After his thirty fifth year of working in education, Principal Dave Bufalini has declared his retirement. Originally, Bufalini was a classroom teacher who taught biology. However, for the past 22 years, Bufalini has held an administrative position as a principal. He went into education simply because he loved the kids.

“When I was in college, I helped out with my high school marching band, and I coached in the summer. I just really enjoyed working with kids back then, and I wanted to make a career out of it,” Bufalini said.

Over the years, some of Bufalini’s students have thanked him for his help and told him that he has made a difference in their lives. That is Bufalini’s biggest achievement.

“I would say the thing that makes me most proud on a regular basis is when I’m out in public and a former student comes and relays to me that they have been successful and says thank you. I’ve had a couple students that when they started out as sophomores, we had quite a few visits in my office. But by the time they became seniors, after working with them for a couple years, they came to understand that it was never personal. Whether I am a classroom teacher or an administrator, the idea is to help students and give them the skills that when they get out of high school they can be successful. So when a student comes up to me and tells me I’ve been successful, that tells me that I’ve made a difference in that kid’s life,” Bufalini said.

He recalls one student in particular that he was especially proud to hear from.

“I remember one student, I saw him at Sheetz. He purposely came up to me and said ‘I want to thank you for being a little tough on me. I probably wouldn’t be where I am now if you hadn’t been.’ He had a job, and he had a kid. We had a really good discussion about now that you’re a parent, you have to be responsible and so forth. Those are the kind of things that I take a lot of pride in,” Bufalini said.

Looking back, one of Bufalini’s favorite memories was in a successful basketball season for both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams. He loved the support the students gave each other and the energy that the student sections added to the game.

“The student sections were very large and very supportive and vocal. It was just such a fun environment and it was just great to see that support from the student body. When the girls were playing, the boys would support them and each team would support the other. I really found that to be a neat experience and the kids were just great,” Bufalini said.

Bufalini’s decision to retire was made because the job of being in education has changed since he started.

“I’ve been in this business now for 35 years. I have accomplished everything that I set out to accomplish. Teaching and even being an administrator has changed over the last 10 years. It’s getting tougher, sometimes the support from the parents and the community in general is not the same as it was when I started. I just think I’ve done everything I had hoped to do, and I just think it’s time to retire and pursue other interests,” Bufalini said.

After retiring, Bufalini is looking forward to just relaxing, spending time with his family and simply reading on his porch, surrounded by his dogs.

Bufalini will miss the relationships that he has after he leaves high school.

“The relationships that you build, whether it’s with your colleges, the teachers or the students. Standing outside of the cafeteria for instance and a kid comes up to you and you have a conversation. You can joke around with them and they can joke around with you. It’s refreshing and that is one of the reasons why I enjoy what I do. I’ll miss that,” Bufalini said.