Ebersold bids farewell at retirement party

About 100 people filed into the cafeteria at Smith-Cotton High School to celebrate Sedalia School District 200 superintendent Doug Ebersold’s retirement Monday evening.

Leroy Moore, Ebersold’s first superintendent in Lone Jack, thinks the retiree is too young to retire.

“Of course, he’s going to a different field, and he’ll do well,” Moore said. “I think he’s had a distinguished career.”

Ebersold has taken a job as dean of education at William Woods University and said he isn’t nervous about the phase he’s about to begin.

“The hardest part was making the decision to retire from this part,” Ebersold said. “I won’t have the night activities that I’m used to, so I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family and playing with my granddaughter.”

Heather Schoeneberg, his daughter, is also looking forward to her father getting some free time.

“He’s goofy. He lets loose at home,” she said. “He gets down on all fours and plays with his granddaughter.”

During his 31 years in education, Ebersold always made the students a priority, Schoeneberg said.

“It’s always been about the kids,” she said. “Even when he was one of the top people, he always found a way to the classroom.”

Schoeneberg credits her father for inspiring her to become a teacher.

“He was my principal in middle school, my coach and my teacher,” said Schoeneberg, who will teach third grade at Parkview Elementary this fall. “He drove me to dream big, even as a kid when my dreams didn’t make any sense.”

Parkview Elementary first grade teacher Wynee Akers agrees.

“I think the thing that sticks out to me the most is his visibility in the building,” she said. “You knew that education was important to him and that the kids were always a priority.”

For Ebersold, all his memories are good ones.

“I’ve been in education for 31 years, and never felt like I had a bad year,” he said.

As for Harriet Wolfe, Ebersold isn’t worried about how she’ll fare as superintendent.

“We’ve worked closely for the last four years,” he said. “She’ll take care of things and keep the district moving forward.”