or host and guest(s).

“The kids really get into that. It’s a really fun one we do,” Pihlblad said of the podcast project.

He said the preparation for the podcast is about two weeks where the students will gather information at the school library, and then it is recorded on their laptop computers using Canva, a software program. Pihlblad said the students present their podcasts while other students have to take notes on what they learned from the podcasts. Each student or group has to have a different topic, Pihlblad said.

And he did not forget his Randolph roots as he know teaches a very popular elective class at RCS — The History of Randolph. The class, he said, is open to any ninth through 12th grade student.

“The class has become very popular with RCS students. The class is very project and research based, with many opportunities to get the students involved in their community and school,” Pihlblad said.

History of Randolph Class Projects

¯ Map of Randolph — “The is a map that I first created as a learning tool for teaching about the ancient “mounds” that were once in Randolph. The students and I researched old books to identify the locations of where these mounds were located around the Randolph area and we plotted each of them on the map. Each year we also walk some of the local fields looking for and finding some arrowheads where these mounds once were,” Pihlblad said.

¯ Randolph Manor — “For several years my students walked down to the Randolph Manor on a weekly basis. We spent time with the residents playing games, socializing, and talking about history. My students interviewed the residents and many questions and discussions took place about the differences of life in general and Randolph today compared to years ago. Many of the topics that were covered in class were brought up and discussed with some of the residents having first hand knowledge and were a part of some of the things we were learning about,” Pihlblad said.

¯ Family Genealogy — “Students researched their families genealogy and created family trees. We were able get free access to www.ancestryclassroom.com and students were able to use this tool for research,” He added.

¯ Randolph Veteran Projects — “Students had to interview a veteran with a connection to Randolph. Students then presented biographies of their lives,” he said.

Pihlblad added that overall the goal of the History of Randolph class is to bring history to life as much as possible, and to allow the students to experience, research, and create their own history as well.

And when he is not in teaching, Pihlblad connects with is students by being a coach — varsity girls baskbetball, varsity boys soccer, and boys track and field. What he likes about coaching, he said, is that he has different relationships with student athletes.

“That’s the really cool thing about coaching — you get that different relationship with those kids. The way I coach is completely different from the way I teach. … I see dozens of kids every year, coaching them, and that part is really fun to build those relationships as well,” Pihlblad said.