Principal Jeff Eeling to retire

Washington Elementary School Principal Jeff Eeling announced he will step down from his position when his contract expires June 30.

Eeling has been the principal at Washington Elementary for the past seven years, and was the principal of Libertyville Elementary starting that same time until the building was closed in 2017. Before that, he worked in the Pekin Community School District.

Eeling said Wednesday that he and wife Tari have no immediate plan to move away from Fairfield. In fact, Eeling isn't really retiring, but rather switching jobs within the education field. He will become an implementation specialist for Really Great Reading, where he will train teachers to use the company's phonics program.

He plans to continue his other gig with the school as assistant coach of the Fairfield High School baseball team. Eeling's new job starts July 1, so he's working out the details to make sure he can do both that month.

Background

Eeling grew up in Pella, where he graduated from high school and later the town's college, Central College.

'I walked one block to kindergarten and two blocks to college,” Eeling remarked.

After earning his degree in elementary education with a minor in science, Eeling interviewed at three school districts: Story City, Riceville and Pekin. Of those, he liked the weather best at Pekin. Eeling spent most of his career as a Panther, teaching for 13 years before assuming the role of elementary principal for another 13 years.

Another factor pushing him toward Pekin was that he wanted to get into coaching. His college advisor told him that he should learn from the best in the business, and there was none better than Pekin High School football coach Tom Stone. Eeling had played football in high school, and was accepted as a volunteer coach with the Panthers.

Eeling coached the offensive and defensive lines, and later became the offensive coordinator.

'I didn't know a lot about football, but while I was there I learned a lot about life and a lot about coaching,” Eeling said. 'I learned how to be a better person, how to treat kids well.”

Eeling gives Stone credit for shaping his coaching philosophy, which Eeling has taken from the gridiron to the ball diamond and the gymnasium. While at Pekin, Eeling coached junior high basketball and high school baseball as assistant and head coach. He's also taken those lessons to heart as an administrator.

'It's the same thing with a staff of teachers, because we're a team working together for the betterment of all,” he said.

Principal

Eeling never envisioned himself as a principal. He thought of a principal as being too disconnected from children, and 'is always the one who tells you what to do.”

Eeling's wife Tari is an educator, too, teaching fifth grade at Fairfield Middle School. The couple agreed early in their marriage that if they were still in education after 10 years, they should move up the ladder by earning their master's degrees.

Jeff returned to school first, earning a master's in guidance and counseling. While taking classes, district officials approached Eeling to see if he'd be interested in administration, since a few of Pekin's principals were set to retire. He wasn't sure at first, but agreed to take a few classes in administration while he finished his degree in guidance and counseling.

Eeling replaced Sam Ritchie as Pekin Elementary School principal. Eeling was the school's principal for 13 years.

Fairfield

Eeling wanted to be closer to his wife, who taught in Fairfield, but there was a problem. Fairfield's fifth grade had been an elementary grade, and Eeling did not want to be his wife's boss. Fairfield Community School District moved fifth grade to the middle school, opening the door for Eeling to work in Fairfield's district as an elementary principal.

However, there was another fact to consider, which was that the couple's daughter Sarah was still in high school at Pekin. Eeling didn't want to make her switch to a new school, and he worried how it would look for two Fairfield educators to be sending their daughter to another district, so he passed on the opportunity.

Two years later in 2012, after Sarah had graduated, an elementary principal job opened in Fairfield, and this time Eeling took it.

Later, Eeling would assume the role of assistant baseball coach, taking over for Aaron Countryman. Eeling said he loves working with head coach Josh Allison.

'I think we work pretty well together,” he said. 'I'm hoping to hang on to that this year and maybe into the future.”

Eeling said he hopes his new job will give him greater flexibility to visit daughter Sarah and son Jake. Jeff and Tari are excited to be first-time grandparents as Sarah has a child on the way.