The Community R-VI Board of Education recently announced Chad Harter as the district’s new superintendent. Harter will succeed Nick Larson, who has accepted the superintendent post at Bowling Green. 

The outgoing superintendent has been a big help to the incoming.

“Nick has been absolutely fabulous,” Harter said in an interview last week. 

Harter’s service begins July 1. He comes to R-6 from Otterville, located in southwest Cooper County, where he serves as the high school principal. 

The Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman) graduate’s career started in retail, managing Kmart, Old Navy and Michael's stores. His entrance into education was in 2001, which he credits for helping him find his “purpose and passion.”

“Everything kind of happened around Sept. 11,” he recalls. 

The economic downturn ushered in a new opportunity, as he signed on with Sedalia schools to teach math. Since his career shift to education, he’s served 17 years in a classroom teaching all levels of high school math, 12 years coaching volleyball, several years teaching and coaching speech and debate, two years as an instructional coach, and has invested time mentoring, teaching, and coaching kids.

“Doing what you love to do with those you want to do it with is never work,” Harter says.

And while he doesn’t officially start until summer, he is already getting his Audrain County bearings.

“I was up there for the FFA breakfast,” he said.

It was a good chance to meet people, and was a reminder of his experience in days passed during the Harters’ travels.

“We’d always stop at the Casey’s in Laddonnia,” he recalls. “The people were always so friendly.”

Those experiences, while simple, kept the community on his radar and put it on a kind of wish list for future opportunities. 

The future, it seems, is now.

“I think those doors have been opened up for us,” he said.

Chad Harter is married to wife, Shannon, and they have a son, David, 14.