CHARLOTTESVILLE — The golf cart chauffeuring Eastern Hancock Schools’ longtime principal, teacher and coach burst through a large sheet of decorated paper and into the gymnasium to a thundering standing ovation.
The school band played as the cart did a lap around the gym before pulling up to a red carpet leading to a couch in the middle of the floor decked in a Royals blanket.
It was Dave Pfaff’s throne for the afternoon. Soon, he was served some of his favorite foods, including a heaping pile of bacon, along with his go-to beverage, Diet Pepsi.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryPfaff, 61, who is principal at both the high school and middle school, is retiring after working for the school corporation for 40 years. Students and faculty past and present gathered Thursday to celebrate his career with musical performances, games, videos, memories and laughs. Eastern Hancock teachers say his leadership style forged a kinship among staff that made working for him rewarding. That explains the broad smiles and emotions that were on display throughout the afternoon. It also explains why organizers of the event were able to find representatives of Pfaff’s 40 classes to form a human time line. Many of them were part of multiple generations of their families that knew Pfaff as their teacher or principal.
Pfaff graduated from Greenfield-Central High School in 1975 and Indiana State University in 1979, the same year he started teaching history at Eastern Hancock High School.
He became the high school’s principal in 1998 and started leading the middle school in 2003. He also coached varsity football and varsity girls basketball.
Pfaff didn’t know what was in store for him when he hopped into the golf cart that took him to his convocation. Organizers had been planning the surprise for some time.
After the assembly, he told the Daily Reporter that the experience left him surprised, humbled and overwhelmed.
“I do not see how all these people kept this quiet,” he said. “There’s 700 teenagers here, and none of them said anything. I’m amazed how they kept it secret from me.”
He joked that he couldn’t help but feel a little concerned as well.
“If they can keep secrets that well, what else do I not know?” he said with a chuckle.
Pfaff said his father, who also was a teacher, coach and school administrator, inspired him to pursue a similar career.
“It looked like he loved his job,” Pfaff said. “And as a kid, I loved school, I enjoyed school, I enjoyed my coaches, I enjoyed my teachers. It just felt like — this is home.”
Pfaff said maintaining a cohesive environment among staff was always important to him.
“The school is all about trying to get people to do their best,” he said. “And I believe that people do their best when they enjoy where they’re at, when they feel a sense of connectedness with each other.”
Creating conditions that help teachers understand their purpose of preparing children for their futures was always important to him too.
“It’s got to be about more than test scores and more than a letter grade,” he said. “There’s higher things at stake here. If people understand that, then it makes the hard stuff a lot easier.”
One of the former history teacher’s retirement plans is to visit historical sites throughout the country with his wife, Jane.
“For a lot of years, I talked in class about all kinds of places in American history, and a lot of them I’ve never been to,” he said.
The couple has two grandchildren and a third due in July. Pfaff said he’s looking forward to spending time with them as well.
“I’ll probably sleep in all the way till 6 o’clock,” he added with a laugh.
Pfaff said while he was very thankful for the celebration, he had a hard time understanding why it was merited.
“I’m just a regular guy,” he said.
But several Eastern Hancock teachers said the impact Pfaff had on them was anything but regular.
Megan Wallace graduated from Eastern Hancock High School in 2000 and started teaching English there in 2006. Pfaff had been with the school corporation since before she was born.
“I never knew Eastern Hancock without him,” she said.
Wallace said that a recommendation from Pfaff helped secure her first teaching job at another school corporation after she graduated from college. When a position opened at Eastern Hancock a couple years later, she didn’t have to contemplate very long about returning to her Royal roots, she continued.
Wallace described Pfaff’s leadership style as “super supportive.”
“He has never been a principal that stayed in his office,” she said.
That attentiveness made working for him fulfilling, Wallace added.
“He makes everyone feel like they’re incredibly important,” she said. “He treats everyone like they’re the most important person in the room.”
Eastern Hancock faculty often refer to Pfaff as their “work dad,” she continued, adding he creates a familial atmosphere at the school.
Wallace said while she’s sad to see Pfaff go, she’s happy for his well-deserved retirement and grateful he helped find a replacement she feels will take just as good of care of the schools as he did.
Adam Barton, a 1990 Eastern Hancock grad and outgoing New Palestine High School assistant principal, will succeed Pfaff.
Debbie Grass graduated from Eastern Hancock in 1982 and has been a business teacher there since 2006.
“He was my teacher and basketball coach, and now he’s my mentor,” Grass said of the retiring principal.
Pfaff built relationships with students in a way that made them want to learn from him, Grass said.
He was just as effective in his role as a principal, she continued, calling him “a servant leader.”
“He trusts his teachers to do what they need to do in the classroom,” Grass said.
Brandi Hinen, who has been teaching biology at Eastern Hancock for 17 years, described Pfaff as “a great leader” and “inspirational.”
“It’s been a pleasure working with him and for him,” she said.
Pfaff gets staff members to share the same mission and focus, Hinen added.
“Everything comes together when he’s here,” she said.
Wanda Lennis, who was a secretary at the high school for 20 years before retiring in 2016, attended Pfaff’s convocation. She has fond memories of his sense of humor.
“He was great,” Lennis said. “I enjoyed working with him very much.”
As Pfaff ends his four-decade career, he had a message for those starting out in the field of education.
“It is a very, very difficult time for teachers,” he said. “The right reason to go into teaching is because you care about other people and you enjoy helping other people grow.”
People with those aspirations are usually compassionate, caring and sensitive, he continued.
“And the way teachers are getting treated right now is especially tough when people are made out of that cloth,” he said.
When he was starting out, teacher openings would draw stacks of applications, he said. Now it’s fortunate to get two or three.
Pfaff disagrees with the notion that if school corporations reformed how they spend money, there would be more money for teachers.
“That’s not true,” he said. “I know how school corporations are spending their money. It’s not there.”
He fears if more public funding doesn’t get directed to education, the situation will likely continue to worsen.
Pfaff encouraged those who are passionate about teaching to remember their desire to help others grow.
“If you can keep that in your mind and heart, then it’s a wonderful profession,” he said.
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A gallery of photographs from Thursday’s celebration accompanies this story online at www.greenfieldreporter.com
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