High school principal will take over starting next year
Bob Ippel has been working for Rehoboth Christian School for 30 years, but now he’s looking forward to retirement.
Ippel began his career as a teacher, teaching middle school English, math and working in the special student support services. He also ran Rehoboth Christian School’s choir program for both middle school and high school students, and he continued to do so while he took on his role as Executive Director. Before he became the Executive Director seven years ago, he was the middle school principal.
“I think the thing that brought me the greatest joy [as the Executive Director] is that you were able to enter the lives of the parents. Before I’d always been a teacher or a principal, so my focus had been on students and my teaching staff,” Ippel said. “Now not only do I have the teaching staff but also getting to know the parents better. And when you’re in this position you can hear their stories both when things are going well and when they’ve got pain in their lives. It’s a special position to be in to be able to walk alongside people and support them.”
Ippel announced his plans to retire in a press release that was published Sept. 1. Now, he’s going to spend his final year at Rehoboth Christian School training the man who will take place: current Rehoboth Christian high school principal Dan Meester. Ippel said he’s thankful to have the opportunity to train his successor.
“A lot of organizations don’t have this privilege of being able to have this much time to plan a transition and to even have that person who is the replacement be a part of that transition,” Ippel explained. “So I’m very thankful for his willingness to kind of journey with me this year so we can set up the organization for success for next year.”
Meester has 28 years of working at religious-based schools on his resume. He grew up in the San Jose, California area, but ended up going to college at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
After college, he taught high school English at a school in the Chicago area for five years before moving back to San Jose, where he taught at a large Christian high school. Shortly after that he moved into administration, and actually became the superintendent for the high school he went to in 2008.
Six years later, he was back in Michigan as a superintendent. Then, he got the fateful call. A friend of his was in a leadership cohort with Ippel. Rehoboth Christian School needed a high school principal, and Meester’s friend thought he was the perfect fit.
“You never want to close down an opportunity the Lord may have in store for you,” Meester said.
Meester and his wife flew out to Rehoboth, and within 30 minutes they knew it was the right fit for them. Five years later, Meester said he’s ready to step into this new role.
“In the five years I’ve been here Rehoboth has been such a beautiful place and a beautiful experience for both me and my family [and] I’m just looking forward to being able to serve it in a new way,” he said.
Ippel gave Meester some advice for the Executive Director role.
“He’s been here for five years so to just continue to get to know the families and the community and take advantage of opportunities to serve alongside them,” he said.
Ippel also spoke about the challenges that come with the position.
“There’s so many unexpected challenges that come along the way. … There’s so many interruptions in terms of when you plan out your day, but on the other hand I look at those as opportunities,” Ippel said. “So every interruption is a chance for me to serve or learn. Trying to keep that perspective is very very important.”
Once the school year is over, Ippel said he plans to spend his retirement years “Investing in family.” Most of his kids and grandchildren live in New Mexico, but one of his sons is in the military and serving in South Korea. Another son lives in Nicaragua with his family and he works at a school there. Ippel said he and his wife are planning on doing some volunteer work at the school, along with other ministries.
By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
