Peabody superintendent heads into retirement
Staff writer
When Cheney High principal Ron Traxson, 65, arrived in Peabody in 2012 to take his first job as superintendent of schools, he didn’t think he would retire in the position nine years later.
“I didn’t know I would be here this many years when I came here,” Traxson said. “To be quite honest, it’s been a good run here.”
He has been involved in schools as a teacher, coach, principal, or superintendent since August 1981.
Traxson is going to keep busy with a long “to do” list of projects. It includes working on his home in Manhattan, getting his in-laws’ home ready for renting, and helping his parents on their farm in southeast Kansas.
“I’m also looking to spend more time down at the lake,” he said. “I’ve been so busy over the last few years, I’ll have to figure out if I know how to fish anymore.”
After riding through 15 months of pandemic protocols in his school, “it just seemed like the time to hang it up and start following the grandkids around,” Traxson said.
He has six grandchildren, with the oldest age 8. They are just getting started in activities he’d like to watch.
He’ll stay open if the new school administration need to reach out to him, but he also understands “moving on”. This is the fourth school district he’s worked at, so he’s experienced in connections with coworkers dying out.
“You’ve got those connections and you appreciate that, but you get busy doing whatever’s at hand,” he said. “So we’ll have to see how busy I’ll be when the school year comes around.”
For now, he’s facing a sort of never-ending summer.
“When it doesn’t feel like a long summer, then what’s it gonna feel like,” he wondered. “Not sure. I’m gonna cross that bridge when I get to it. I’ll miss the kids, and I’ll miss the professionals who are involved.”