Principal Brent Jeffers retires after 25 years

When Brent Jeffers came to Sidney in 1991 to become principal of North and South elementary schools, his first administration position, he expected it to be for only a short time before moving on.

"I came here to be here for three years," Jeffers said. "In my line of work, you need to get some experience as an administrator, and I needed that experience so I could land another job in Colorado. Go back home."

Twenty-five years, dozens of teachers and hundreds of children later, Jeffers is ready to move on to the next chapter in his life, but not from Sidney, as he retires after nearly 39 years in education.

"We fell in love with the town, my wife and I," he said. "It just grew on us and found it was a great place to be."

Jeffers described himself as a "Colorado boy, born and raised." He grew up in Haxtun, Colo. in a family of teachers.

"My mother, grandmother, aunts, uncles, all teachers," he said. "At one time, I think we had 16, including cousins and myself, in education."

Jeffers said he knew early on that education was going to be his future career.

"When I was in high school, I knew what I was going to college for," he said. "Education. I never looked left or right. I just went right on through."

Jeffers started post-secondary education at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., which he attended on a track scholarship. It was also where he met his future wife, Patty, before moving to Gunnison to attend Western State Colorado University.

Graduating with his bachelor's degree in education in 1977, Jeffers first teaching job was in Crook, Colo. for two years. He then had an opportunity to return to his hometown of Haxtun to teach fourth grade.

"And as you'd expect from a small town, I was the fourth grade teacher, the junior high basketball and track coach, spent one year helping with the high school girls' volleyball, and within the school I taught some fifth grade," he said.

Jeffers said when he entered the teaching field, he was seen as "a kind of a novelty" as a male teacher at the elementary level.

"It was just a different time," he said. "Certain things were just more taboo."

While teaching, Jeffers continued his education to earn his master's and administrative degrees. He and his wife also had two children, Jon and Joe.

In 1991, Jeffers accepted an offer to become principal for North and South elementary schools in Sidney, both kindergarten through fourth grade campuses at that time.

"It was K-4 at North, K-4 at South, 5-6 was in this building (Central) and West was still St. Pat's," he said. "It had closed, so the '91-92 school year was when Sidney Public Schools purchased West Elementary, and then West and (Central) became 4,5 and 6, and North and South became K-3."

Jeffers was also the principal for the rural school in Lorenzo for a brief time.

"The building is still there, but it's no longer a school," he said.

Jeffers said when he came in, there was a "discrepancy" between the north and south sides of town.

"It was almost as if there was a line drawn in the sand, so to speak," he said.

Jeffers said one of the proudest things he has been a part of is when the district transitioned from "neighborhood schools" to site-based campuses in 2003.

"For a number of reasons," he said. "First, it broke that barrier and put all of those kids together, as they should have been. Also, it's a better use of our resources if you have all of your kindergarten students in one spot (and so on)."

Jeffers continued on as the principal at North and South elementaries before moving to Central Elementary in 2014.

With a quarter of a century in Sidney, Jeffers has overseen the early educational development of scores of children. It hit him recently how long he has been in education when he found out with one family, he taught not only the mother of one of his school's students, but also the grandmother.

"I taught the grandmother in third grade and was the principal for the mother," he said. "And now I'm the principal for the grandchild. I've gone the full circle."

Jeffers said he could not describe what made him decide this was the year to retire.

"It's just something you feel," he said. "You just know it's time. You know that it's time to do something different."

Jeffers said going back to his youth to today, he has been in school, as a student and then an educator, for 56 straight years.

"And I never missed a first day of school in 56 years," he said. "Kindergarten through 12th grade, through college and then I started teaching right away."

The one thing that gives Jeffers pause about retiring from education, however, is having to say goodbye to the children.

"I just love kids," he said. "I honest-to-goodness do. That's the only thing that's giving me cold feet, that second thought. I'm going to miss the kids. They keep me young, and I just love them to death."

But even outside of school, Jeffers will continue to work with Sidney's youth through the Ark Ministry on the north side of town.

"We play games and have fun," he said. "And this summer, we will be doing some activities."

Jeffers said he also plans to do a little traveling, and has been putting together a bucket list with his older brother.

"He's 70, and I'm going to be 62 in October," he said. "Not that I'm ready to go to the nursing home, but we want to some things together because you never know."

Jeffers is also thinking of participating in missionary trips overseas, but whatever he decides, he said that he and his wife have no plans to leave Sidney any time soon.

"People have asked about that, but after 25 years, this is home now," he said. "We're going to stay here.

"From the moment we got here, this felt like a place we wanted to be. So we just put down roots, and here we still are with no regrets."