In the wake of longtime J-DHS principal Paul Gasparini’s retirement announcement, students and teachers reflected on what they loved most about Gasparini and how he has affected their careers.
According to history teacher Anna Delaney, “To Mr. Gasparini, I owe the start of my career and my growth as a beginning teacher. I will always be grateful for the opportunity I was given to work at J-DHS. I know if I ended up somewhere else I would not have found as much happiness in my job as I have at J-D. Mr. Gasparini has been so encouraging as a new teacher and has helped foster my confidence and my own teaching style. He is an admirable leader. He shows both strength and compassion and it has been an honor to work with him.”
“Since joining the teaching staff at JD, Mr. Gasparini has been very supportive and welcoming. Since day 1, he has made sure that I have everything I need in order to be successful, he checks in with me frequently to see how things are going, and offers help where he can when I need it. Something I notice and appreciate about Mr. Gasparini as a principal is how attentive he is to all of the staff and students here at JD. He always seems to know everyone by name, and almost always knows something about them – things they like, sports they play/coach, hobbies they have, etc. His energy, enthusiasm, and kindness will be greatly missed next year,” says history teacher Stephanie O’Rourke.
History teacher Jamie Crawford agrees. “To me, he was Mr. Gasparini when I was a student at Tully High School, and now as a Teacher at J-DHS, he is Paul. He has been an amazing principal to work with and a colleague I value and respect. Thank you, Paul, you will be missed dearly!”
“I’m very sad. He is my favorite administrator. Thanks to him I finished strong,” joked sophomore Jacob Price.
Senior Shiela Phoha states, “I will for sure miss Mr. Gaspirini’s positive attitude every day walking into school. He has a love and excitement for kids and their education, and it shows. I will miss his enthusiasm.”
“Mr. Gasparini has always been really positive and it’s nice to see him talking to each and every student he has the chance to and make them feel safe and like they belong at J-D. I’m going to miss getting a fist bump in the hall next year! I wish Mr. Gasparini the best of luck wherever his future leads him,” remarks junior Katelyn Cosbey.
Senior Alexa Clemons-Butenko eloquently summed up Gasparini’s impact on all students who pass through J-DHS. “I think Mr. Gasparini has really made a difference at J-D – not just for the leaving seniors and current underclassmen. His impact will be long-lasting even after he’s gone next year. He has really made J-D a bright space, especially with everything we went through in the past two years, and I think his positivity is what we will all miss most!”
