One of the school’s long serving assistant principals retired this month. Assistant principal Carlos Garza worked his last full day at the school on Tuesday.

The resignation came as a result of the need to be closer to family. At this time, no one is expected to fill the now vacant position in the near future.

“Everything in my life is up in the air,” Garza said. “It’s something that I need to attend to.”

Garza is a veteran educator, with more than 33 years in the field.

“I taught for 19 years,” Garza said. “Then I became an administrator.”

Garza has been a part of the school community for several years and most students have known him since their freshman year. However, before becoming the person students and teachers know today, Garza had to overcome a seemingly uncharacteristic trait.

“I stuttered very badly,” Garza said. “I had to go to a facility and they taught me how to control it.”

This is where the former assistant principal discovered one of his first passions.

“I wanted to be a speech pathologist,” Garza said. “(The speech facility) is where I got into speech pathology.”

Soon after this important discovery, Garza started down the path that helped bring him to where he is today. He taught english in part as a result of his interest in speech.

“(My students) struggled through the english,” Garza said. “I did too.”

Eventually, Garza decided to transfer out of english and into the administrative field. Through this all, he endeavoured to maintain an exciting and happy life.

“I’ve been in several, several schools,” Garza said. “I moved every five years so I didn’t get stagnant.”

However, out of all the schools and districts in which he worked, it was our school that convinced him to break his five year rule.

“This is my sixth year (at the school),” Garza said. “This is my favorite school. You have no idea how special this place is. It’s the teachers. These teachers go above and beyond. They work so hard and so much. The teachers (here) have a sincere caring for what they do.”

Regardless of location, it’s the meaning of his work that’s always kept Garza going.

“I try to be fair and consistent,” Garza said. “The only thing that I’ve ever wanted to accomplish was to make a positive difference.”