By JOHANNA LAI
Malden High School’s U.S History I and AP Government and Politics teacher, Gregory Hurley, was born in Arlington, Massachusetts. Hurley went to Boston College High School and graduated in 1998. He described his years at high school as “different, since [he] had to commute to the school and had to take the train for one hour to get to BCH.” After he graduated from high school, Hurley went to Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and graduated in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in History. He later went to Tufts, and graduated in 2005 with a masters in arts and teaching. Hurley stated that at first he became a teacher because he wanted “[his] career to have a lot of meaning towards it, such as teaching students from Malden and just really thought [he] could help kids.”
Hurley came to MHS in 2004 as a student teacher for the Director of the Social Science Department, Judi Allen, who was a history teacher at MHS at that time. Hurley has been teaching at MHS since 2005. Before he came to MHS, Hurley previously worked as a paralegal in a law firm called Nixon Peabody, located in Boston, for two years. Hurley stated that his job at Nixon Peabody was ”interesting, and that [he] was able to see many things and realized that [he] wanted something different after working at the law firm for a couple of years.”
Hurley was an assistant coach of the MHS track team from 2005-2009. He is also the advisor for Generation Citizen, a club which takes part in helping teens solve problems they see in their community. Hurley was also the advisor for National History Day (NHD), a club that was co-founded by former Blue and Gold member and graduate of 2010, David Riemer, and graduate of 2010, Malik Blue.
Senior Devon Moran has known Hurley since her freshman year. Moran stated that ”he inspires and amazes his students every single day. [Moran] had him freshman year in his U.S History I class and [has] him currently for AP Government and Politics. He has a way of teaching that just makes his students so interested that they fall in love with social studies. Besides being an incredible teacher, he genuinely cares about people. Students envy other students who have him as a teacher because he [is] just so 'cool' but students just love his teaching, personality and dedication to educating. Any student would be lucky to have him and any person would benefit from meeting him. He [is] the best.”
During his free time, Hurley spends a lot of time with his family and friends. Hurley and his wife are preparing for a baby due in June. He also does research on material culture of the British and Americans from 1750-1820. Also, Hurley likes to do living history and reenact events, and has been doing this his entire life. Hurley plays the guitar during his free time as well, modestly stating that he plays “poorly.” Hurley’s favorite band is Metallica and also listens to heavy rock as well as classical music. Hurley enjoys reading books and is currently reading a nonfiction called Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
History teacher Richard Tivnan has known Hurley since 2006. Tivnan stated that Hurley, “as a teacher, is dedicated and really loves the content of history, loves to teach the kids, and does a really good job teaching them. As a person, he is a great friend, a caring individual, and is willing to do anything for anyone.”
Correction: In a previous version of this article, Doris Kearns Goodwin was listed as Doris Currence Goodwin.
