On a plaque presented to the family of Shayla Ebner, principal of Amboy Middle School until her retirement this year, reads a simple quote from Ebner.
“My best kept secret lies in the woods of Amboy, off the beaten track surrounded by a tall cedar grove and the smell of sweet lupine in the spring.”
“It is exactly something she would say and think,” said Ebner’s daughter, Shayla Logue.
After a two-year battle with neck cancer, Ebner, 70, passed away Nov. 23, 2013. She was well known in the Battle Ground School District and the Battle Ground community and had just retired as principal at Amboy Middle School at the end of the 2012-2013 school year. However, Logue said her mother really just retired out of necessity due to her health issues and probably would have have continued her job as principal if she could have.
“She loved kids,” Logue said of her mom. “During her Celebration of Life, multiple speakers offered that whenever the teachers would ask for something at the school, Ebner would always ask, ‘Is it good for the kids?’ If the answer was yes, she would always further discuss it. If the answer was no, then her answer was no.”
Logue also said Ebner felt very deeply that middle school age was an impressionable age for children, which is one of the reasons she always worked in middle schools, whether it was as a teacher or administrator.
“She really wanted to set up students to do well in high school,” Logue said.
Ebner started teaching in 1965 when she taught fifth grade at St. Alphonsus Catholic School in New Orleans, LA. From there, she taught sixth grade at Our Lady of Refuge in Texas in 1966; sixth, seventh and eighth grade, reading specialist, Spanish and ESL from 1967-1980 at Ridgecrest Intermediate School in California; and then taught at Our Lady of Lourdes in Vancouver from 1981-1987.
Ebner came to the Battle Ground School District as a seventh-grade teacher at Amboy Middle School from 1987-1990. She bounced around a bit after that, teaching seventh and then eighth grade at Maple Grove Middle School from 1990-1994. After that, she moved back to Amboy Middle School as the Dean of Students from 1994-1995, assistant principal from 1995-1997, assistant principal at both Amboy and Yacolt schools from 1997-1998 and finished out her career as principal at Amboy Middle School from 1998-2013.
Although she was an administrator for several years towards the end of her career, Logue said her mother loved being a teacher.
“I think that teaching as long as she did gave her incredible insight into doing her job as a principal,” Logue said.
Janelle Goldbloom, psychologist at Amboy Middle School and long-time friend of Ebner, said she was drawn to her immediately as a no-nonsense, down-to-earth, kindred spirit. Goldbloom first met Ebner in August 2000, when she became the psychologist at the school. Goldbloom said Ebner had a quiet strength in everything she did and was both a benevolent and decisive disciplinarian. She said Ebner was respected and in turn showed respect for her colleagues, the community and her students.
“Shayla was extremely generous of herself, her time and her resources,” Goldbloom said. “If kids were in need, help often came out of her pocket. I remember her pulling a $20 bill out of her purse so that at lunch time we could take a student to ‘Keri’s,’ the neighborhood barber/stylist down the street, to get a much-needed hair cut, so he wouldn’t miss a class. That is where the name ‘Shayla’s Purse’ came from regarding the newly-formed ‘Amboy Needy Kids Fund.’ Shayla helped out with so very many situations similar to that. As long as she was in charge, no child ever went without lunch.”
“Shayla’s office door was always open to staff,” Goldbloom said. “She would listen to everyone’s problems with a full open heart. So many of her staff have benefited from her mentorship.”
A Celebration of Life was held for Ebner Dec. 12, at Amboy Middle School. Logue said about 200-250 people attended the Celebration of Life for her mom and several people shared their memories of Ebner.
“It (the Celebration of Life) was really celebrating her spirit,” Logue said. “The theme was really that Amboy was kind of her second family. A lot of people kept telling me, ‘thank you so much for sharing your mom.’”
Logue said Ebner loved to serve her staff at the school, she loved to thank them for their hard work. Every Christmas, Logue said Ebner would bring out her linens, formal china and “formal everything,” and she would cook “amazing meals” and serve the staff a Christmas lunch. Last Christmas, she was sick and was unable to cook, so Logue said she had the whole lunch catered. Logue also said her mom was instrumental in the design of the new Amboy Middle School building, as she was first principal in the old building.
In addition to serving the staff, students and parents at the school, Ebner also loved spending time with her family, especially her two grandchildren, Morgan and Mason Logue. She also loved gardening and spent a lot of time traveling with her family during her final years, visiting places like Hawaii, Mexico, Arizona, Palm Springs and Nantucket.
Ebner is survived by her husband of 43 years, David Gephart Ebner; daughter, Shayla Logue (Tony); daughter, Davida Ebner; and her two grandchildren, Morgan and Mason Logue.
The Shayla Ebner Amboy Needy Kids Fund known as “Shayla’s Purse” was set up in Ebner’s honor to benefit needy children at Amboy Middle School. Donations can be made at iQ Credit Union.
“She really loved serving the students and the families of North Clark County,” Logue said of her mother. “She was very committed to the North County, she made a career out of Amboy.”
