BY SYDNEY HOOVER
Two Eudora Schools administrative assistants will retire this month after nearly three decades in the district.
Eudora Middle School Secretary Holly Kracl and Eudora High School Activities Administrative Assistant Teresa Carnagie have worked in the Eudora School District for 27 and 26 years, respectively. Their administrators said they left significant impacts on their students, staff and school communities as a whole.
Kracl began as a secretary at Eudora Middle School in 1993, when seventh through 12th grade were in one building. She stayed at Eudora Middle School after the new high school building was built.
She said she’s loved seeing the growth and changes within the district, and has enjoyed being able to reconnect with past students through social media.
“I've got to work with some great people that have gone on and done great things and seeing our kids succeed once they're out of school,” Kracl said.
Kracl worked for the Martin Marietta Corp. in California while her husband was in the Air Force before they moved back to Kansas. She took a job as a secretary in Eudora so she could have summer and other breaks off with her children.
In retirement, she and her husband, who worked in the Shawnee Mission and Gardner Edgerton school districts, plan to get a second house in Colorado, to travel more and to spend more time with their grandchildren. Kracl said she also hopes to continue being involved in the school district in the future.
In addition to the students, Kracl said she will miss the “crazy, fun” office staff most of all. For Eudora Middle School Principal Jeremy Thomas, Kracl is the “face of the school” and will be missed for her compassion for students and her smile to greet everyone who comes into the school’s office.
“She's not just a secretary, she is somebody to lean on, somebody to ask for help,” Thomas said. “She's always willing to offer help to anyone that needs it. She just goes over and beyond to do what it takes to help kids out and be successful.”
He said the office staff will also miss playing pranks on Kracl to “get her riled up.”
Carnagie began as a secretary at Eudora West Elementary School when it first opened, and transferred to the high school around 19 years ago to work as an administrative assistant to the athletics director.
Since then, Carnagie has also spent time serving as the senior class sponsor. She helps organize the senior trip each year among other activities and was disappointed to miss out on those this year due to school closures.
Carnagie said she will miss the students and staff at the school, where there is “never a dull moment.”
“I think they keep you young,” Carnagie said. They keep you on your toes. I just enjoy being around the kids.”
Prior to her work in the school district, Carnagie worked as an assistant at a health clinic and also worked in dispatch for the Lawrence Police Department. In retirement, she plans to travel and spend more time with her grandkids, and she said she’s excited to relax rather than getting up and getting ready for work each morning.
Eudora High School Athletics Director Cara Kimberlin described Carnagie as her “right- and left-hand person.” She said Carnagie always went above and beyond, from being the senior class sponsor to spending Friday nights working in the concession stand at football games.
“She is just the type of personality that she never says no,” Kimberlin said. “If there's something that needs to be done and someone needs to step up and do it, she will step up and do it.”
Both Kimberlin and Thomas said they were disappointed to lose the last couple of months of opportunities to honor those retiring due to school closures.
Kimberlin said she was thankful the school was able to honor Carnagie at the basketball senior night, and Thomas said he plans to have a celebration for Kracl once social distancing orders begin easing.
Reach reporter Sydney Hoover at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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