Calvary Lutheran High School hosted an appreciation drive-thru Saturday to celebrate two faculty members' years of service to the school.
This was Denise Crider and Mark Buffington's last year at Calvary Lutheran High School. The celebration allowed people to drive by and share their well wishes while social distancing.
Buffington said he appreciates the Calvary Lutheran leadership team for planning the event.
"Calvary does such a good job of ministering to not only the kids, but also to the people that work there," Buffington said. "It is a family, and I've always appreciated that."
Buffington was a public school teacher for 30 years, and he worked at Calvary Lutheran for eight years as a world history teacher, physical education teacher, athletics director and boys basketball head coach.
He said he'll miss the daily interactions with the students in class and on the basketball team the most.
"That's what you get up in the morning for - being able to work with the kids and hopefully have an impact on them," Buffington said. "They definitely had an impact on me."
He said his favorite part of teaching is seeing former students - sometimes as much as 20 years later.
"Even the kids that you may have struggled with, you see them grown up and it's almost always a positive interaction. I love that," he said.
Buffington's job required him to spend many evenings working, so he's decided to take a break and spend more time with his wife, children and grandchildren. He doesn't know yet what his future plans are, but he's excited to spend more time with his family, he said.
"Being able to finish - as far as right now - my teaching and coaching career at Calvary is the best thing that I've done professionally, being that it's not just a school, it's a ministry," Buffington said.
Buffington said he's enjoyed being a part of Calvary Lutheran's mission.
"Being a Christian school, I've appreciated that and enjoyed being a part of that and their mission to spread God's word and to be the light in the community," he said. "It's been a very enjoyable experience."
He said he appreciates Calvary Lutheran's leadership team and community, and he'll miss working with them.
"One of the reasons why I've enjoyed my time there is they don't just give ministry and a Christian school service, they live it out," Buffington said.
Crider began her education career 28 years ago, and she was a teacher at Calvary Lutheran for 15 years - since the school opened.
"It has been really amazing to watch it grow from nine students to where we are now," she said.
Crider helped start a Key Club, cadet teaching program, Future Teachers of America and a Students Against Destructive Decisions chapter at Calvary Lutheran, and she got to watch these clubs develop and grow.
Crider helped the Key Club start a blood drive at Calvary Lutheran, and she enjoyed seeing students learn to think outside of themselves and confront their fears through the blood drive and the cadet teaching program, she said.
Many students who were in the cadet teaching program became teachers, and many students involved in the blood drive went into the medical field.
Crider was also an academic advisor for post-secondary choices such as careers, college and military.
"It's just been so super cool to be able to help kids find their spots," she said.
Crider said she'll miss the students at Calvary Lutheran the most.
"When you teach, you develop such a unique relationship with each student, and when they graduate or when you move on, you miss that particular relationship," she said.
But the beauty of teaching, she said, is there are always more students to develop relationships with.
Crider is moving on to teach English at Russellville High School. She said she's excited to be challenged with new curriculum and to get to know more students.
"It was time for a change to spread my professional wings and do something different, get out of my comfort zone and continue to grow professionally," she said.
Crider said she appreciates the opportunities she has been given at Calvary Lutheran.
"I have just been tremendously blessed by this community," she said. "I appreciate the many opportunities that I have been given to serve, and I am really super excited about getting another opportunity to serve."