A Sweet Send-off for Dr. Geoff Gordon

Well-wishers gathered at the Wednesday, providing a sweet send-off to Dr. Geoffrey Gordon, who is of . 

The room was filled with supporters that included current and retired teachers and school board members, volunteers and more. They were there to pay tribute to Gordon for his dedicated service. Those praising Gordon, spoke of everything from his commitment to putting students first to his days as a semi-pro baseball player – an aspect that was surprising to some in attendance.

Asked later about his ball playing, Gordon, a former Division I athlete at the University of Virginia, said, “I did play with a number of major league players as teammates including Denny Walling who played 17 years for the Astros and against some great players like Mike Caldwell of the Brewers, Al Downing of the Dodgers/Yankees, etc.  I have been close friends with Tommy John of the Yankees for a quarter of a century.”

“So I guess for someone not quite good enough for the major leagues, I was pretty close,” he added.

While many of the tributes were moving, there was laughter too, especially during the “roast” portion of the evening, courtesy of Schreiber High School teachers Jeremy Klaff and Petro Macrigiane. The evening also featured a live string quintet, featuring Schreiber students and teacher Anthony Pinelli, Jr.

In lieu of gifts, Gordon requested a donation payable to the Port Washington Education Foundation, towards teacher-student grants, and/or a donation made payable to the PWUFSD, towards a new superintendent's student scholarship for a student who has overcome significant adversity and/or special needs to graduate and attend college.

Surrounded by family and friends, Gordon thanked everyone, and closed out the evening with a letter written by a student, who thanked the superintendent for “making the district a better place for all.”