Beth Crider retires, leaving a 30-year legacy in Peoria education

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — She's off to retirement after giving a 30+ year career to education in Peoria County.
Beth Crider began her teaching journey at Valeska Hinton Early Childhood Center and grew over 17 years there. She moved into leadership roles and then into administration.
'Peoria County is really like a microcosm of the state of Illinois,' said Former Regional Superintendent Beth Crider. 'You have your large city centered district. Peoria Public Schools with all of the challenges that they face. Then you have a more suburban district with Dunlap, who's only grown in size since I took over in this office. And then you have smaller districts, lots of districts and rural areas, and they have different needs. So you're trying to serve all of that with limited time, talent and treasure. You do the best you can.'
Crider landed her role as the regional superintendent in 2014. She's been leading the way forward since then through technology changes, safety, and teacher retention shortages.
'When I started, email wasn't a thing,' said Crider. 'So, the transition of technology over the course of my career, I just don't think there's been any time in the history of this country that it has been so dramatic and so quick. But school safety, I would argue that Sandy Hook has been the defining moment of my entire regional superintendency, because at that moment, being a kindergarten first grade teacher myself, it hit me in a way that I just have never recovered from. And I have spent every moment trying to make sure our students are safe and to get across that finish line May 30th without a significant event will mean a lot to me. Our office is focused on that.'
Upon her retirement, Crider said one thing always remained a constant priority.
'It's celebrating our students through the arts, celebrating our students academic accomplishments, celebrating them seeing out in the wild,' said Crider. 'So, I'll go to a restaurant and they'll say, Mrs. Crider, and it's so great to see them being successful and the jobs that they have. I have former students that are engineers, fellow teachers, you name it, they're out there and they're taking the world by storm. It's so exciting to see.'
Dr. George McKenna is taking over for Crider after being her assistant for a decade. She said he's fit for the job and he'll stay on the right path forward for the county.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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