For Assistant Principal Tony Grippi, this school year will be his last. This will end his 31-year career at the FHN building that began before the school had that name.

“My goal was that I was going to finish my career here in whatever capacity, because I just felt like, well, not a lot of people can say that they started when a school was built and stayed for an extended period of time.”

Grippi started as a social studies teacher when the school was built in 1982 as Henderson Junior High School. In addition to teaching, he also coached Girls Basketball and Boys/Girls Tennis. In standing out in his memory however, Grippi believes his coaching victories will always pale in comparison to his memories of the connections he has made here.

“I’ve had a wonderful 31 years at this building, I’ve met a lot of very good friends, very good people I’ll always be able to see and talk to and share fond memories with,” Grippi said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

In 2001, Grippi moved to the position of Assistant Principal. Early this March, the same time that Darlene Jones announced her retirement, Tony stated that he would also be retiring, leaving an Assistant Principal position open for next year.

“I wanted to be here for 35 years -or longer- which is a little above the norm for most people in education,” Grippi said, “But at this particular stage, I’m ready to move on.”

With his retirement, Grippi plans on spending more time at home and with his family. He also has potential plans to work at a golf course in the future. Despite these and other future plans, Grippi will always cherish his time at North.

“People are in teaching and administrating because they want to make a difference in people’s lives, they want to set a positive example, and I think that I tried to do that to the best of my ability,” Grippi said. “Even though it’s my choice to leave, I’m still going to miss working here. This building is a part of who I am.”