Larry Appel And Wife Judith Appel Tender Letters Of Retirement At School Board Meeting

At Monday, October 11, 2010 Dumas School Board Meeting, Larry Appel, Superintendent of Dumas ISD for 20 years tendered his letter of retirement to the School Board.   Appel has a total of 33 years of administrative experience with a total of 38 years with the Dumas ISD.

Appel took over the helm at Dumas ISD in 1991–1992, well aware of the challenges that he and his staff would be facing. Dumas schools had recorded a steadily rising enrollment of Hispanic students, a rising percent of children qualifying for free and reduced-price lunches, and declining achievement in reading scores. Larry Appel and Lawrence Bussard helped start a program called Reading Recovery in the Dumas ISD school system along with the support of the school board.  Reading Recovery has been a pivotal program for the Dumas ISD.  One of the Dumas ISD elementary schools, Hillcrest, received the International Reading Association (IRA) Exemplary Reading Award for the state of Texas in 2005.  Dumas ISD received an Exemplary rating by the Texas Education Agency for the first time in 2010.

DISD Ratings for 2010 Dumas ISD - Exemplary
DHS - Recognized
DJHS - Recognized
Cactus - Academically Acceptable
Green Acres - Exemplary
Hillcrest - Exemplary
Morningside - Recognized
Sunset – Recognized

Superintendent Appel has seen the district setting records during his tenure as superintendent. Usually they see a growth of .5% to 1.5% a year but the school district had a 10% growth the past two and half years.  For the first time in 40 years the school district built a new school to deal with the over-crowding problem, a brand new school for 5th and 6th graders that opened this fall. It's a $15 million facility one that was a long time coming.  Another achievement of Appel’s has been receiving the Outstanding Citizen award for the 2009 year from the Chamber of Commerce.

Judith Appel, wife of Larry Appel also announced her retirement effective December 31, 2010 at the school board.  Judith was recognized in May of 2009 for her 35 years of service and now she is teaching reading at the new Dumas Intermediate School for 6th graders.  (Read following story for more about Judith's retirement.)

Active in numerous organizations, Appel serves in leadership roles for the Dumas Chamber of Commerce, Amarillo College Moore County Campus Advisory Committee, and Ednet 16, Region 16. A part-time instructor at Amarillo College, he also is active in the Moore Health Families Organization, Dumas Education Foundation, and Moore County Health Foundation. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at West Texas A&M University.

Larry and Judith plan to relax and enjoy grandkids for awhile and take on the task of remodeling their own home.  The Appel’s do not plan to move anywhere else because their home is in Dumas and it is where they plan to stay. 


Judith Appel's letter of retirement in her words:

To the Board of Trustees:

"All good things must come to an end" My 

dream career has lasted 38 years.

I wanted to be a teacher since I was a second 

grader. I really do believe that teachers are 

"called" to the mission.  

I am now teaching my Grand-students and 

watching my Grand-teachers to our Dumas ISD 

system.

I started with the least in Childress and ended 

with the best at Dumas Intermediate. How 

many teachers can say they ended their career 

in a state-of-the-art school?

I always tell my students, "One never stops 

learning. A person learns something new every 

day." I have learned how to use a Mobi, the 

Document Camera, Ceiling projector, Teaming, Inclusion, 46 minute classes, 75 steps to the bathroom all in my last year of teaching. 

Larry and I are going out with a blaze of glory and ready to start on our bucket list.

I thank the Board for allowing Larry to be in the Top 5 of Texas. You have always been so supportive.

I thank God for having a strong educational community and all the love in the world for all my students (past and present)

Please accept my retirement to be effective December 31.

Judith Appel