Every day, Mr. DeLane Doyle comes to school and goes to the band room. There he spends his day instructing students from both the upper and middle school to improve their musical skills. After the long day of teaching students music, he will switch his focus to a coach for the ice hockey team.
Mr. DeLane Doyle is a very important part of the GA community. To some, he is a band teacher. Others view him as their coach. But without a doubt he has some great achievements and important impacts.
Firstly, Mr. Doyle is one of GA’s music teachers. He teaches both Upper School and Middle School teachers. He is an Assistant Director of the Upper School band, a teacher for the general music class in the Middle School and a percussion instructor teaching instruments like the drums or marimba.
His musical abilities aren’t limited to impacting students in GA, but stretch to impacting the larger community of Philadelphia. For example, Mr. Doyle helped the Philadelphia Opera with “10 Days in a Mad House.”
In March of 2023, he did a week-long musical workshop with the opera to get the music ready to be performed. Later, he was invited back, during the fall, to be a part of the performances. During the performance, he used a software called Ableton Live to add pre-made and live sound effects.
“It was a moving piece of art. I thought the story it tells is really compelling,” Mr Doyle said. “But it was definitely tricky because in the beginning I ran into many technical difficulties that I had to navigate.”
Not only does Mr. Doyle has an impact with music, but as the ice hockey coach he also has an impact in GA sports. With a record of 3-4, the team is adjusting to losing many of its players from last year.
Looking into the future he has some goals for the team.
“I want them to make playoffs. We want to get to our IHL semifinal game,” Mr. Doyle said.” Also, I think having a winning record is a good goal, and I think it is a tangible and attainable goal.”
As an overall goal, Mr. Doyle wants to make the students’ experience in GA’s team more memorable and fun.
“I have been thinking a lot about what is the experience of the hockey season,” Mr Doyle said. “What can be unique or special, here, at GA that might feel different from their club team?”
Lastly, Mr. Doyle has impacted the community by running the summer scuba program. This is a school program where students can go on a trip during the summer and scuba dive with their peers. Initially, he was intrigued when it came up and he wanted to try something he hasn’t tried before.
“It was so much fun getting to see the underwater world for the first time.,” Mr Doyle said. “We saw so much. It was a perfect mix of learning and relaxation.”
This year he is bringing the scuba trip back and he has already planned most of it.
All in all, Mr Doyle has impacted the community in many ways. He is a music teacher, has performed with the Philadelphia orchestra, coaches the ice hockey team, and hosts the scuba trip.