Longtime Concordia Administrator Derek Holmes to Retire at the End of the 2023-2024 School Year
Elementary School Principal Derek Holmes, who has been with the Concordia school district since 2008 and has worked in education for 31 years and school administration for 23 years, will retire at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
Holmes first joined USD 333 Concordia in 2008 as Concordia High School Assistant Principal and Activities Director. He also served as Middle School Principal before transferring into his role as Elementary School Principal in 2016.
The USD 333 Concordia Board of Education voted in October 2023 to accept the retirement of Holmes, effective September 1, 2024. His wife Tracey, who is the Board Clerk at USD 333 Concordia, is also retiring effective July 1, 2024.
Holmes told KNCK News he's enjoyed his 16 years in Concordia but it's now time to enjoy that next stage in life.
Before joining the Concordia school district, Holmes was an assistant principal and athletic director in Beloit. He also previously served as an assistant principal and athletic director at Iola High School.
In 2019, Holmes was recognized by the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals as the Area III Middle Level Principal of the Year for his leadership, school improvement, dedication, professionalism, and service to students.
Holmes said his focus as an educator and administrator has always been on the lives they touch and the impact they have on students.
During his time in Concordia, Holmes served as the Head Coach of the Concordia High School Girls Basketball team, leading them to two state championship game appearances, including a perfect season in 2010. In 2014, as an assistant coach to Head Coach Michael Roe, Holmes also helped guide the CHS Boys Basketball team to a 4th place finish in the 4A - Division II State Boys Basketball Tournament.
Holmes spent the last four years as the Head Boys Basketball Coach in Concordia.
This week, the USD 333 Concordia Board of Education approved the hire of Shane Traughber of Dodge City as an English Language Arts Teacher and Head High School Boys Basketball Coach at Concordia Junior/Senior High School. Coach Traughber is a graduate of Sterling College and served as an assistant coach in Russell and Smith Center before serving three years as the head coach at Stanton County and the last four seasons as the head coach at Dodge City High School.
In February, the USD 333 Concordia Board of Education also appointed Ashley Blain as the new Concordia Elementary School Principal. Blain, who previously taught at Clearwater Valley High School in Kooskia, Idaho, and Timberline High School in Weippe, Idaho before moving to Concordia in August 2012 as an English Language Arts teacher, received her Bachelor of Arts in Secondary English Education from Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 2009. Two years later, she received her Master of Arts in Teaching from Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In December 2023, Blain received her Educational Administration and Building Leadership certification from the University of Kansas.
Asked to offer advice for Blain and Traughber, Holmes said every decision they make needs to be through the lens of what's best for kids.
Blain will start as Concordia Elementary Principal on August 1, 2024.