Deb McEndarffer, more affectionately known as Debbie Mac to many, has been in the building for the better part of 50 years. In that time, she was part of Pace not only as a student, but also as a coach just four short years later. She remained in the building as a sub until 2023. 

“I loved high school, just you know I always enjoyed being with friends and doing all the activities,” Mac said, “ South has always had great administrations, and the teachers here are great”. 

Mac has always had a love of dance. As a kid, she attended the Miller Marley school of dance, carrying that into high school where she was a member of the Pacesetters. 

“Some of my favorite memories were being at the football games and cheering with the cheerleaders and the band,” Mac said. 

After graduation, Mac went to the University of Kansas, where she majored in education, and ended up cheering during her junior and senior years. After graduation, she student taught for a semester when an opportunity came up at South that was right up her alley.

“So the gal who started pacesetters had gotten her counseling degree, and she was interviewing for a job at a middle school,” Mac said, “she called me and she said ‘I’m interviewing for this job.’ She knew that I had continued dancing and cheering in college, and she asked, ‘If I get this job, are you interested in interviewing?” 

After that conversation, Mac realized she wanted the P.E and was anxiously waiting to hear if it would open up.

“She called me and said to call over to the district office and get an interview. So I did that on a Monday, and they had an interview for me on Friday,” Mac said, “On that day I had three interviews, from the AD building to the HR person, then after that I got a call to go to South and get an interview with Charlie Nichols, who was the principal at the time.”

At 22 years old, one semester in, Debbie Mac walked back into Shawnee Mission South as a teacher.

“It was really interesting, teachers who I had four years prior were now my peers, and teachers who I didn’t have would ask me for hall passes as I walked through the halls. Since I came in halfway through the year, there wasn’t a faculty meeting introducing me as the new P.E. teacher,” Mac said. 

Mac was the Pace coach for 16 years. During that time, the team was only juniors and seniors, and it wasn’t until after her time coaching that they started integrating other grades. 

After she was done coaching in 1997, Debbie stayed in the building as a teacher because her love of the students and the people in the building stayed the same. During her time there were some changes at South as the times evolved.

“I’ve seen that we definitely have a much more diverse student body, which is a very positive thing. The library is now an amazing place to come, compared to when I was a student here. We avoided the library like it was the plague, but now in the morning, before school, the library is packed. Kids are socializing, they’re studying, and it’s a great place for students to come hang out before school,” Mac said.

Even with all the positive changes Mac sees, there are some things she wishes that students would be better about.

“I don’t think kids communicate the same way as we used to,” Mac said. “ We didn’t have cell phones when I was in school, so we actually talked to people and now kids just text people and I think that is not great because there’s no emotion in a text message and so it’s easy for kids to misread stuff. There are a lot of good things about social media, but I’m glad that when I was in high school, it was not around.” 

This year, South celebrates its 60th anniversary, and Mac was here for 45 of those years. 

“In this time I’ve seen the start of the homecoming parade, the continued success of our theatre program, and the new elective opportunities for students so that when they are in school they can enjoy it and build their day with the things that they want to do,” Mac said. 

As Mac has been a part of South for ¾ of its history she has had the opportunity to have an impact on countless students and faculty.

“When students would see that I was the sub they would come over and high five me. I really like kids and the fact that I show them respect and I’m consistent so they knew what they were going to get with me,” Mac said. “ And if I could say one thing to the current and future students of South is that they are really lucky to go to a school with such amazing tradition that has also grown with the times, and there’s a place for everyone at this school if they want to belong to something. If you put the effort in not only in your school but into getting involved in something that you’re interested in it’s going to make it a better experience.”