Within the spacious principal's office at H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square, boxes are being packed with items that represent the last seven and a half years of one man's life. As the days of the first year of this new millennium wind down, that man - Dr. Thomas Dolan - is carefully packing up, getting ready to leave the school he has called home, the school he referred to as his first love.

On Dec. 21, Dr. Dolan will walk away from Carey High School but he does so reluctantly. Dr. Dolan is leaving his position as principal of Carey High School for the position of assistant superintendent for the Manhasset School District, which he will begin on Jan. 2.

"I'm excited. I'm scared a little bit. It's a new challenge," Dr. Dolan said.

Although some of the plaques and yearbooks he has accumulated over the years are being tucked away, the memories and experiences he's shared at Carey will forever be a part of his heart. It was at Carey High School that Dr. Tom Dolan experienced personal victories and endured tragedy. It is also at Carey that Dr. Dolan witnessed the utmost acts of compassion and taught his students how, not only to excel in the classroom, but to be leaders in the community.

During his tenure, Dr. Dolan and Carey High School seemed to mesh perfectly as though the two were a perfect match. "There will be other schools, but it's hard to imagine ever feeling as close to a school as I feel about Carey," he said. "Now, I really feel like this place has given me so much on a personal and professional level. It's kind of hard to go."

Seven and a half years ago, Dr. Dolan didn't even want to be principal of Carey. He recalled that Superintendent of Schools Dr. George Goldstein asked him to be principal for one year. Dr. Dolan had been working in the district's central administration office. "I made him promise it was for only one year because I really didn't want to be a prinicipal," Dr. Dolan recalled.

But after four months on the job, Dr. Dolan witnessed how rewarding it could be. He then asked to stay and it turned out to be the right move for him and the school.

Dr. Dolan is proud of the school's accomplishments such as forging of the Carey/Adelphi Partnership Program and the effort of having a junior high almost within the grades 7-12 school. "The seventh and eighth graders get just about every opportunity they would if it were a separate junior high," he said.

Dr. Dolan also recalled the night last year when New York State Commissioner of Education Richard Mills and Chancellor of the Department of Regents Carl Hayden visited Carey. "For that one night, Carey High School was the center of education for New York State. That was a night I will always remember," he said.

Under Principal Dolan, Carey High School became a Nationally Recognized School of Excellence by the United States Department of Education. As prestigious as that may be, though, it is only a title. Dr. Dolan's influence on the school may best be illustrated by the actions of its students. "This school has 1,500 foot soldiers to go out and do good things," he said.

Also under Dr. Dolan, Carey High School put into effect a program, 'Orange Aid,' in which every class in the school adopts a charity to raise money for. "I've always believed that if you don't teach children generosity, it's not something genetic. It's not something they just pick up later in life. Here was an opportunity to teach them and turn them on to the good causes of their choice," he said. "There's more to school than these [standardized tests]. We've done well on the tests and I'm glad for that, but I think we've done even better on answering the question, 'What's the right thing to do."

One of Dr. Dolan's goals that he had the opportunity to fill was following the suggestion of his hero - singer and songwriter Harry Chapin. One of Chapin's albums, talks about a principal making an announcement after Thanksgiving to the students about how the school is going to help those less fortunate the rest of the year, about dedicating the school for one day to the issue of world hunger. On the day after Thanksgiving, Dr. Dolan made that announcement. "I felt so good about it. I felt so good that this school is a place now where we can afford to take a day and teach a lesson on world hunger in every social studies class," he said. "It was a project I always wanted to do."

Dr. Dolan also concerned himself with giving his students every opportunity to succeed. He developed an internship program with good friend and New York State Assemblyman Tom Alfano in which students from Carey would intern in Alfano's office. The program turned out to be successful. "One of Tom's biggest achievements was the smashing success of the Assembly Internship program. Since it started, I've had 12 students who've made a positive impact and have served the Franklin Square community and the 22nd district well. That's all because Tom Dolan understood that education doesn't stop in the classroom," Assemblyman Alfano said. "Tom Dolan was more than an educator to the Franklin Square community, he was part of its backbone."

"Anyone who believes that one person can't make a difference has never met Thomas Dolan," said Carey Student Activities Director Joanne Bergbom.

The good memories of H. Frank Carey High School are ones Dr. Dolan will forever treasure. As principal, though, Dr. Dolan experienced a nightmare he still has to live with. But, it was being principal at Carey that helped him deal with it.

In October of 1995 during his third year as principal of Carey, Dr. Dolan's daughter Kelly, a 15-year-old honor student and tri-athlete, was involved in an automobile accident in which she suffered a traumatic brain injury, causing her to fall into a coma. It was then that the Dolan family was faced with a crisis. However, it is during trying times when people find out just how many friends they have. Dr. Dolan found out there were many who cared. Each night, he recalled, at about 6 p.m., dinner would arrive from someone in Freeport, where the Dolans live, or the Franklin Square community.

The Carey High School Dads Club put together a fund raiser, which raised almost $10,000 that was used to build a hospital room for Kelly in Dr. Dolan's house.

"I felt like George Bailey from It's a Wonderful Life. These people were coming into my life. They couldn't do enough for us. So many times, I just thought about how wonderful these people were for doing this - to help us during our time of need," he said. "I'll never forget the faces of some people, the cards that I still get, the holy water that people drop off for Kelly."

Occasionally, in the Carey student newspaper, The Carey Clipper, there will be a small box that states, "Keep Kelly in Your Prayers."

Dr. Dolan's daughter has no voluntary movement. She cannot speak and is in a minimally conscious state. He doesn't attempt to try to understand why this had to happen to her. The thing he does understand, though, is the closeness he has felt to his school and community.

The residents of Franklin Square, he said, made him feel part of the community and for that he will forever be grateful. "Even though I don't live in Franklin Square, I really feel like this community accepted me as one of their own. That's a real good feeling," he said. "I love my job and I've done the best that I can but the way I've been accepted into the Franklin Square community in that regard is one of the most special things that has ever happened in my life. That's why I've always wanted to give so much back too."

The family crisis Dr. Dolan went through, he said, made him a better principal. "My sensitivity to special education students has heightened. I can sit now with a special education parent and know how they feel," he said. The tragedy has also put things into perspective and he will continue to live by the philosophy of being there for others.

Now as Dr. Dolan gets set to make another turn in the journey of his life, he has gone through a vast array of emotions. As he packs away his belongings, the items seem to trigger a different memory or emotion. "I don't know who snuck all this stuff in here," he said jokingly. "Everything is a great memory. I'm leaving with no unfinished business and that's something I strive for in my life. I don't think there is anything here that I should have done or could have done and didn't get a chance to."

Dr. Dolan lived by the philosophy of developing a close knit family with the staff, students and parents. At dances, pep rallies and homecomings, he could often be seen wearing Carey's colors proudly. "I wouldn't miss it," he said. "Every once in a while I would turn to somebody while watching a [Carey] football game or baseball game and I would say that there are tougher ways in America to make living," he said. "It was fun."

For the most part, Carey was fun for Dr. Dolan, but it turns out that in this case all good things must come to an end. However, for its former principal, Carey High School will not be forgotten. After all, it is a part of him.