Cedar Park & Leander - Community Impact Newspaper

22 | May 2010 Community Impact Newspaper • Cedar Park/Leander Edition
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K. Jenney
Community Icon | Ron LaFevers
Ron LaFevers spent time as a principal and an administrator for Leander ISD before he retired late last year.
By K. Jenney
With a brand-new degree in marketing,
Ron LaFevers sat in an executive leadership
training program for a major department
store and thought, “This is not what
I want to do with the rest of my life.”
During his college years, he had
volunteered in East Austin schools and
even helped develop a couple of programs
for students, so he returned to school,
obtained a second degree in education
and never looked back.
His impact on countless children’s lives
began in the same school district where he
had volunteered. His first teaching job was
as a sixth-grade physical education teacher
at Pearce Middle School in Austin. It was
Pearce’s principal for whom he worked for
five years who showed him how rewarding
being an educator could be.
After two years as an assistant principal
at a middle school in Angleton, LaFevers
longed to return to Central Texas. The
opportunity came in the form of a principal’s
position in Leander ISD.
“Leander did not have a very good
reputation at the time,” LaFevers said.
“But during my interview it was obvious
they were committed to putting children
first and held a philosophy that status quo
wasn’t good enough. They wanted the
most creative and best practices out there
to be part of their district.”
During his second year as principal of
Leander Junior High School, LaFevers’
creativity in space and time management
was tested. Construction of Leander High
School was delayed, so the junior high
inherited the sixth-grade students from
Leander’s two elementary schools.
“The original junior high facility had
been built in the Roosevelt era, so space
was at a premium,” LaFevers said. “We
ended up placing all the extra students in
the school’s cafeteria, separating the space
into five makeshift classrooms using portable
chalk boards. Even the stage served
as a classroom. I gave one of the teachers
a whistle and she blew it every time the
classes needed to rotate to a new subject.”
During his first 15 years as a principal—which
included stints at Cedar
Park’s middle and high schools—
LaFevers spent as much time supporting
children in the community as he did in
the classrooms. His three children were
attending Leander ISD schools. He was
active playing recreational sports in addition
to coaching Little League Baseball.
While serving on the board of the
Leander Cedar Park Youth League,
LaFevers helped the organization obtain
the land and build the complex currently
located on Cypress Creek Road.
“It was a busy time,” he remembered.
As busy as it was, he still found time to
support community outreach efforts at his
church, Leander United Methodist, as well
as undergo a major expansion at his home.
When his mother was diagnosed with
cancer, LaFevers and his wife made the
decision to move his parents from Dallas to
Cedar Park. To ensure they were well-taken
care of, the LaFeverses added on to their
home, creating a dedicated living space.
A few years later, they duplicated
their efforts on the opposite end of their
home to care for LaFevers’ wife’s parents;
her mother had been diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease. Today, LaFevers’
father, age 93, still resides with them.
LaFevers officially retired from the
school district late last year, but his legacy
continues. His daughter is a Leander ISD
employee and just received her principal’s
certification.
What’s next for LaFevers?
Ron LaFevers remains as busy in retirement as he
was professionally. He is:
Renovating his son’s duplex in Anchorage, Alaska;
he flies up for several weeks at a time.
Renovating, along with Leander ISD educator Tony
Rouse, the building that will house “Kiss My Glass,”
a glass jewelry business that will open in June and
be operated by LaFevers’ and Rouse’s wives.
Hiking the Brushy Creek Regional Trail (he has
logged more than 1,000 miles since last July) and
eventually, the Appalachian Trail.