By Fred Kroner
For Todd Pence, his high school graduation was the turning point in his life.
The 1980 Gilman High School graduate has fond memories of the day that helped set him up for his future.
“Not because it was over, but because I was awarded four awards that day that helped me and my family afford to send me college,” Pence recalled.
That in itself was a feat.
“I was the first in our family to go on to school,” Pence said.
He enrolled at Illinois State University and earned his bachelor’s degree in business education. He subsequently earned his master’s degree in education administration from Lewis University and later added his Specialist in Educational Leadership degree from Eastern Illinois University.
“I actually started in accounting (at ISU), but I knew in the back of my mind that I really wanted to teach and coach,” he said, “so I switched my sophomore year.”
When Pence returned to school in the fall of 1985, he was no longer a student, but had transitioned into a teacher, a coach and – ultimately – an administrator.
“To me it was just like being a student, I couldn’t imagine being a teacher and not coaching and being around the kids in that environment as well,” Pence said.
This phase of his journey started in Springfield at Sacred Heart-Griffin.
Thirty-seven years later, Pence is nearing the end of his educational odyssey. He will retire at the end of June after 20 years as the superintendent at St. Joseph Grade School.
He won’t need to clean out his desk, however. Pence plans on returning in the 2022-23 school year as the interim superintendent.
It is his way of saying thank you to the district where he has spent the majority of his career.
“Being an interim for a year is something I thought long and hard about,” Pence said, “but the decision really came down to trying to do what is best for the district and giving them the best chance to get a top-notice candidate and saving them some money in the process.
“It is the least I can do to repay the district and community for all they have done for us and seems like the right thing to do.”
During his years as a student at Gilman (now part of the Iroquois West district), Pence said there were several school personnel who helped guide him down his career path.
“I always think back to certain teachers and administrators who believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself,” Pence said. “Mr. (Ron) Volgrich was the superintendent and he always took a personal interest not only in me, but also our whole family. He was the role model that led me to become a superintendent myself.
“Mrs. (Diane) Slack, my high school English teacher, saw more in me than what I was giving and called bullbutter on me. Besides my coaches, she was the first teacher to really challenge me in the classroom.
“I also need to mention Mr. (Russ) Findley. I really enjoyed his economics class and consumer ed classes and that helped me decide on business education as the field to teach.”
Pence had six stops as a teacher and coach – spending time in northern, central and southern Illinois – before landing in St. Joseph in the fall of 2002.
–During two years at Sacred Heart-Griffin (1985-87), he taught business and was an assistant coach in football, basketball and baseball.
–During one year at Breese Mater Dei (1987-88), he taught business, was the defensive coordinator in football and an assistant coach in track.
–During two years at Concord Triopia (1988-90), he coached football, basketball and track, becoming the football head coach in his second year. He also served as the girls’ basketball head coach and the track head coach.
–During three years at Westchester St. Joseph (1990-93), he was an assistant coach in football and basketball and became assistant principal for his last two years in the district.
–During six years at Atwood-Hammond (1993-1999) he was the high school principal for four years and the superintendent for two years. He also implemented the girls’ softball program and coached the team.
–During three years at Arcola (1999-2002), he was the superintendent all three years.
–During the past 20 years, he has remained with the St. Joseph School district as the grade school superintendent.
“In my early years, the movement was mainly related to coaching,” Pence said. “I guess I was the typical assistant coach trying to move up the coaching ranks.
“I always knew I would get into the administration side of things at some point. I think the point at which I thought I cared more about winning and losing than the kids was when I felt it was time to make the move.
“I loved coaching, especially football and softball, and who knows, maybe in retirement I will get involved again.”
Pence was a four-sport athlete at Gilman, earning 12 varsity letters (three in football, two in basketball, four in track and three in baseball.
“I didn’t really have a favorite,” he said. “I enjoyed playing all of them, but I will say in the spring we were able to play both baseball and track, so we had either a meet or game just about every day. That was my favorite season.”
Pence has been encouraging to others to pursue their passions.
“I couldn’t imagine being a high school student and not being involved in extracurricular activities,” he said. “As a school administrator, I have always pushed kids to just get involved in something, sports, music, drama, anything that they are interested in.”
Brian Brooks, the St. Joseph-Ogden high school superintendent, said tenures such as Pence’s are rare.
“Todd has had a very nice run here in St. Joe,” Brooks said. “It is not overly common to have someone stay in a Superintendent position with the same school district for 20 years.
“It is a credit to Todd that he has been able to do that. He has obviously been good for St. Joseph District #169, and his wife Kendra and their three kids have also been great for our community.
“They have had two wonderful kids already come through SJ-O (Jake and Kenzie) and one more (Ty) who will finish up next May.”
According to a 2018 report in The Broad Center, the average tenure for superintendents was “about six years.”
Brooks said several factors come into play.
‘There are probably a number of reasons that you don’t see a Superintendent staying somewhere for 20 years very often,” Brooks said, “but one is the fact that the Superintendent position is not only one that can be very demanding but also one where you have to make some very difficult and unpopular decisions at times that are typically either in the best interest of students, staff, or the school district/community.
“Any time those decisions only favor one or two of those groups, the other one or two groups are upset with you. The decisions that favor all three of those groups are the easy ones, but that doesn’t happen as often as we’d like it to.
“What is best for the students, and can we make that happen, is always the first question you ask yourself when making a tough decision as a Superintendent. That doesn’t always favor the staff, the school district as a whole, or even the parents and/or community. You try and want to meet the needs of all of those stakeholders, and sometimes you can, but that is not always possible and thus can create some conflict over time.
“Todd has obviously done a nice job of balancing that over his 20 years at St Joe.”
Brooks hasn’t just observed Pence from afar.
“On a personal level, my wife and I have had our three kids go through St. Joseph District #169 from kindergarten through eighth-grade during the time Todd has been there,” Brooks added, “and we are thankful that they did.”
Pence felt like this was a good time to step aside.
“Honestly there are several reasons now is the time,” he said, “the main being financially you reach a point with TRS that there is no financial gain to continue.
“I will also say being an educator is a tough job anyway, but that COVID has taken its toll and it seems like everything has been magnified.”
Pence’s upcoming year as the interim superintendent will allow him a chance to create more memories.
“The thing I enjoy most is seeing and talking to former students,” Pence said. “Even though I may have only played a small part in their lives, I get a sense of pride knowing that the resources, programs and employees I have tried to put in place have helped our students become successful not just career-wise but as good people, too.”
Some days, Todd Pence receives more recognition than what comes from being a two-decade superintendent. He and his wife, Kendra, are the parents of Ty Pence, an All-State basketball player who has nearly a dozen scholarship offers and is regarded among the nation’s top prospects.
As a junior this past season, the 6-foot-6 Ty Pence averaged 22.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while nailing 71 three-pointers for a 23-10 spartan squad.
When asked what it’s like being Ty Pence’s dad, Todd Pence responded: “I think we are like most parents. We just want to help our child any way we can, while trying to teach them the difference between right and wrong.
“Our focus has been on trying to make sure he gets to enjoy being a kid. The recruiting process has been educational, to say the least. We have encouraged him to consider and appreciate every offer, and at some point, he needs to select the program that is the best fit for him.
“We have really enjoyed meeting the coaches and players at all the schools who have offered. It has changed the way we have watched games in that we pay more attention to how coaches and players interact with each other.
“The down side for us is that these schools are constantly watching us and the last thing any parent wants to do is hurt their child. We have to watch what we say and do, so our inner circle has gotten very small.”
Ty Pence is uncommitted. Among his scholarship offers is one from the University of Illinois.
