Soldier finds second career in schools

By John Richmeier

GateHouse News Service

Posted Nov 09, 2010

Leavenworth, Kan. —Will Stovall retired from the Army more than 17 years ago, but he still thinks of himself as a soldier.

And Stovall uses skills he learned in the Army in his job as a parent liaison in the Leavenworth public school system.

“The Army gave me people skills, personnel skills that have served me well,” he said.

He served in the Army for 24 years, retiring Jan. 31, 1993 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Stovall said he quit while serving in the “best job in the Army.” He was the deputy commandant and chief of staff of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth.

“And I knew it wasn’t going to get any better, so I quit on a high,” he said.

Stovall said there were three things he wanted to do in Army — travel, make it to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and quit while it was still fun.

“That was the game plan, and I did that,” he said.

Stovall also was interested in being involved in law enforcement, which he also accomplished in the service.

He spent five months serving in the Vietnam War before being wounded by shrapnel in Cambodia. His injuries would lead to three surgeries.

Stovall went to work at the USDB in 1990. He said he enjoyed working with inmates and their families as well as correctional officers and their families.

“People are my thing,” he said.

Stovall said he feels that for 24 years he was supposed to be in the Army.

“Now I am in a period where I’m supposed to be working with kids and their families,” he said.

After retiring from the Army, Stovall held a couple of other jobs before going to work in the schools. He feels divine intervention led to him getting his position with the school district in 1995.

On a whim, he called an assistant superintendent about a possible job in the district. The assistant superintendent happened to have paperwork concerning a grant for a home-school coordinator, a position now called parent liaison.

Stovall first went to work at the former Lincoln and North Broadway schools. He then was a parent liaison at Earl M. Lawson Elementary School. This year, he is at West Intermediate School.

Stovall said he is proud to have served his country. He sad people in the military as well as police officers and firefighters stake their lives on the fact that what they’re doing is correct. “And that to me is noble,” he said.