Nearly 500 years of experience in education were celebrated during the Effingham County School System’s annual retirement ceremony Wednesday afternoon.

Teachers, support staff, maintenance and food service workers were honored at the event, held at the Effingham Board of Education auditorium.

“I can’ think of a more rewarding career,” Superintendent Randy Shearouse said.

Shearouse also said those who retiring can reflect on the times they have helped children and the about the impacts they have had in their lives.

“Not everyone has the opportunity to say that about their careers,” he said. “You all have made a difference in the life of a child.”

Honored were: from Ebenezer Elementary — Bettie J. Wilson; from Guyton Elementary — Brenda Barrow and Susan Lancaster; from Marlow Elementary — Anna Dodge, Kimberly Johnson, Jamie Kawalek and Leslie Sprando; from Rincon Elementary — Ramona Kessler, Nancy Stowe and Lena Waltz; from Springfield Elementary — Suellen Exley, Debra Johnson and Victoria Webb; from Ebenezer Middle School — Mary Bradley, Jody Campbell and Linda Crews; from Effingham County Middle School — James Green; from South Effingham Middle School — Elizabeth McLaurin and Tamara Nichols; from Effingham County High School — Janice Porter; from South Effingham High School — Larry Holloway; from Effingham College and Career Academy — Keith Cornell; from maintenance — Gerald Phillilps; and from food service — Carolyn Jackson and Carolyn Warner.