By Debbie Adams
Several Vinton area teachers and staff members are retiring from Roanoke County Public Schools.
Music teacher Ellen Hannan is retiring from W. E. Cundiff Elementary. She has taught music in Roanoke County for 25 years—18 of those years at W. E. Cundiff in Vinton, four years as Band Director at Hidden Valley Middle School, two years as Cave Spring High School Band Director, and one year at Clearbrook Elementary and Northside Middle School, teaching choir and band.
“I will miss my great ‘Team Cundiff’ faculty and staff and the students but hope to see them all when I return to sub,” Hannan said. “I’m looking forward to life with my son and his family (4 grandsons) in South Dakota. I’m grateful for 25 years with the wonderful Roanoke County Schools family, especially my music colleagues.”
Two staff members are retiring from Bonsack Elementary. Laurie Dedor has been a school nurse in Roanoke County schools for seven years, five of those years at Bonsack and two at Hidden Valley Middle School.
“I’ve been a nurse for 37 years in a variety of settings,” Dedor said. “My favorite job of my nursing career has been the last seven with RCPS.”
Instructional Assistant Amy Callaway is also retiring from Bonsack.
Mount Pleasant Elementary is losing teachers Janet Shaffer, Tara Davidson, and Dana Wilmer.
Shaffer has taught in Roanoke County for 23 years—all at Mount Pleasant Elementary. She currently teaches first grade, but has also taught second, fourth, and fifth grades.
“I have been blessed for the past 23 years to work at such an amazing school with the most wonderful, hardworking staff ever!” Shaffer said. “Mount Pleasant will always be family.”
Davidson is the Functional Academic, Accessibility, and Career Transition Skills (FAACTS) teacher at Mount Pleasant. She has taught in Roanoke County for 34 years—30 of those at Mount Pleasant.
“I have been blessed with an extremely rewarding career, Davidson said. “Countless students have touched my heart, and I have worked with some of the best people who have become my forever friends.”
William Byrd Middle School Principal Dana Stevens is retiring after 34 years of service to the students of Roanoke County. She began her career as a teacher at Clearbrook Elementary in 1989, then spent the next 22 years at Mount Pleasant teaching just about everything. In 2013 she was named Assistant Principal at W. E. Cundiff Elementary in Vinton. She became Assistant Principal at William Byrd Middle School in 2017, principal at Mount Pleasant in 2019, and then Principal at William Byrd Middle School in 2022.
Other WBMS school personnel retiring include Missy Steele, Elaine Campbell, Susan Cockrell, Sara Boxler, Amy Drain, and Susan Frey.
Campbell teaches 6th grade math. She has been a teacher for 24 years.
“I will greatly miss my students and colleagues and am looking forward to traveling with my family,” Campbell said.
Missy Steele teaches 8th grade English at WBMS. She has been an educator for 30 years—all in Roanoke County. She taught at the Burton Center for Arts and Technology (BCAT), Glenvar Middle and High Schools, and now William Byrd Middle. She also worked as a school counselor at Green Valley Elementary and BCAT.
“I have enjoyed working for Roanoke County Schools for the past 30 years as both a teacher and a school counselor,” Steele said. “I have worked with students in kindergarten through high school, and I have been blessed by the students I have taught as well as the most awesome co-workers, administrators, and staff I have worked alongside.”
Amy Drain is retiring from William Byrd Middle School after 22 years. She is an Instructional Assistant and has worked with students from 6th to 8th grades for many years in science classes.
Susan Cockrell is retiring from WBMS. She is a special education teacher. Teacher Sara Boxler and Instructional Assistant Susan Frey are also retiring from William Byrd Middle.
There are no retirees from William Byrd High School or Herman L. Horn Elementary this school year.