One of the pillars of the Pilot Point Bearcats athletic program, athletic secretary and attendance clerk Ann Smith, is calling it a career and retiring from the position with the Pilot Point Independent School District.
After three years of coordinating the Bearcats athletic program and 14 years total with PPISD, Smith is ready to start a new chapter of her life.
“When you think about Pilot Point Bearcat and Lady Cat athletics, she’s a staple,” said Chad Worrell, athletic director and head football coach. “… She poured into these kids and this program for so many years, and we're going to miss her. You can’t replace someone like that. You just hope that you get someone who cares about the kids, the athletes and the coaches as much as she does.”
A 1972 graduate of Pilot Point High School, Smith began her journey as a volunteer paramedic with Huff-Slay Funeral Home in Pilot Point and then became a 911 dispatcher for the Denton County Sheriff’s Office during the launch of the emergency service in September of 1990.
Smith was with Denton County for seven years before shifting to the city of Denton in 1997, serving as the dis- patcher for the Denton Police Department and the Denton Fire Department until her retirement in 2011.
After her 33-year career with local emergency services, Smith said, her family was a big motivator for her to start her second career with PPISD.
“I decided that I wanted to have a job where I could be off on weekends and holidays and spend more time with the grandkids,” she said. “Eventually, they asked me to take over athletics because I was always at the games and heavily involved with the kids’ sports, and they thought it would be a good fit because I was close with all of them.”
Smith started working in the cafeteria at the high school in August of 2011 before moving into the front office as the receptionist and attendance clerk in 2016 and eventually becoming the athletic secretary in 2022.
As athletic secretary, Smith provided clerical and administrative support for the Bearcats’ athletic program, working directly with Pilot Point ISD’s athletic directors, coaches and athletes.
Smith said what she will miss the most about Pilot Point ISD is working with the students.
“I’m going to miss watching them grow and encouraging them,” she said. “I had one this year, my library aide Bennett Cory. I got to watch him get past a hurdle and make it to state in track. … They just need someone to care and push them a little bit.'
Smith thanked former Pilot Point ISD Superintendent Todd Southard for opening the door to allow her to do what she loves the most: connecting with the people around her.
“I want to thank Todd for giving me the chance to work in the office because that's where I got the opportunity to develop the relationship with the kids and the parents,” she said. “That was the big thing, building those relationships. Now when I go out in public, I see so many kids that have come through [Pilot Point], and they’re doing phenomenal things.”
Smith said she still plans to be a fixture with Pilot Point ISD for years to come, but she’s proud to hand the reins to another member of the Bearcat family, Mallory Eichenberger.
