TOWAMENCIN- Throughout the North Penn School District, hundreds of employees specializing in a variety of jobs work on and off of the clock to ensure the safety and success of the district’s students. As a class of students graduates each year, the staff welcomes a new group of students and continues their work. After serving the NPSD for just over three decades, NPHS Nurse and Department Chair of Health Services Mrs. Sally Kauffman will end her career with her retirement from the district.

While Kauffman has been with the district for over thirty years, her career as a nurse first started when she graduated from Gwynedd Mercy in 1973, earned an Associate Degree, and received her Rn license. After working in Suburban General, Kauffman moved to Israel.

“At that time, I moved to Israel and worked there on a kibbutz as a nurse,” explained Kauffman. “Then, I came back here and worked at Einstein in Philadelphia for about a year and a half. I moved back to a town in Israel, and I worked as the nurse in the town, and I worked as the nurse in the intensive care unit in a hospital.”

Recalling her visit to Israel when she was just sixteen years old, Kauffman explained that she decided to go back for a little. Upon her return, Kauffman continued her work at the North Penn Hospital, the Visiting Nurse Association, and from there, she earned her job at NPSD.

Although Kauffman started as a nurse at the elementary level, she transitioned to NPHS, where she would serve for about twenty-six years. Throughout her career, she has served as the Department Chair of Health Services for about twenty-four and a half years.

Noting that her best memories from the district are with the students, Kauffman explained that her decision to retire originated from a variety of things happening and deciding to move on to do something different.

“My best memories are working with the students,” stated Kauffman. “I enjoy communicating with them. I enjoy seeing them advocate for themselves. I enjoy their ups and downs and know that I can work with them and help them if they need it. I have some interesting experiences that I can’t really talk about, but there has been some very interesting experiences with the students.”

Recalling some of her favorite memories with students, Kauffman explained the happiness she felt supporting students at the end of the year.

“I know that over the years, there’s been some students that the last few weeks of school, they just didn’t think they could make it as seniors,” stated Kauffman. “At the time, we still had homeroom. I ended up having them in my homeroom, though I never had a homeroom, and they would report to me every morning the last few weeks. Because of that, we were able to get them to graduate. I was very happy that we could do that and work with them… Then, you can go on and come back if you need to make it through the day if you need that little motivation. Sometimes I tell them I’m their biggest cheerleaders the last few months just to get them through.”

In addition to enjoying the spent with students, Kauffman explained that she found her position as Department Chair of Health Services interesting.

“I have to tell you, being the Department Chair, the coordinator of health services, has been a part of it that’s been very interesting,” said Kauffman. “Not only do I communicate with all of my nurses, the principals, anytime there’s a medical dilemma or crises or question that arises, it usually goes through me. But I’ve also been able to, in that position, work with a lot of community agencies, so that was always interesting. And as the Department Chair of Health Services, I’ve been a part of a lot of different committees throughout the years within the North Penn School District. I got to know a lot of people throughout the district, so I enjoyed that very much.”

The Wellness Committee, Safe Schools Committee, and Safety Committee are a few among the many committees that Kauffman has dedicated her time to. Not only did Kauffman stay busy in her position within the NPSD, but also on the local and state level.

“I worked in the state with the Department of Pupil Services. I was the President of the School Nurse Section at one point, and I remained on their Executive Board for quite a while now, so I will be retiring from that, and I also worked with the County School Nurses Association and at one point was president. I did keep busy both on the state and on the local level.”

As the end of Kauffman’s last year with the district comes to a close, she noted that she will undoubtedly miss working with her fellow nurses and NPSD coworkers. However, Kauffman will have the opportunity to spend some time with NP students and staff right after the 2016-2017 academic year ends. Kauffman is set to visit the Dominican Republic with Dr. Hall, a NPHS Social Studies Teacher, and his student service project. One week after that trip, Kauffman will attend the National Association of School Nurses conference in San Diego.

Despite the two trips that will keep Kauffman busy during June and the first week of July, she looks forward to spending time with her grandchildren, traveling, and starting some online courses that she signed up for over the years.

Explaining that her involvement at the district, local, and state levels kept her job stimulating, Kauffman noted her passion for the job.

“I enjoyed every day. I loved getting up and coming to work, so I didn’t look at it as work. I looked at it as an everyday thing,” stated Kauffman.