A FINAL GOODBYE TO END THE YEAR
“Mr. Voss! Mr. Voss! Mr. Voss!”
The chants were loud and nonstop as they echoed through the hallways of Freeman Elementary School, the pitch of the voices perfectly of grade school quality. It was Wednesday, May 15, the last day of the 2023-24 school year and the last day for Shane Voss, who was retiring from education after more than three decades.
As a way to acknowledge his 12 years in Freeman, the chanting students also carried hand-made signs and cards, and many of them offered hugs to an outgoing principal who was doing his best to keep his emotions in check.
“It just kind of takes your breath away; I had to fight back tears,” said Voss, who was the superintendent at Viborg-Hurley when he was hired as principal at Freeman Elementary 12 years ago. “I was hoping to just kind of sneak out the back door — I’m not one that likes a lot of uproar — so this is pretty humbling.”
Voss said the time he spent at Freeman Public was the best of his 32-year career and the relationships he formed with the students will always be special to him.
“I always tried to get to know every kid on a personal level and I always tried to make them feel important and welcomed here; that’s why I greeted them by name and told them goodbye by name every day,” he said. “Not every kid let me in, but a good majority did.”
And the kids always loved the nicknames; “I came up with some crazy ones and some of them came up with their own for me to use,” he said. “It’s going to be tough getting up in the morning and not seeing the kids.”
Voss has taken a job as general manager at Maker’s Exchange in Tea, a public gathering space featuring local vendors and commerce.
“So I’ll be accessible to the kids when they come to Sioux Falls,” he said.
The robust May 15 goodbye to Voss also included a farewell to Jane Hermsen, who also retired from education at the end of this past school year after more than 30 years in Freeman. Saying goodbye to Freeman Public — and her final fourth-grade class of 28 — was bittersweet.
“That’s the word I use,” she said, “because teaching is the only thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’ve always enjoyed the kids.”
Hermsen got her start in education in Butte, Neb. in 1983 before moving to Letcher with her husband, Rory, the following year. She then spent two years teaching junior high in Marion and was at Wolf Creek Colony before coming to Freeman Elementary in 1990.
“There have been a lot of changes over the years, but the kids, staff and school has always been good to me,” she said. “It’s been a fun ride.”
