newsminer.com

Photo by Eric Engman

FAIRBANKS — The Nenana City School District’s new superintendent, Eric Gebhart, moved from Kake to the Interior to be closer to his children, who are spread throughout the Lower 48.

Although the town was farther away geographically, the chances of getting in and out of Nenana were much better than in Kake. So after eight years of serving as superintendent-principal in the Southeast village on Kupreanof Island, Gebhart, his wife, Kathie, and their youngest “child” — their dog, Jasper — packed up and headed inland.

Gebhart’s career in education started as a way to stay on an Indian reservation where he had been volunteering one summer, but he soon realized he had found his passion.

“It hit me: That’s it,” Gebhart said. “I just love teaching.”

The best part of his job, he said, is seeing and working with or for kids every day and helping them realize their dreams. He also loves helping them achieve success.

Kathie said her husband always has his students’ best interests in mind.

“He likes kids and makes decisions based on what’s best for kids,” she said.

She also said he has empathy for troubled students whom people have written off because when Eric was younger, he was a juvenile delinquent before turning his life around. Eric said he was such a poor student, he earned straight As during his senior year of high school but ended up with a 2.3 grade-point average. He also went through four majors at three universities in two years before finding himself in South Dakota.

Eric headed to that state looking to work with Native Americans and ended up working at a cook shack in a Sioux YMCA. During that period, he only took time off to take his sister to college.

Eric first met Kathie when she was one of his sister’s college roommates. Eric’s sister tried setting him up with one of her other roommates, but Eric mistook Kathie as his intended date.

“As usual, I was confused,” Eric said.

After 10 non-consecutive days together, the couple got engaged. They have been married for 31 years.

Kathie was also a teacher in Kake, but she choose to take a year off so she could do more volunteer work in the community.

Although Eric enjoyed being a teacher, many of his education jobs also involved leadership or administration aspects, and soon he embraced it.

But being a teacher and administrator were only two of the many roles Eric had to take on in Kake. He filled in when there was a need, and sometimes he served as a substitute bus driver, Title One administrator, reading teacher and physical education teacher.

Outside of the school, Gebhart’s greatest hobby is baseball.

“The only prenup we had was we had to raise the kids to be Cardinals fans,” Kathie said.

One of the couple’s four children, Tim, took on his father’s passion and is now working for Cal Ripkin Baseball. His oldest son, Bill, is working on a master’s degree in youth ministry in Branson, Mo. Their only daughter, Nancy, lives in Ames, Iowa, and also is working on a master’s degree. Their youngest son, Dan, is a student at the University of Alaska Anchorage. The only one left in the house is Jasper, originally Kathie’s classroom dog. Eric said he was never a big animal lover, but Jasper’s enthusiasm won him over.

“He wins everybody over,” Kathie said. “Eric fell in love with him and became our other son.”

After three of the four children were in college and the Gebharts were left with a nearly empty nest, Eric said he was looking for a change from South Dakota. He looked at job listings online and saw Kake needed a superintendent-principal but didn’t know how to bring up the opportunity to Kathie and Dan, so he asked where he should apply next. By coincidence, Kathy mentioned the Kake job.

Their new home in Nenana is easier to reach for Dan. Kathie said the couple sees him more often because he doesn’t have to worry about being unable to leave to make his classes.

The access will also make it easier for the family to complete their Christmas tradition of reuniting at a set destination. Last year, the family traveled to Hawaii, and this year they will be in Branson to celebrate Bill’s graduation.

“I told them, ‘Until you get married and have kids, we will go somewhere for Christmas,’” Eric said.

With more than 20 years of experience in education, Eric has learned a few things, the most important thing being to be honest with children.

“Even when you mess up, they will respect you more and they will accept you made a mistake because they make mistakes, too,” Eric said.