David “Steve” Cronmiller has been teaching at Victor Senior High School for 28 years. Being in his proclaimed “junior year”of teaching, I sat down with Cronmiller in the hopes of looking back into his own career here at Victor, and gaining some of his hard earned wisdom.

Cron is the leader of the SEAS club, and a teacher of Earth and Environmental science. So it’s evident Cron’s love for the world around him knows no bounds. Having visited many places: Hiking to the top of Kilimanjaro (19,341 ft) Hawaii with his family, Alaska;Multiple near death experiences white water rafting; Colorado mountains; and of course, countless Grateful Dead Concerts. 

Looking back on his time at Victor, Cron points out the double edged sword of its growth. When Cron started teaching in 1997, the graduating class sat at around 150, now it’s done a bit more than double. Cron recognizes the quality in the growth of victor, not only in the school but also in the community. But, in his truest fashion, Cron misses the opportunity smaller classes gave for deeper connections to be made. 

Being a teacher of seniors, Cron recognizes the difficulty of simply getting seniors to work. Even though he believes “success is just a number” he wants seniors specifically to take a step back from their expectations and enjoy the moment; “Don’t think about what happened yesterday, don’t think about what’s gonna happen tomorrow. Just be here.”

Cron’s time is running low now, being in his second to last year, but his drive is still as strong as ever. He hopes to get a varsity girls wrestling team in addition to the varsity boys wrestling team he helps coach, as well as coaching JV girls and boys tennis.

Post retirement Cron banks on 4 necessities. His fiancé Roxanne, his dog Nacho, his jeep and the road. Cron also worries about the classic cautionary tale of retirement, running out of things to do. With the free time he’ll soon find himself with, Cron plans to build a house and sooner rather than later, get married. Cron and Roxy are without a doubt the cutest couple ever. Sharing a workplace, I’ve seen Roxy in his classroom in which a smile is always sported on Cron’s face due to her presence. He says Roxy “keeps him in check and takes care of him.” 

Mr. Cronmiller is a ray of sunshine at Victor schools. His care for students and the earth translates into an entertaining science class, something I believe to be incredibly rare and hard to accomplish. Victor is surely sad to lose him, though his retirement is nothing but deserved.