High School Science Teacher Retires After 34 Years
Murray Stafford recently said goodbye to the high school after teaching science for 34 years.
He and his family welcome the community to celebrate his retirement at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Victory Baptist Chapel, 67300 Willow Grove Rd, St. Clairsville.
This was Stafford’s last school year at Barnesville High School where he started teaching in August of 1991, only a few days after his college graduation.
The 1986 Minerva High School grad attended Kent State University, graduating in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in comprehensive science.
Murray Stafford teaches science for his first year.
Stafford, who spent his whole career at Barnesville High School, applied for the Barnesville position after seeing it posted in the placement office at Kent State.
When the Stafford moved to Barnesville, he lived in a Plaza Motel where McDonald’s is now, until he and his wife, Marcia Stafford, found a place to live. He said he had never heard of the village prior to applying for the job.
Stafford felt fortunate having colleagues who made it easy for him and his wife who were new to the village.
“We were pretty much strangers in this little town that we had never heard of before,” he said. “And so I had a lot of good colleagues, especially early on that became friends and made it easier.”
Throughout his career, he taught general science, college prep science, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, environmental science, which is now called earth science, teaching all grades from freshman to seniors. He also helped with the high school marching band. Over the years, the classes changed and so has technology.
Stafford said when he first started teaching every classroom had old chalkboards or blackboards and not a single computer in the building!
“I think technology is a huge way that education has changed,” he said. “And here’s good and bad with that. I think it’s good because we have so much information that we can just easily access, but it can also be bad because I think we’re almost to the point where students are starting to feel like, ‘Why do I have to learn this stuff when I can just Google it?'”
Stafford said he’s always liked science and believes a teacher has to enjoy the subjects they teach. Science always interested him and he hoped it came across to his students.
The teaching process was very different for Stafford in the beginning. Stafford had to prepare a lot when he started teaching and as time went on, he found preparation easier.
Stafford said he has many great memories from throughout the years, but the memories of his students always stick out.
He mentioned one student in 1995 who turned in five physics books at the end of the year though each not being the book Stafford gave him at the beginning of the year. That student had to pay for a physics book.
Over the years, Stafford taught alongside Lisa Gallagher who started as the librarian a year before him and Nikki McEndree who started the same year and is still teaching health and physical education.
Stafford said he loved getting to work with students, and specifically seeing students learn and succeed. He noted watching students achieve something they thought they couldn’t was special.
BHS alumnus Cade Hannahs will replace Stafford in the position next school year.
Stafford may be retiring from teaching, but he’s not done yet. As he shifts gears from science, he will focus on spiritual care.
He has served as the Victory Baptist Chapel pastor since 2009. He will also serve in two new roles— as a chaplain at Southeastern Medical Center in Cambridge and Stonerise Hospice in St. Clairsville.
As a chaplain, Stafford will provide spiritual care, guidance and support to individuals, offering comfort, compassion and a listening ear as he helps people navigate difficult times.
He said he is looking forward to continuing to make a difference in people’s lives.
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