O'Malley at Valley: A 35-Year Relationship Ending

At only 57, Valley Elementary School second-grade teacher Tony O'Malley is certainly no fossil.

But a fossil is a major highlight of his 35-year tenure at the school, which will come to an end this summer when he retires.

“I was the teacher who brought about the Pennsylvania state fossil,” he says while also giving credit to Chad Harding. His former student, after hearing a question on an episode of “Hollywood Squares” in the mid 80s, asked O'Malley what was the state fossil of the Keystone State.

“I had no idea states had state fossils until he asked the question,” O'Malley said.

So, he contacted a local paleontologist and before long he started a campaign to have a trilobite called Phacops rana named the Pennsylvania state fossil. That campaign included performing a skit before a committee of the state Legislature, which ultimately approved Pennsylvania's first and only state fossil.

“The New York Times even called me,” he said.

Another impressive story is O'Malley's three decades-plus tenure at one elementary school.

“I always loved second grade,” he said. “It's not like kindergarten, where you have to repeat everything. If you give them a little yell, they calm down right away.”

How have things changed over the last 35 years?

The students, he says, are “a little more bolder; a little older, maturity wise. The naivety isn't there anymore. They're more streetwise I guess.”

“But the art of teaching hasn't changed that much,” he said. “The first thing you need to do is get to know your students very well and find out what they need to learn and then go from there.”

And the Langhorne resident added, “You can't be a teacher and be a 9-5 person. You really have to enjoy and love the profession.”

Superintendent William Gretzula is a big fan of O'Malley and is sorry to see him go.

"If I were a student, I'd want Tony O'Malley as my teacher," he said. "He makes learning fun. He will be missed."

O'Malley is among about 40 teachers retiring from the district this year but he's not too worried for BSD.

“I think the teachers coming out of college are very well prepared for teaching,” O'Malley said. “My last three or four student teachers have been so well prepared and ready for teaching. The last one was fantastic. … I think the colleges are doing such a better job of preparing.

“And there are still some seasoned teachers in most of the buildings and they usually mentor the new teachers.”

While he still loves teaching, and his wife, Ruth, plans to teach another four years at Bensalem High, O'Malley said he just felt it was time to retire. And he'll use his new spare time to golf and travel more, including trips to Mexico and New Orleans.

“I love to see the teachers coming in right now with all their passion. It's not that I don't have that. It's just time for change,” he said.