Dee O’Dell Leaves Fair Grove After 24 Years

Dee O’Dell, head of the tech department at Fair Grove Schools, is leaving to work at Marshfield Schools after 24 years of helping teachers and students with technology. 

O’Dell hopes his new job will advance his career in the tech industry. “I felt that moving to Marshfield to be their Technology Director was the next step in my career. I have worked very hard for 24 years preparing myself to run a larger tech department with 3 full time computer techs,” stated O’Dell. He went on to say that he will oversee all aspects of technology and focus more on administrative duties.

Throughout the years, O’Dell put a lot of hard work into the things he did at Fair Grove; his work did not go unnoticed. Chris Stallings, principal of Fair Grove High School, had a lot of positive things to say about Mr. O’Dell. “Mr. O’Dell has been part of an incredible journey here at Fair Grove. He’s seen tremendous changes over the years. This past year he was instrumental in helping us transition to a one to one school,” explained Stallings, “I don’t have the specs in front of me but Dee has grown our school’s technology capabilities leaps and bounds over the years. In many cases we are far beyond most schools our size and in some cases even schools with bigger budgets.”

Being at a place for such a long amount of time gives people the opportunity to build relationships with people. Stallings stated, “I’ve had the joy of working with Dee for 12 years now so I will miss the familiarity of knowing the person that I am always going to for help on issues related to technology.” Stallings continued to explain that O’Dell helped run the clock at football games on Friday nights and that it’s the little things like that which made him such a great fit for Fair Grove.

Not only will many teachers and staff members miss O’Dell and the hard work he had to offer Fair Grove, but O’Dell will miss them as well. “I will greatly miss the staff that I work with daily at Fair Grove. I have made so many friends here and that part will be hard not seeing them everyday,” stated O’Dell. 

During his time at Fair Grove, O’Dell not only enjoyed seeing students excel in academics, but he also met people who are very important to him. O’Dell explained, “My partner in crime at Fair Grove, Mrs. Kirby, will be the hardest part of leaving. We work together very well and I will miss our banter with each other. Thank you for everything you do Keri!”

Dee O’Dell has helped to grow Fair Groves tech department into what it is today by putting 24 years of hard work into it. Stallings stated, “Anytime you lose a valued staff member it’s difficult. This is especially true for an employee like Dee who has been with us for so many years. With that being said, we are always happy to see our employees taking on new challenges and being hired in bigger roles. I think it says a lot about the people that we have working here when they can get hired to take over a larger school district.”