After working at the Tyrone Area School District for 18 wonderful years, special education paraprofessional Mrs. Connie Shaffer will retire at the end of the 2016-2017 school year.

Graduating from Tyrone High School in 1976, Shaffer has been a Golden Eagle her entire life.

Before being employed in the school district, Shaffer worked as a sales person at Wal-Mart and an Estee Lauder representative in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Following her husband’s retirement from the military, Shaffer and her family returned home to Tyrone. Since two of her daughters were still in school, Shaffer decided to apply for a job at Tyrone High.

Some of Shaffer’s favorite memories are the Christmas assemblies, lunch at the Eagle Inn (she still misses that!), pep rallies, Mrs. Patton’s cupcakes, and the Golden Eagle football team winning the state championship in 1999.

Although Shaffer welcomes the idea of her alarm clock not going off every morning, she definitely will miss all the amazing memories and experiences she had working at Tyrone High.

“I will of course miss working with the students, and I’ll really miss my co-workers,” said Shaffer, “They are an amazing and dedicated group of people.”

Special education teacher Chrystie Williams describes Shaffer as strict, jokingly referring to her as “Sheriff Shaff” but said that she is also willing to joke around and have fun with the students.

“The students often play practical jokes on Ms. Shaffer. One of my favorite memories is when a student took a practical joke to the next level prior to his graduation.” said Williams, “He came into school early, removed Ms. Shaffer’s desk, chair, and belongings from the room. He replaced it with a child’s tiny desk and chair and put her coffee mug and belongings on the tiny desk in their usual spots. She walked into the room and burst into laughter. I think that she is still laughing over that one!”

After retirement, Shaffer looks forward to traveling, reading, and volunteering more at her church. However, nothing will make her happier than being able to spend more time with her grandchildren.