A popular assistant principal at Perkins Elementary School in St. Petersburg retired today after 35 years with the Pinellas County School District.

"I’ve been very lucky to be at this school. This is an amazing place," said Richard Ninas, 58. "I’m going to miss the kids. I’ll absolutely miss the staff .... It’s like a family."  

Ninis has worked at six different schools since he first started teaching in 1979 and was also the head football coach at Lakewood High School.

"I’ve had some really good athletes," he said. "I’ve had some kids that were struggling and really made a turnaround."

Some of those really good athletes include football players who ended up being drafted into the NFL.

"William Floyd played in the NFL and played at Florida State, Tom Carter, Patrick Terrell, there were several of them at Lakewood," Ninis said. "The young man who is the coach there now is a young man who played for me, Cory Moore, so that’s kind of exciting, too."

Perkins Elementary School principal Tony Pleshe said Ninis has touched many student's lives and will be hard to replace.

“It came as a big shock that he was actually considering it because he’s such a staple here in the city of St. Pete. He’s made a huge impact on kids," Pleshe said. "Countless kids have come through his office that he’s mentored and made a difference in their lives."

Students like fifth-grader Madison Brogan, 11, who said she's really going to miss Mr. Ninis.

"He’s really nice and he’s really good at what he does," she said. "I don’t want him to retire."

Ninis said he plans to travel during his retirement and will miss everyone at Perkins Elementary.

“It’s fun every day. The kids are amazing," he said. "It kind of was time and I’d like to do some other things, I have a granddaughter in Michigan that I want to visit."