A Little Bit About Me

Hello everyone, my name is Vince Doherty and I am a World History, Speech and Debate, and AVID 11 teacher at Roseland University Prep High School in Santa Rosa, California. I am the husband to a wonderful woman named Katrina and together we are raising our rambunctious and amazing 5-year-old son Damian and 3.5-year-old daughter Aria. I was born and raised in beautiful Sonoma County, graduating from Rancho Cotate High School in 2004 and Santa Rosa Junior College in 2009. I currently hold a Bachelor of Arts in both History and Economics from Sonoma State University and a Master of Arts in Teaching with a Single Subject Social Studies teaching credential from the University of San Francisco. I am beginning my 9th year at RUP and I love teaching. I am a firm believer that human beings are born curious, and it is our job as educators to help nurture that curiosity while expanding the worldview and critical thinking ability of our students as we prepare them for adulthood in the increasingly complex and technologically driven 21st century.

When I am not teaching, I spend a great majority of my time with my wife and kids. We love being outdoors and enjoy hiking and playing along the coast and in the mountains. I love staying physically and mentally active. I read a ton, and recently have found myself enjoying podcasts as well. I love watching movies and documentaries when I have time. I'm very much into fitness and love lifting weights, running, bike riding, hiking, and any other kind of physical activity I can get into. I am very passionate about sports, particularly basketball, and football, and am always ready for a nice conversation about my Warriors and 49ers. I also listen to a lot of music, particularly 90s hip-hop and rap. If you ask me to sing any Tupac song, chances are I can do so word for word.  I greatly enjoy being challenged and learning new things, and find that I need a new challenge every 6 months or so to keep my mind engaged. It is through both experience and failure that we grow and learn more about our true selves and I relish the opportunity to do so.

My philosophy as a teacher is that our educational system has a way of hampering our innate curiosity. As little kids we are all curious. We want to know “why” about everything. I see it with my kids every day. That is the beauty of being a human. To question. To doubt. To debate. However, with endless amounts of testing and homework, and minimal time for reflection, we tend to lose our innate curiosity in order to “get it done” and receive a grade. My goal with my classes is to strike a balance. I want to challenge you to be a better reader, writer, and critical thinker. But I also want you to have autonomy over your own education and pursue things that you are interested in. I am open to your ideas. So please talk to me and tell me what you’re interested in.

My end goal for my students is that they become interested and engaged in the world around them, while growing passionate about their ability to create change. Each of you has greater power than you know. And while the forces of government, economics, religion, environment and education may seem insurmountable to you now, you need to know that you can make a difference. These systematic forces only exist because humans, like you and I created them. They can be changed because of the passionate efforts of people like you and I. So find out what you are passionate about, get educated, critically think about it and refuse to let any obstacles get in your way. You can do it. I believe in you. Knowledge is power. Now let’s make it happen!