EPCHS Principal Retiring After 15 Years At School, 30+ In Education

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, Bill Sanderson has long admired the neighboring suburb of Evergreen Park.

“I was very familiar with Evergreen Park and its culture and felt like that gave me a leg up,” Sanderson said of when he interviewed for the principal job at Evergreen Park Community High School back in 2008.

“It’s a blue collar community and that’s my style,” he added. “This school gave me the opportunity to do what I wanted, and, when I came here, my goal was to retire here.”

Fifteen years later and Sanderson is retiring here. But not after looking back at a decade-and-a-half of accomplishments that include the school getting a facelift in nearly every aspect.

“I’ve been blessed to have been here for everything that’s been done,” he said. “It started with the football field, then the Auditorium, science labs, cafeteria, the LRC (school library), acquiring the Sports Complex on 91st Street and most recently, the baseball and softball fields. All those changes have happened in the last 15 years.”

Sanderson himself pushed for a number of initiatives that have helped the school immensely improve its outreach with the Evergreen Park community.

“There’s really not one thing that stands out, but coordinating the Senior Citizen Dinner with the school play, having a student-run board meeting and student ambassadors to the board come to mind,” he said.

Then there’s the kindergarten t-shirts. Since 2011, EPCHS has made t-shirts for all kindergarten students in the four Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124 schools that read “Future Mustangs” with the class year of 12 years into the future included to note when they will be on track to graduate.

The first group of kindergarten students to have received the shirts are now incoming seniors and will be set to graduate in 2024, Sanderson said.

EPCHS is Sanderson’s first and only principal job, but he had worked in education on the South Side and south suburbs for 17 years prior to taking the job here in 2008.

Before becoming a teacher, he worked in general business for eight years.

“I really didn’t like what I was doing,” Sanderson said. “I always considered teaching, but didn’t know much about it since I didn’t have anyone in my family who had been a teacher.”

Taking what he called a “leap of faith,” Sanderson joined his alma mater, De La Salle Institute in Chicago, as a business and technology teacher in 1991. He later began coaching football and wrestling at the private school and is the founder of De La Salle’s mock trial club.

He continued in a similar role at Homewood-Flossmoor High School and was later promoted to division chair for technology and fine arts at H-F. In 2001, he was hired as the Assistant Principal of the freshman campus at Lockport Township High School, where he remained for seven years until his hiring at EPCHS.

“The experience at Lockport really helped mold the principal I became,” Sanderson said. “The Lockport freshman campus had about 1,000 kids, which mirrored the size of this school.”

His transition to Evergreen Park was “made easier” by Dr. Elizabeth Hart, EPCHS’ superintendent at the time, and current administrators Athletic Director Jim Soldan and Director of Curriculum Deb Schillo, who had already been in place before Sanderson was hired.

Even in retirement, Sanderson will encourage kids in Evergreen Park to attend their local public high school.

“The goal is for every student who lives in Evergreen Park to go to Evergreen Park Community High School,” he said. “We know that’s a constant battle with the rich histories, both here and at the other schools in the area. But people do stay here, or move back here, and have kids and grandkids who go here.”

Getting people in the building is key, he added.

“Outside, we are brick and mortar and look like everyone else. But inside we are a gem that not everyone sees. That’s why we are so willing to give personal tours. Even if someone decides to go elsewhere, we at least want to give them a tough decision.”

In retirement, Sanderson said he’d consider becoming a mentor somewhere if an opportunity fits, but family will be his first priority. His wife, Doreen, has been “extremely supportive,” Sanderson said.

The couple’s son, Derek, is currently a teacher at Lockport Township High School. Their daughter-in-law, Amanda, is a speech pathologist in the Flossmoor school district and they have two grandchildren, Ollie and Charlie.

“The principal job is time consuming and taxing as a family, so my first goal is to give back to my family and spend more time with them.”

But he does plan to come back to EPCHS to see some of the newest renovations when they are complete in the fall.

“It has been a great place to work,” he said.