Football players and parents approached principal Robert Buontempo Jr. at the Lynn Tech football banquet Monday night, all thanking him for his support of the team and his leadership at the vocational school.
Retiring Lynn Tech Principal Robert Buontempo Jr. (right) and head football coach James Runner III are pictured at the awards banquet honoring the state vocational high school champions Monday night at Hibernian Hall.
Buontempo sat humbly with some of the Tech football coaches, right next to popular cheerleading coach, Colleen Richards. He made it a point to congratulate head coach James Runner III on the Tigers’ state vocational championship season.
Buontempo arrived early to the banquet and stayed to the end. He was fully engaged in the award presentations and joined the crowd in giving Runner a standing ovation when the Parent Boosters Club honored the Tech head coach.
What was clear to those sitting in Robert Buontempo’s company was how much students and parents admire this man and that they respect him greatly. Also apparent was Buontempo’s love for Tech, the school where he has worked for the past 31 years.
But this will be Buontempo’s final year at Tech. He has announced that he will be retiring as Tech principal at the end of the school year in June.
“I love Lynn Tech,” said Buontempo. “I love the people here. I love the kids. I’ve enjoyed every day of my career here. It’s been a wonderful experience for me. I have a lot of good memories of a lot of good people that I met here.”
Buontempo, 57, is a proud 1978 graduate of Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational in Wakefield. After managing the Classic Auto Body shop on Bennett Street adjacent to the Lynn Diner (“That’s where I met my wife,” he said), Buontempo took a position as an auto body instructor at Tech. He became a department head and was appointed vice principal in 2010. He was named principal in March, 2015.
Buontempo and his wife, Dottie, have two children, Brandi, 28, and Robert, 27.
Asked about his plans for his retirement, Buontempo said he and his wife will do some traveling. Describing himself as “a car guy,” Buontempo hopes to attend a lot of car shows and auctions.
“I’m very excited about my retirement,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being on my own calendar, my own timetable.”
Buontempo said he will deliver a special, farewell address at the Tech graduation ceremony in June. There may be some tears on that day as the seniors wrap up their academic careers at Tech and the leader of their school, who has had such a positive impact on their lives on a daily basis, says good-bye.
“I’ve been preparing something to say to the students,” he said.