Bob Shaffer:   A Friendly Face Who Wears Many Hats
Article taken from the Scioto Voice

Having spent the past 12 years as principal at Minford High School, Bob Shaffer has led a life full of variety, including the jobs he has held.  There is one common theme with all of it though and Shaffer said it best, "Everything I ever did was tied in with people and centered around people."  Making him a friendly face in Minford only made sense.

Bob Shaffer grew up in Portsmouth.  A graduate of Portsmouth High School in 1966, Shaffer described his school days as "typical", centered on athletics, mainly football.   Upon graduation, Bob attended Ohio University, Portsmouth branch and worked a full time job.

After his first year of college (1967), Shaffer went into the United States Marine Corps and served one tour in Vietnam (1968).  Twelve major combat operations later, Shaffer was awarded the following:  Purple Heart medal (wounded in action), Navy Achievement medal and the combat V (valor) medal.  Two days after his release from military service, Bob was home, working at Empire Detroit Steel and continuing his education at Ohio University.  The closing of Empire Detroit Steel prompted Shaffer to move to Detroit, Michigan where he worked briefly at Ford Motor Company.

Shaffer returned home and worked as a police Department.  Bob then worked for the Athens Police Department while he continued his education at O.U.  Following graduation with a B.S. English Comprehensive degree, Shaffer taught at Albany Alexander High School and after one week on the job was made dean of Students.

The hills of home called Bob Shaffer back a couple years later and he worked at Portsmouth High School where he taught English, served as assistant football coach, was the In-School Suspension Advisor and started the Night Adjustment Program for drop-outs.   For six years, Bob was the head football coach.  In describing the Night Adjustment program, Shaffer said, "The program was designed for drop-outs and it offered tutoring in a mentoring type atmosphere. Getting kids back on track was our goal with the program".

It was during his years at PHS that Bob became associated with the Community Action Organization.  A supervisor of the summer school program, Shaffer also worked with an evening school program.   Bob described a typical day, "I would start out the day teaching, head to football practice until approximately 6 p.m. and then go to the evening school.  The same thing happened every day and during the summer, I was supervising summer school and getting ready for a new school (football) season".

Minford High School provided Shaffer with another opportunity in the educational field, as a principal where he served two years. When the chance to try his hand at being an Athletic Director (Notre Dame) came about, he jumped at it.  While at Notre Dame (Portsmouth), Bob was teacher, head football coach and Athletic Director.

For the past 12 years Bob Shaffer has been the principal at Minford High School, a post he intends keeping for quite some time.  Having coached at almost every place he worked, Shaffer extended that aspect of his career by being assistant football coach for two years.

Most of the jobs held by Bob Shaffer were ones which had the common theme that centered around "helping people"; from his days as a police officer to his days of tutoring, all had the best interest of people at their very core.  Shaffer said, "Each job had its value.  Working with all aspects of people from my days at the steel mill and as police officer, tutor, Athletic Director and principal, I have been able to use all of these experiences to do my job".

Working as a liaison (a bond of union) between parents, teachers, community and students is how Shaffer explains his role as principal at Minford. "The school is the focal point for the community" said Shaffer. Making decisions with that in mind, can sometimes be a little tricky.  One example would be the most recent decision about homecoming, ultimately changed to Saturday night.   Safety issues for the players was a factor as well as the plans for the homecoming festivities themselves and the schedule of the opposing team, among others.

The average day in the life of Principal Bob Shaffer cannot truly be described at the point in his career as there are no average days. "Every day I am dealing with something different and I am responsible for what goes on at the school.  There is no boredom in this job.  It is a great job which is generally the way it is when you are surrounded by good people".

The personality and character or Principal Shaffer becomes clear and the value of his experiences appreciated when one hears about a recent incident at the school.  It was a rainy day and there was a car accident on the road leading to the school. Knowing it was his responsibility, Shaffer went outside, assessed the situation, checked the condition of the drivers, directed traffic and stayed on the scene until it was resolved.  All of his despite the fact that in his authoritative role, some of it could have been delegated to someone else.  As Principal Shaffer would probably say, it's all in a day's work.