After 37 years, Crystal Buffington is leaving fifth grade
By Jim Smedley
Staff Writer

OXFORD – Crystal Buffington is finally leaving school after spending 37 years in the fifth grade.

“I just couldn’t graduate, make grade six,” Buffington laughed.

The 37 years in grade five have been spent as a teacher, and now Buffington is retiring.

She said she has three grandchildren she wants to enjoy, and plans to do some bookkeeping work for her husband and son’s business.

She taught 33 years at the Guy E. Rowe School in Norway, one year at Oxford Elementary School and three years at the Madison Avenue School, also in Oxford.

Buffington has taught all subjects and concentrated on social studies for a couple of years and was a basketball coach and led many after-school activities.

As a matter of fact, anyone from age 10 to 48 who went to school in Norway is likely to know Buffington.

“I wonder how long it’s going to be before I don’t hear, ‘Hello, Mrs. Buffington! Do you remember me?’ when I’m walking down a store aisle?” she said.

Students who often have gone from being 4 feet tall to 6 feet tall often think they have Buffington stumped.

“I’ll surprise them sometimes when I can tell them, ‘Of course I do, you sat in seat four, row six,'” Buffington said.

She said she has had judges, engineers, teachers and politicians as well as some of those who turn up in the court logs go through her classes.

Buffington said the students who gave her the most satisfaction were those who struggled in fifth grade, whether from schoolwork or peers, who went on to find their niche and become successful.

One of the biggest changes in the fifth-grader today vs. the fifth-grader of 37 years ago is in the care they put into their work.

“Kids today don’t seem to value their work as highly as they used to,” Buffington said. “A lot of the pride in their work is gone. This, of course, is not true of every fifth-grader.”

“I think kids have changed like the world has changed,” she said. “You want to know what’s going on inside the classroom? Look at the world.”

Buffington said the role of the teacher has changed over the years and the perception of a teacher’s job being from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with weekends, holidays and summers off is just no longer true.

She points to the meetings – budget meetings, curriculum meetings and meetings with the parents. Then there is always professional development training.

Buffington said the training, meetings and other responsibilities limit a teacher’s time with family.

“Teaching is constant. It’s not something you turn off,” she said. “When you go on vacation and you see something, you wonder, ‘How am I going to use that in class?’

“There’s just a lot of things people don’t realize about teaching,” she said.

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