FOUKE, Ark. — After 48 years in education, including the past 15 at this school district, Fouke Elementary Principal Ken Endris will retire next month.
During a career at various school districts in Texas and Arkansas, Endris’ calling cards have always been fitness, hard work and showing empathy towards students. These ideals have worked out well for him and the districts he’s worked for, earning numerous recognitions for overall school health, as well as individual nods for his work as a principal.
No matter where his career took him, his philosophy never changed.
“People look at me, and they go, ‘Mr. Endris, you never yell at anybody. You suspend kids or discipline them, but you never scream.'” Endris said. “Why? Because students, they already know they’ve made a mistake. And if you can’t make a mistake, you can’t make anything at all. But you’ve got to learn from those mistakes.”
A 1972 graduate of the University of Houston, Endris was called to duty in the United States Army in 1974. His love for running was sparked in basic training.
During this time, Endris had the top score in the Brockport Physical Fitness Test, scoring a 499 out of 500. Throughout the years, he’s competed in numerous relays and races in many different states, in addition to the Senior Olympics, where he shined — making it to the finals in 2011.
After the 2021 indoor track meets held in Serbia, Poland, Spain, Finland, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, Ukraine, Kentucky, Virginia, New York and…
