Long time Ogden Elementary Principal Jim Armendariz is retiring at the end of the school year.
Armendariz’s retirement was announced during Wednesday’s USD 383 school board meeting. Board member Curt Herrman gave some words about his experiences and the legacy Armendariz leaves behind.
“I’ve known him for a long time and I’ve learned a lot from Jim. When I first ran for the board and back in 2006 Jim is one of the first people I talked to you and he was very helpful to me and has been through my career on the board and we will miss him. Talk about a guy with a lot of passion, a lot of heart for kids. He will be missed.”
Board member Jurdene Coleman echoed Herrman’s comments, since Armendariz was also supportive of Coleman running for the board.
“He has been a champion for his community and I hope that whoever gets in that seat the same level of a champion for that community. They have some big shoes to fill.”
Armendariz was inducted into the Kansas Teachers’ Hall of Fame in 2014 and has been with the school district since 1982. He oversaw the 100th anniversary of Ogden Elementary in 2018.
He’s also an Ogden Elementary alumni. In 2019, he shared with KMAN his experience of attending the school in 1964 as a young immigrant child who could barely speak English. That was part of our KMAN From the Principal’s Office series. A link to that can be found here;
Sam Hennigh and Brandon Peoples contributed to this story.
