Thank You  Mr. Snyder 

You Will Be Missed

An interview by Hannah Siddiqui

As most of us know by now, our beloved Principal Snyder is leaving Abington Heights at the end of this week. Mr. Snyder has had an amazing career at his time at Abington Heights and will always be remembered. All of us know Mr. Snyder to be an amazing leader for our school, but I wanted to ask Mr. Snyder a little bit more about his experiences after being at AH for seventeen years. This week, I interviewed Principal Snyder to speak with him about some of those experiences, his favorite memories, and words of wisdom. Here were some of his responses:

The Journey to Becoming Principal

First off, Mr. Snyder recounted his journey to becoming principal at Abington. He has been the principal at the school since 2016 and was previously the school’s assistant principal for ten years. Prior to his time at Abington, Mr. Snyder discussed that he was a social studies teacher at Pocono Mountain. He also recounted how even in his early years in education, he noticed various issues in schools that he strived to combat through more administrative roles. After reflecting on his roles, he imagined how he would work to tackle these issues as a principal, and in his own words: “That’s when I knew I was ready.” Shortly after, the position opened at AH, he applied, and the rest is history. 

Looking Back

Mr. Snyder has spent years celebrating the milestones and achievements of the school. I wanted to hear about  some of his favorite memories from his time here. In his own words, “There's so many. Ones that really jump out in my mind: The state championship in basketball and the community response, the mock trial state championship.” Mr. Snyder also added that annual events such as the school musicals and graduation day ceremonies are very memorable moments of each year. 

When asked about what he enjoys the most about being principal here at Abington Heights, Mr. Snyder responded, “I enjoy my interactions with the teachers and students. I’d like to think I had a positive impact on the culture of the school and that I made this school more comfortable and accepting of everyone, and that I made it a place where everyone would like to come to everyday”. 

Looking Forward

It goes without saying that we will all sincerely miss Mr. Snyder, and after seventeen years at Abington, I wanted to know what he was going to miss the most about his time here. “There’s so much I'm going to miss,” he said. “I'll say it in three folds: I'm going to miss the teachers and their utmost professionalism. I've never seen a group of teachers that works and strives to make their students better as we have here at Abington. I'm going to miss the pep rallies and the times we get the whole school together, and we're just a unified group. It's just such a cool experience. And just those interactions with students everyday.”

Words of Wisdom 

So many of us admire Mr. Snyder’s consistent dedication and commitment to providing students an amazing education and productive learning environment. Mr. Snyder is undoubtedly an amazing leader, so I wanted to gather  some of his pieces of advice that students can look to in the future. He responded with three motivating quotes that he uses everyday. 

“Do your best to be your best.”

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard, but when talent works hard, excellence occurs.” 

“If it was easy, everybody would do it.” 

Final Notes

I have always known Mr. Snyder to be an incredible principal. I have heard students and teachers consistently accolade him for his leadership qualities. But through this interview, I learned something more. I have discovered  how he has always been focused on making real positive changes for students and how that focus was the reason he wanted to go into administration in the first place. I have learned of how selflessly he acts when making decisions to unite the school. I have seen his direct impact on expanding the arts, academic, and athletic departments of the school, so that every student knows that they will have an opportunity to express themselves inside and outside of the classroom. In short, I have learned that Mr. Snyder is not only a great principal, but an amazing person as well. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to hear more about his contributions to this school, and I think I speak on behalf of all the students when I say: thank you Mr. Snyder –– you will be missed. 

Enjoy this farewell video from the students and staff of Abington Heights