ToquiNotes: Educational Road to End as Dave Mazza, Former BMS and Current DCHS Principal, Retiring
By Jeff Toquinto on March 21, 2026 from ToquiNotes
For nearly four decades, David Mazza has been helping shape lives in his role as an educator. It all started back in 1989 when Liberty was still a high school and a young man stepped into the classroom teaching American government.
Mazza’s journey to that first educational gig is far from ordinary. In fact, he did not enter college until he was 25 years old. And he only entered after walking off a construction job out of frustration knowing he needed to find a career.
He found it the same day he left that job. He walked by the old Fairmont State College campus on Monticello Avenue in 1985, eventually walked in, and did not know what he would find. As it turned out, he found his career and it is a career that impacted thousands of youngsters along the way.
I mentioned that today because Mazza’s long and winding educational road is ending. The former Bridgeport Middle School principal and current principal at Doddridge County High School has announced his upcoming retirement.
“It may seem sudden, but it’s not. I’ve given this a lot of thought. I nearly stepped away when Liberty consolidated with Robert C. Byrd,” said Mazza. “I honestly thought that would be the end of my run.”
His run at Bridgeport Middle ended on Jan. 3, 2023, after 14 years as either the assistant and then principal of the school situated on Johnson Avenue. At that time, he moved a little closer to home to serve as the assistant principal and athletic director at Liberty High School.
The journey is really unique. Also, back in 1989, he became a permanent sub at Westover Junior High (now Westwood Middle) and coached football. Things were looking good. Then, the 1990 teacher strike happened.
Mazza told me years ago he was asked to cross the picket line since he was a substitute. He refused and was told, he said by a school official, they wouldn’t forget his refusal. The refusal, he believes, led to a long time working away from Harrison County.
Mazza headed to Wood County where he taught at the Abraxis Center, a school for troubled youth. He did that from 1990 to 1995 – and there was more during that stint. Along with five days traveling to Wood Conty, Tuesdays and Thursdays would include a second drive from Wood County to Morgantown to earn his master’s degree, which happened over most of the five years at Abraxis.
After completing that daunting task, Mazza moved a little closer to home where he worked for the state prison system for nine years. He served as a teacher and a diagnostician at the Salem Industrial Home before getting into the Harrison County education system in 1998.
That year, he got a special education job at Lumberport Middle School. He spent 11 years there.
In 2009, he had a brief stint at Washington Irving Middle School – just one semester. That second semester of 2009, Mazza made the jump to assistant principal at Bridgeport Middle School under Carole Crawford for eight years before assuming her post. He didn’t leave, as noted above, until the start of the new year in 
2023 for the post at Liberty.
2023 for the post at Liberty.
The run with the Mountaineers was also short lived. On July 1, 2024, he became the new principal at Doddridge County. The official last day is June 30, two years at the job – and a job he loved.
“When it came open I told myself I’d like to be principal again, and it was right with the Liberty situation. I got the job and I feel like I’ve accomplished the goals I set as an administrator. I feel like I’m leaving on a high,” he said. “Coming here was a great career move. Despite me being an outsider, everyone from the board, the community, the superintendent, the staff, and especially the students, made this extremely rewarding.”
It is the students, the ones in Doddridge County now and so many from every previous stop, which made the final decision difficult – even though he knew it was time.
“I’ll miss the students. When you’re an administrator, long days are part of the deal. Even with a lot of long days, those students made me want to get up and go to school every day,” said Mazza. “A lot of people dread going to work. That was rarely ever the case after nearly 40
years.”
years.”
Mazza said what makes this departure a bit easier to deal with is the level of students he is sending out into the world. He said this DCHS group is special.
“I’m sending off one of the top senior classes in Doddridge County history. As an educator, that’s a special feeling. I feel like I’ve won the super bowl with this group,” he said. “I still know it’s going to be hard that last day because I got to know the community, the people.
“Leaving is always tough in this business. I remember leaving Bridgeport after 15 years and walking away from relationships with students, with families,” he continued. “The blessing is you end up finding a new relationship when you leave on a different level. That’s one of the things anyone who puts their heart into education gets as a benefit when they leave. The relationships remain.”
As for what is next. Mazza has a few things in store, but he will not be returning to the classroom anytime soon. The future may hold an occasional substitute appearance, but not for at least a school calendar year and, for now, he has other things in store.
“I’ve got some things going on that will evolve,” he said. “I also will be glad to help in a search with a new principal, but (Doddridge Superintendent) Dr. (Adam) Cheeseman is probably ahead of that curve,” said Mazza. “When it comes to the education game, he’s playing chess. I’ve got to know a lot of chess players through the years, and it’s made this experience even better than I could have imagined when I was in my 20s.”
Mazza played the chess game too. His pieces were his students, and he’s walking away as a grandmaster.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows David Mazza behind his desk at Doddridge County High School, while he's shown in the bottom photo with a familiar Bridgeport face in Tom Mellott who is assisting with a good celebration at DCHS. Second and third photos are of Mazza during his time with Bridgeport Middle School.
