Clifton floored by surprise honor

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

His name is synonymous with the term “Cougar Pride.” Bill Clifton spent the majority of his 40-year career at Van Wert High School before retiring last year and on Monday, a day before the start of classes, Clifton was aptly honored by the district. That honor was literally kept under wraps and was only known by a small number of people.

A surprise ceremony was held at entrance to the Van Wert High School parking lot, an entrance that is now named Bill Clifton Way. Virtually the entire school staff and Clifton’s family gathered to help celebrate the occasion. It was an honor that left Clifton stunned.

“My brother taught me a long time ago that this profession will treat you good if you treat your profession good and today is an example of that,” an emotional Clifton said. “I am totally blown away – I’m in shock. I love Van Wert High School and I love Van Wert City Schools.”

Clifton, a 1979 graduate of Van Wert High School, began his teaching career at Xenia High School in 1983. He returned to Van Wert four years later, taught high school social studies for eight years, was assistant principal for 18 months, then became principal in 1997. He also coached during his tenure and was named assistant superintendent during the 2015-2016 school year, then retired after the 2023-2024 school year.

“I certainly didn’t do this alone,” he said. “People believed in me, people believed in allowing me to come home to teach and coach and hopefully I represented the district in a way that the district wanted me to represent.”

In retirement, Clifton is overseeing construction at Eggerss Stadium and is serving a two-month stint as a substitute career tech supervisor at Vantage Career Center.

Superintendent Mark Bagley called Clifton his mentor and friend and said the surprise had been in the works for a year and Monday was the perfect occasion – staff members were on hand for a professional development day and Clifton was the last speaker of the day.

“Bill introduced the new teachers and staff – that’s how we got him to come back,” Bagley explained. “We wanted to find the right time, the right situation and we flipped the schedule so it was at the end of the day, last thing.”

Bagley also said a number of people helped with the honor and he said the city helped helped with the process, including Engineering Supervisor Bill Lawson. He also said Grey Boley at Sign in Time donated the signs.

“It’s been a community effort,” Bagley said. “Today’s theme in our opening day meeting was ‘Cougar Pride’ and who better represents ‘Cougar Pride’ than Bill Clifton?”