Jackson Co. education leader retires after 40 years, celebrates final year

SEYMOUR — As students embark on a new school year this month, a long-time leader in Jackson County says she is going back to school for the final time.

But she's going out with a bang!

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Lisa Ferguson is the Assistant Superintendent for Seymour Community Schools.

She’s retiring after 40 years in education, 27 at SCSC.

“I thought to myself, I’m really graduating for real this time," Ferguson said. "How can I make this a year to remember?”

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Ferguson set a goal: make sure her final senior year has all the bells and whistles.

It started with her painting her parking spot, a tradition for many high school students in their last year.

Then she created a collage of clipping from newspapers she’s collected over the years.

She acquired some vintage Seymour swag — a letter sweater from the 1950s.

And she crafted a special way of saying thank you to the community she's called home for so many years.

“They’re gonna get an owl just like the 1969 original that shows here at Seymour, we appreciate people, we like to make connections and we wanna show our gratitude for the things that people do every day to make school great," Ferguson said.

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The icing on the cake is her Senior Project.

“I asked if they got this postcard to help celebrate my Senior Year by sending something back. It could be a rock, a postcard, a picture and email," shes said.

Ferguson found a stack of postcards post marked from 1950 to 1994 at a rummage sale.

She sent letters to addresses listed on 50 different postcards to people around the world.

And Ferguson says the responses are trickling in!

Lisa Ferguson

“The great thing about it is I’ve made so many new friends, not only by the folks who’ve written me back, but I’ve shared my senior project with people here at Seymour," she said.

By graduation in the spring, she hopes she will have successfully left her mark on Seymour.

“You just wanna know that what you did mattered," Ferguson said.

Lisa Ferguson

No Senior Year would be complete without a prom.

Ferguson plans to have her own as a final goodbye in May.