After 32 years as principal of Fort Scott Christian Heights and 14 years as a teacher before that, Terry Chance is retiring as of June 1.

Chance, 70, says his becoming an educator was a process of time.

“I felt like God wanted me to be involved full-time in a Christian ministry,” he said. “I got into music education and have been in education ever since.”

“John Page was our pastor and principal of Christian Heights and was my mentor,” Chance said. “He is my hero.”

Chance said he loves the interaction with students.

“It has been a thrill when they understand what you teach,” he said.

For him, seeing students go on from Christian Heights to serve their family, their community and their church, “That’s success,” he said.

The biggest challenge in his career has been the current pandemic that has closed down all schools in the nation.

“We are trying to figure out how to help our students right now,” Chance said.

Chance said he made up his mind to retire last summer and told the FSCH Board of Education in September.

The board has hired Larry Davolt as the new principal.

Davolt has been a science teacher at the school for 28 years.

Continuous Learning plans at USD234 were started the week of March 30, Superintendent Ted Hessong said.

“Each building rolled their plans out gradually throughout the week,” Hessong said.

“Since school buildings are closed for the remainder of the school year (following stay-at-home orders during the pandemic), school districts needed to come up with a way to provide continuous learning for our students to help them not only academically but also socially,” he said.

” Our principals worked with their Building Leadership Teams using the Continuous Learning Plans guidance from the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE),” he said. ” KSDE collaborated with teachers from all across the state of Kansas to help create these guidance documents to assist school districts. After meeting with their leadership teams, they then worked with the rest of their staff to create the Continuous Learning Plans.”

“Most of the teachers are teaching from home,” Hessong said. “We do have a few staff members who are working from their classrooms to provide Continuous Learning to our students.”

Each school building’s personnel contacted every student to see what they needed to be able to participate in Continuous Learning, he said and based on the feedback each received from the students, the staff worked to provide the necessary materials to be able to participate.

Grading for the new plan will be different.

” With the implementation of our Continuous Learning plans each building is handling grades a little different,” Hessong said. “Each building is keeping in mind what is in the best interest of our students during these uncharted waters of what school looks like today. Our teachers and administrators are demonstrating grace and understanding for all students to do what is best for our students.”

Hessong is thankful, he said.

“I want to thank all of our staff for their help to implement our Continuous Learning plans and our foodservice and support staff in providing meals for the students in our communities. With the assistance of our communities, the county, Kansas State Department of Education, Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Southeast Kansas  Health Department it has allowed our school district to navigate these uncharted waters to make the most of this health crisis.”

 Ellen Kendrick, visual arts teacher at Fort Scott High School for 34 years, is retiring.

When Kendrick was in college, she took a couple of education classes out of curiosity.

“Through these classes, I came to realize that much of my childhood frustration with my own education was with the manner in which it was disseminated,” she said. ” I made a promise to myself that if I ever had the chance, I would invest in my community by being the teacher that I wish I had. I believe I was personally suited to the profession of teaching because I came of age in an era when professions weren’t chosen for the amount of money they made, but for the good that they put back into communities. I believe in the power of education and in the children that I have been given the opportunity to teach throughout my career.”

Several people inspired her to teach.

“My mom taught for 25 years and was passionate about what she did,” Kendrick said. ” I also had an amazing eighth-grade teacher, his name was Paul McClain. He was a caring and compassionate person who came into my life and taught me what a good teacher looks like. I will always be grateful for that year. Not least was Fred Campbell who saw something in me, made this job possible, and hired me to do what I love, which is to teach photography and art. I will always be grateful for the opportunity that he gave me.”

Kendrick said the greatest part of teaching is the students.

The greatest challenge has always been dealing with different personalities and varying levels of support for the things that she thought her students needed, she said.

“I would say, however, the biggest challenge has been the last month, (school closure because of the pandemic),” she said. “It is a strange way to end a career, and I mourn the loss of the last month.”

Kendrick has been involved with her husband, John, in the Echoes of the Trail, a cowboy poetry gathering and also encouraged her students  and sons to be involved in the community, she said.

Retiring was a hard decision to make, she said.  “Because it is a career where you get to start over fresh every year. For the first time in thirty years, I really like the direction of where things are going, but I could end up being 85 and still teaching. I made the decision, and I’m going to do it.”

Kendrick earned a Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in Ceramics from Colorado State University, graduate hours from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY, Master of Arts in Photography from Pittsburg State University.

Her hometown is Kansas City, MO, where she graduated from Winnetonka High School.