NOVI — As the bell sounded at Novi Meadows Elementary School in Novi at 10:45 a.m. June 5, it marked not only the end of the 2025-2026 school year, but the end of an era for Principals John Brickey and Lisa Fenchel.
Just before the bell, Brickey and Fenchel came outside with their pencil nameplates and joined several of their fellow educators to bid a final farewell to their students and wave goodbye to their school days and hello to retirement.
The scene was a beautiful, chaotic yet tender tribute to the teachers who taught children for decades. As the parade of fully loaded buses went to leave the school, they honked their horns and hit the brakes as they passed by the teachers to bid them farewell…