Al Duffett, the retiree who never retired, has returned to WA as a one-on-one teaching assistant.

Originally, Duffett worked as a humanities teacher for the whole grade spectrum. Although Duffett primarily taught in the History department, the subjects he taught spanned from US history, World History and Law to Current Affairs, Civics, and Reading.

Duffett was hired by the principal of his day, Dr. Joseph Lisi, who is currently a member of the Westford Academy Board of Trustees.

Duffett suspects what caught Lisi’s eyes was his experience with students from the boondocks such as Westford at that time in history. Duffett saw that as his niche, he understood how to teach students who were not necessarily aiming to study beyond high school.

“I fell in love with the student that wasn’t going to go college but was going to be a terrific person and hardworking [intuitive] and often times, blue collar,” Duffett said

Duffett has also contributed to the school and its students beyond the classroom. He has taken the role of the advisor to programs such as Student Council, Hearts to Hands, and Chess club. In addition to that, he worked as the Director of WA’s Summer School during his time.

However, arguably his biggest contribution came to the athletics department. Duffett was assigned the role of The Athletic Director for fifteen years, while juggling more activities along with it such as coaching the track, football, baseball, and basketball teams.

He even set up a 36-hour dance fundraiser to have stadium lights installed in the baseball field. 

Duffett describes the position being one that appreciates the student beyond academics. He cherishes one memory of distributing “3 sport sweatshirts” to students who participate in sports all year long,

“I gave out 106 sweatshirts that night. 106. [Athletes] like that chose to spend their time of the day at WA. They got here at 7:00 in the morning and they left at 7:00 o’clock at night, all year long. What does that tell you about the student [athletes]? They loved every minute they spent here,” Duffett said.

Duffett admits the technology of his day was no way near what they had in their day. The thought of digitally entering all data on students brings a smile to his face.

“Back when I was the athletic director, in those days I did everything with pencil and paper and I had a lot of manila folders. With the hands on approach, I got to meet all the kids,  I got to know theirs names, their parents [personally], and overall I got to know my players,” Duffett said.

After dedicating a significant time to the athletics department, Duffett returned to the classroom. He started off again by teaching World history to freshmen and current events for seniors.

After retiring in 2009, Duffett left the school system to live in the tranquil haven of retirement…for a week.

“I left Westford Academy, I was retired for a week. It was great and all. Then I went online and found a job at a restaurant in Chelmsford, Massachusetts called Fishbones. I worked over there as a bartender,” Duffet said.

“But my age just couldn’t leave me be,” Duffet said. Health issues prompted him to search for jobs with less mobility. Eventually he went on to fill teaching positions at greater Lowell high school in Tyngsboro, Nashoba Tech, and inevitably Westford schools.

What made him return to work in schools are his aspirations to “make kids feel like kids again.” (How do I put together graf/quote)

“Kids are born with a smile on their face and over time there are adults that take those smiles away. I saw my job as putting those smiles back on their face,” said Duffett.  

Currently, Duffett assists a freshman student with their classes.

While Duffett continues to work at WA, he also works in a restaurant after school. However, this situation is not unfamiliar to him.

“My first year, Joe Lisi gave me 6,000 and I knew I was going to have to get a part time job but it didn’t matter because I loved what I was doing. You’re very lucky if you can find a job that you like, even more special if you find one you love,” said Duffett.

As for retirement, Duffett describes it as the invariable time. The next time he retires, it will be permanent. 

“It feels far but I know it’ll be here before I know it. I am going to retire in four years when the [students] I work with graduate. We are going to graduate from Westford Academy together, for good,” said Duffett. 

In conclusion, Duffett plans to spend his remaining working days at the school he sacraficed the most for.