When Jeffrey Evener first graduated from Groton High School he wanted to be an accountant. As he continued through college however, he decided that the math classes weren’t for him and stumbled into his passion: teaching. 

“After trying some different majors, I ended up volunteering in my high school baseball coach’s classroom in Groton on spring break of my junior year. He was a sixth grade teacher, “ Evener said. “And I fell in love with teaching.”

He immediately transferred to SUNY Cortland and graduated with a degree in elementary education. 

For his first job out of college he served as a long-term substitute at Groton Central School District teaching seventh grade U.S. History from May until the end of that school year. He then applied for a job in the school district he student-taught in, Auburn City School District, and was hired. 

“That next fall, I got hired as a seventh grade social studies teacher at East Middle School in Auburn,” Evener said. “I spent the next 10 years working for the Auburn School District, my first five as a teacher and then got into administration and became the director of curriculum before I left there, for four years.”

He left Auburn to be the middle school principal and athletic director at Groton Central School District, where he grew up. He also coached football for a number of years. From Groton, he went to Lansing to be the middle school principal. 

However, while at Lansing, Evener received a call from Auburn asking him to apply for an administration job. 

“One of my mentors became the superintendent [at Auburn] and his old position, assistant superintendent for personnel and operations, was available and he wanted me to apply for that job,” Evener said. 

His goal was not to leave Lansing so soon, especially because it was so close to his home. However, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity in Auburn.

“I’ve been wanting to be a superintendent since the moment I met my first superintendent. He was such an inspiration to me, a nice gentleman, you know, just was a great person, and I wanted to be like him,” Evener said. “So becoming a superintendent was always the goal.”

After six years at Auburn, in 2021, with his wife expecting their third child, Evener decided he needed to be a little closer to home. He saw an opportunity to bring his two worlds closer together through a job opening at Homer, and applied. 

The move to Homer was lateral, going from assistant superintendent to assistant superintendent. However, it came down to his family. He never could envision moving them from Groton, away from their family, friends, in-laws, and “network.”

“The most important thing in my life is my family,” Evener said. “So I applied for this job.”

He found out he was hired a few weeks later and has been serving as the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction since. 

“People have been welcoming,” Evener said. “Students have been welcoming, staff have been welcoming, the administration team has been welcoming, parents have been welcoming.”

After his first year, Evener and his wife enrolled their children at Homer because of the welcoming environment. 

“I could say hello to a random student, don’t know their name, they don’t know me, they say hi back,” Evener said. “It’s amazing. It’s not like that everywhere. So I knew my kids had to be around these other kids, right?”

A year after that, Evener’s wife was hired as a guidance counselor in the high school. 

“We’re all in on the Homer Central School District, because people have been all in on us,” Evener said. “What we’re getting out of Homer, I’ll never be able to repay the community for what we’ve experienced so far.”

On July 1, Evener will take the next step in his career, and officially become superintendent of the Homer Central School District. His goal? To make an impact and leave a legacy. 

“My goal is for people to say ‘man, I wish that guy was still here,’” Evener said. “I want to have an impact, not only on the collective, but I want to be able to impact individuals in their life to make them better, because I’m in a position to be helpful.”

Aaron Bouwens, current Board of Education president, said that the board was looking for someone who was well-versed in curriculum, an educational leader, and who had administrative experience. Ultimately, they chose Evener to fulfill this role. 

“We could see the abilities and skills that he was bringing, continuing to bring to the district,” Bouwens said. “We’re in line with what we heard from the community and the staff of what was needed to move to the next levels of education and ability in the school.”

Chris Boylan, the student representative on the Board of Education, was satisfied with the board’s choice of superintendent. Although he didn’t get a vote himself, he was able to watch the two other candidates’ interviews and has gotten to know Mr. Evener throughout his time at Homer. 

“I’m very happy with the decision, I know that Mr. Evener is a great person and a great leader, and will bring a great perspective to the position as well,” Boylan said. “He knows the district well and has ties in the community, which are two very important qualities for someone in his position.”

Evener already has ideas about how to make sure student voices are heard and their opinions are taken into account. He plans to implement a student task force that would meet with him and talk about what is happening around the school. 

“I plan to have a student superintendent advisory team, where I can meet with a group of high school students every month, get some pizza, and we can just talk: How’s the homework going? How is your school experience? What can we as adults do better?”

Beyond that, he wants to follow the same approach he took in his previous roles and have humility, stress the importance of kindness, and grow as a person. 

Evener wants to be approachable even as superintendent and wants to bring the community in on the decision-making process rather than present them with a solution off the bat. 

“Just because I’m at the top of the organizational chart, or will be, doesn’t mean I have all the answers,” Evener said. “What I’m going to be seeking is buy-in and ownership. I’m going to bring a question to the group, to the masses, because I don’t have all the answers, and I will never presume to be the smartest person in the room. If I’m the smartest person in the room, I’m probably sitting by myself, right? We have a lot of intelligent human beings in our district that are involved in our district, from our students, to our staff, to our family members, to our larger community, alumni.”

He also believes in the importance of kindness and has little tolerance for those who don’t display it. 

“I have a very low tolerance for unkind people,” Evener said. “Kindness will be what you hear from me, quite regularly, because I believe kindness is the way to a better world.”

When talking about leadership, Evener stressed the importance of relationships and growth. 

“Leadership is all about relationships,” Evener said. “It’s about influencing other people to go above and beyond what they can even think they’re capable of. That’s leadership.”

Along with that, he makes sure to work on himself, so that he can be the best leader possible. 

“You can always be better personally,” Evener said. “Personal growth precedes leadership growth. So I’m always working on myself.”

Although he always wants to be the best version of himself, whether that is as a husband, father, or superintendent, he does not strive for perfection. 

“I think we should continuously improve and pursue excellence, but perfection, I think it’s an ill conceived idea,” Evener said. “Nothing’s perfect, right? Nothing. And that’s okay.”

Evener understands that he will never be able to meet the needs of each person in the district or larger community. Instead, he uses pattern recognition to figure out what the student body, or adults, or the community, needs as a whole. He never claims to be perfect at this, either. 

“I am the quintessential, imperfect leader. I’m an imperfect husband, and I’m an imperfect father, and I’m an imperfect leader. I have always had room for growth.”

He has also grown through various mentors and leadership books over the years. 

Evener describes John Plume, his first superintendent, as someone who “wasn’t afraid to make the hard decisions, but just dripped kindness.” 

J.D. Pabis, an administrator from Auburn, was someone Evener said “opened doors for [him] to become a leader.” 

Jeff Pirrozolo, a superintendent in Auburn, “saw something in [Evener]” that he didn’t see in himself.

However, another influence in Evener’s life is his wife. 

“My wife, Mrs. Evener, she’s a huge influence on my life, you know,” Evener said. “I have Mrs. Evener written all over me, from the clothes I wear, to how I talk, to how I treat our children, to how I approach work. She really helps me slow down, which is really important.”

After years in administration and in education in general, he has learned how to accept criticism, which he says is a skill. He also has had to learn when to let that criticism go, and just focus on what is best for the students. 

“I’m not here for the convenience of adults,” Evener said. “My job is to help adults and to take care of adults, but not for the convenience of adults. We’re here for the children. We’re here for the four-year-olds and the eighteen-year-olds and every student in between.”

One of the issues Evener is faced with next year is the statewide cell phone ban. According to a press release from Governor Kathy Hochul, as part of the FY 2026 State Budget there will be “no unsanctioned use of smartphones and other internet-enabled personal devices on school grounds in K-12 schools for the entire school day (from ‘bell to bell’), including classroom time and other settings like lunch and study hall periods.”

“You know, one thing people are going to learn about me is I’m not afraid to address the tough issues,” Evener said. “The governor and the legislature and the assembly, they just passed starting next school year a ‘bell to bell’ cell phone ban. We need to work on that together, right? We need to get high school students in the room. We need to get high school teachers in the room. We need to get family, parents in the room.”

In less than one month, the torch will be passed from current superintendent since 2018, Thomas Turck, to Jeffrey Evener. He will have an opportunity to hold the role he once dreamed of, and create a legacy that will make him proud. 

“I’ve been a school administrator for 18 years now, in various roles, but this is what I’ve been striving for, and I’m honored and privileged to be sitting here as the next superintendent in Homer because it’s such a wonderful, amazing place.”