The administrative team of the Ellsworth-Kanopolis-Geneseo School District will have two new members starting Aug. 1. Both are veteran educators with a variety of experience that starts at the elementary level and continues through university.

Tammi Graff of Hutchinson, a fifth grade teacher in the Buhler School District, has accepted the principal’s job at Ellsworth Elementary School.

She will replace Patrick Schroeder, who has accepted a job in the 7th grade English Language Arts and Technology Lab at the Gypsum-based Southeast of Saline School District.

Kristy Rodriguez, director of education at Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina, is the new principal at Kanopolis Middle School.

She replaces Eric Stoddard, who has accepted a job as superintendent of the Rawlins County School District in extreme northwest Kansas.

“I am so excited to get to Ellsworth. I have heard nothing but positive things about Ellsworth,” Graff said.

Graff is originally from the Garden City area. She attended college at Fort Hays State University before going to work in 2001 for the Blue Valley School District in Overland Park. She worked there for 17 years before moving to Hutchinson two years ago to be closer to her family, including two grown sons.

At Blue Valley, Graff was in charge of the district’s English for Speakers of Other Languages program.

Rodriguez is a Southeast of Saline High School graduate who holds degrees from Southwestern College and the University of Dayton.

She taught at Sacred Heart Grade School in Salina until it was closed in 2006. Her next stop before Kansas Wesleyan was Southeast of Saline, where she taught chemistry and mathematics and served as junior high school athletic director.

Rodriguez said working at Kansas Wesleyan has been a “great experience,” but “I miss the kids.”

She also has a personal reason for taking the Kanopolis job. Her husband, Matt, is a 1993 graduate of Ellsworth High School.

“We always knew we wanted to go back to Ellsworth, even if it was to retire,” Rodriguez said.

The couple has five children, Haylie, a junior at Kansas Wesleyan; Rudy, who attends the U.S. Naval Academy; Matthew, a junior; Riley, an 8th grader; and Kelli, a 7th grader.

Both administrators said this is an exciting time to be in education. The Ellsworth District was on spring break when Gov. Laura Kelly ordered Kansas schools to close for the remainder of the academic year. Students returned to an entirely new system of education, one that relied more on technology to deliver lessons. Graff had a similar experience at Buhler.

In fact, she has yet to walk inside EES because of Kelly’s order. Instead, she took a virtual tour provided by Schroeder.

The question now becomes — will districts return to their traditional teaching methods for the 2020-21 school year or will concerns over the coronavirus continue to change the way students learn?

Graff, who has friends across the state, said most districts are preparing for a brick and mortar year and, at the same time, keeping their on-line capabilities ready — just in case.