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As Hancock Public Schools begin the search for a new superintendent, future plans are hopeful for outgoing Superintendent Kipp Beaudoin.
The board accepted Beaudoin’s letter of resignation this week at its regular board meeting and cordially thanked him for his four years of service to the families of the district.
Beaudoin will be leaving the district at the end of the school year to pursue other interests. However, retirement is not in the forecast for life-long educator and his wife.
“We’ve been educators all of our lives and we’ve devoted ourselves to what we believe is a mission field–education,” said Beaudoin “And we had the opportunity provided to us to accept an actual opportunity with our church. We’re planning to go to the Czech rebuild and ultimately to the Ukraine to work as educators in that capacity. It’s just a different stage in our lives. We’re at the end of our working years in public education, I guess would be the way to say it, but just starting our careers as mature adults.”
As the school board reviews candidates for the upcoming opening, along with two other board seats, Beaudoin says that he and his wife are excited for the upcoming transition as it’s been a long time goal.
Beaudoin said, “Even when we were dating, we had talked about wanting to teach overseas. That was one of the goals that we had set. There’s an old adage–if you want to make God laugh, plan–and pretty soon, as most couples, we had children and a mortgage and all of those things. We had a friend that approached us and said ‘hey, if you’re interested, maybe I can help you,’ and that’s what opened this door for us and we’re very excited to do it.”
The move is not an easy one for such an invested pillar of the community. Four years of caring for every child and parent in the district is bound to tug on some heart strings. “Of all the things when you leave an area, you grow fond of the children. Our hearts will be empty there. I know that,” said Beaudoin.
When asked if he had plans of permanent residency in the Ukraine, he said, “It would be wonderful if once we we’re done with that chapter of our lives to maybe come back and do some more teaching here.”
