After 31 years of teaching in Milton, social studies teacher Brian Borde is retiring at the end of the school year.

Growing up in Trinidad, Borde didn’t always know that he wanted to go into education. While studying at Eastern Michigan University, he was the captain of the soccer team and planned to work in business. Teaching was the furthest thing from his mind.

In college, Borde was involved in the Olympic Development Program, a youth soccer organization. It was there he realized his passion for teaching and coaching, and in his junior year, he switched his major to education. He went on to get his masters in education at Concordia University.

Borde began teaching in Milton as an 8th grade U.S. history teacher at Pierce Middle School. Today, at Milton High, Borde continues to teach social studies because it is a subject that he is truly passionate about. He explained, “It’s the one subject I think that gives you the opportunity to talk about all areas of our lives.” He feels as though it gives him the ability to interact with a variety of students, sharing their diverse perspectives on life.

Although Borde primarily teaches U.S. History II, he also teaches several electives such as Contemporary Issues, Comparative Cultures of the African Diaspora, and The Fourth Estates: Government and the Media.

While he loves all of his classes, Comparative Cultures is his favorite. He created the course, which discusses the Caribbean and Central and South American way of life.

Borde finds it especially interesting because he grew up in the Caribbean and often visits the area. He also loves the course because more and more Milton students are from these nations.

There aren’t many classes like Comparative Cultures in other schools. Borde said, “I think it’s a unique class, and also what I like about that class is the experience it brings to the students which is different from the typical daily experience.”

Throughout his career, Borde has seen firsthand how teaching has evolved. When he started, curriculums were more focused on memorization, but today they have developed into interactive activities that engage the student both inside and outside of the classroom.

Borde has evolved alongside teaching, with his main focus being to foster strong relationships with students. He believes that a large aspect of teaching is truly understanding the students. To him, teaching is no longer a solitary exercise but one in which he and his students work together. This allows him to push his students to achieve more than they could have ever thought. He stresses that it is not his classroom but theirs.

Although he plans to stay involved in the Milton community, when asked about what he will miss he said, “The students, I’m going to miss the classroom experience. It’s the students’ classroom but I share a part of that and when you lose that you will miss it.”

He believes that education is a balanced exercise, one in which the community, the school, and the people depend on one another. He hopes to see that balance remain at Milton High even after he is gone.

Finally, Borde leaves us all with some sage words of advice, “If you do nothing, nothing gets done.”