SHERIDAN — Sheridan County School District No. 1 is a place where, to paraphrase the old “Cheers” theme song, “everybody knows your name.”

Tongue River Elementary School in Ranchester has roughly 240 students and Principal Annie Griffin knows each one by name. She knows their passions, their interests, their struggles.

This deep human connection is familiar to Annie and her husband Robert, who were welcomed into the Tongue River community a decade ago and never looked back. In fact, it’s what brought them there in the first place.

“I truly believe one of the greatest things the state of Wyoming has ever created is their education system,” said Robert, a social studies teacher who works at Tongue River Middle School. “In a small school, (my daughters) Kelsie and Allie are somebody. Their teachers truly know them and care about them. They might not experience everything that comes in a larger school, but they know they are loved and appreciated.”

“In Sheridan County School District 1, you’re seen,” Annie said. “We know who you are, what you’ve been through and where you’re going. And we’re here for you.”

For a decade now, the Griffins have been keeping that tradition of caring alive in their schools, and their labor of love is visible in numerous ways. You can see it in the large National Blue Ribbon School sign hanging on the wall of Tongue River Elementary School, and you can see it in the recently created veteran’s memorial on the middle school campus. Mostly, you can see it in the smiling faces of their students.

“I come to school each day for those relationships,” Annie said. “That’s why I love it. I love the job because I love these people, and I want the very best for them. You have to put all of them above yourself, and sometimes you have to grind to get their needs met, but it’s worth it.”

The Griffins are both Wyoming natives, attending high school together in Glenrock before attending and graduating Black Hills State University together. Annie says she wanted to be an educator from the third grade, when she started playing school with her friends. For Robert, his career grew from a deep desire to help others, which he displayed first through years of military service.

 “Whatever I did, I knew I wanted to help people,” Robert said.  “I started coaching first, and it was very rewarding. From there, it didn’t take me long to get into teaching.”

Both Griffins started their careers in Colorado’s Delta County School District. While they were proud of their work in that district, they chose to leave as their own daughters reached school age, Annie said.

“When you get told every year that another million dollars needs to get cut from the budget, it gets to the point where you have to wonder where those dollars are coming from, and how those cuts are going to impact the students,” Annie said. “We had to ask what this was going to look like for our daughters.”

“It was eye-opening that when our own kids were old enough to be in the schools we were teaching in, we decided the schools were not good enough for them,” Robert said. “We decided our own children were going to get a better education than Colorado could provide.”

Both Griffins knew their home state well, and Sheridan County was the first and only place they considered settling down, Annie said.

“We quickly decided Tongue River was where we needed to be,” Annie said. “We knew the sense of community there would create a meaningful experience for our kids and for us.”

The Griffin family has bloomed where they were planted, and have planted some new seeds of their own in recent years. For example, Robert brought a passion for veterans to his job at the middle school, and that passion was quickly adopted by his students.

Robert stoked that passion by having his students send letters to local veterans.

“The basic premise was to send as many letters as possible to local veterans,” Robert said. “When I served and I would get mail, it was like ‘Somebody loves me and the world is right.’ It was like the ice cream truck coming through town  — I knew it would be special for the veterans, and hopefully for the students as well.”

Things snowballed from there, in the best way possible. The letter-writing campaign spurred an annual Veteran’s Day assembly and celebration of local veterans. And that assembly encouraged students to show their appreciation for veterans through the creation of a memorial outside the school, which was unveiled in 2021.

“I facilitated the vision, but the kids bought into it,” Robert said. “I modeled what respecting our veterans should look like, but they were the ones who really took it to heart…The memorial didn’t get built because of me. It got built because of my students and because of the community we live in.”

“You look over at that memorial, and that’s something that will last long past our time here,” Annie said. “That’s something to be proud of.”

Annie has left her own mark on the school district since becoming the elementary school principal in 2017. She has championed social and emotional wellness of students and created Project G.I.F.T as a way to encourage literacy and get beautiful new books into the hands of every young child in the valley. Her efforts also led to the school being recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School earlier this school year.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recognized 325 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2021. Tongue River Elementary and Powell Middle School were the only two Wyoming schools to receive the award for 2021. Tongue River Elementary’s award is based on exemplary high performance as measured by the Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress.

“Our students have always been known for their kindness,” Annie said. “They are great and kind and appreciative, but there is more to them than that. I told our staff that our kids should be known for their kindness and their academics. Our students and staff work to educate the whole child, and this award shows we’ve been successful.”

While the Griffins have accomplished a lot over the last decade, there is still much work to be done, they said. And when they get discouraged or tired, they take inspiration from each other.

“Annie inspires me because she’s an expert,” Robert said. “She knows the right answer, and if she doesn’t, she knows where to find it. She’s learned the science behind education, and she knows it. She’s relentless and will not stop providing the best education to her students. I’ve said from the beginning that I’m not even the best educator in my own house.”

Annie takes inspiration from Robert as well.

“When I started teaching, I thought you just stood up, delivered a lesson and let it soak in,” Annie said. “It doesn’t work that way. Robert has taught me that education is all about relationships. Those relationships enhance my own joy, and changes everything for those around me too. That’s what it is all about.”

The Griffins’ daughters, both in seventh grade, have seen firsthand the hard work, grit and determination it takes to be an educator. And at least one of them has expressed an interest in following in her parents’ footsteps one day. Robert’s advice for her is simple.

“If you’re going to become a teacher, you’d better understand how to love people,” Robert said. “If you don’t have that in your heart as the reason you teach, you’re not going to get very far. Love is where it all starts.”