Jackson superintendent to retire at end of June

Ron Anderson enjoyed school so much, he never left.

"[If] you go to school, and you've always liked school, it's a neat thing to be able to continue to do that for the rest of your life," Anderson said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Nearly 50 years after taking a position as a high-school business teacher in Nebraska, Anderson, 70, is preparing to retire as superintendent of the Jackson School District.

Although he has "grandchildren it'd be nice to spend some more time with," Anderson isn't leaving the profession altogether.

He said he plans to stay involved with professional organizations and do some consulting work after retirement.

"I think there'll be opportunities to continue to promote public education," he said.

The school board Tuesday night accepted his retirement, which takes effect June 30.

Anderson said he wanted to give the board plenty of time to find a replacement before he leaves.

"I suspect that they figured that with my tenure and time, that sometime, I'd be doing this," he said.

Anderson began his career in Nebraska, teaching for six years before moving into administration, where he said he thought he could affect more students.

"It's always an opportunity to expand, to have a multiplier effect in terms of impacting students," he said.

He spent 10 years as a superintendent in Nebraska and 13 years as superintendent in Liberty, Missouri.

Anderson, who came to Jackson in 1999, said he is proud of the district's performance on his watch.

"Academic learning has been top of the pile," he said, but the district also has maintained what Anderson calls an "outstanding" fine arts program and strong athletic programs.

"Jackson's just a tremendous place to live and tremendous schools," he said. "We have just excellent teachers and administrators, great students, and you put that combination together, and you get great results."

By participating in a wide variety of activities, students are better prepared for life beyond high school, Anderson said.

"We believe in that balanced approach," he said.

If Anderson could pick his successor, he would look for a hard worker with a passion for education, he said.

"Someone that has a lot of passion and loves what they do and wants to make an impact on the future ... and someone that really likes to work hard and likes to work with people," Anderson said.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Jackson, MO