MISSION, TEXAS (September 11, 2026) When Kristen Shults accepted a clerk position with Mission Consolidated Independent School District in September 1989, she thought it would be temporary.
Thirty-eight years later, she is still here.
Shults, now a coordinator in the Mission CISD Human Resources Department, began her career with District Library Services shortly after moving to the Rio Grande Valley. Over the years, she has served as a library clerk, cataloger, secretary to the assistant superintendent for Human Resources and Student Services, personnel specialist and, eventually, HR coordinator.
What kept her at Mission CISD was not one position or one opportunity. It was the culture she found here.
A District That Became Home
Shults had never lived in the Rio Grande Valley before her family moved to the area in 1989. She had earned a Bachelor of Science in biology and was still figuring out what direction she wanted her career to take when she found her first position with Mission CISD.
What began almost by accident became something much more permanent.
“I’m here. This is home,” Shults said.
She remembers seeing the strength of the Mission CISD community almost immediately. Just days after she began working for the district, tragedy struck with the 1989 Mission school bus accident. Though she was new to Mission CISD, Shults remembers how deeply the loss was felt throughout the district.
“When I reflect back on that, it shows me how tightly knit the community of Mission CISD and the community is,” she said. “There is such a connection there.”
That sense of connection has remained with her throughout her career.
Today, when Shults recruits prospective employees at job fairs, she tells them Mission CISD offers something that can be difficult to find in a larger organization: the resources of a good-sized district while maintaining a close-knit, family atmosphere.
“There’s also that close-knit community, work-family feel,” Shults said. “Having worked here for beginning 38 years, I can definitely testify to that.”
The People Behind the Work
For Shults, the relationships she has built over nearly four decades are a large part of why she continues to look forward to coming to work.
She describes the Human Resources team as close and collaborative — a group that works together to solve problems, support campuses and help one another through the challenges that come with serving a school district.
“We have fun, we work, but we also have fun,” Shults said. “It’s just a very good place to come to every day, and I find a lot of joy in that.”
Ultimately, she said, “What makes me come to work every day is the people.”
Her work may happen behind the scenes, but Shults sees a direct connection between what Human Resources does and what happens inside Mission CISD classrooms.
Whether she is assisting employees, working with staffing, reviewing applicants or helping campus administrators, Shults sees her role as removing obstacles so educators can focus on students.
“I’ve always seen myself as a support for the campuses because I’m not in front of the classroom,” she said. “My job is to make their job as easy as possible so that they can spend their time and energy with the students.”
One of the responsibilities she values most is helping ensure campuses have strong employees in place.
“I’m not able to go in front of the students,” Shults said. “But part of my job is to help place that very qualified teacher in front of them.”
38 Years — and Still Growing
During her career, Shults has watched Mission CISD change, faced new challenges and taken on different responsibilities. That constant opportunity to learn and contribute is another reason a temporary position became a lifelong career.
“What has kept me at the district for 38 years is that there’s always a new challenge,” Shults said. “There’s always a place to grow.”
She said her work has never felt stagnant because there is always another opportunity to improve something — whether for her department, a campus or the district as a whole.
“There’s always something more,” she said. “And I think that’s one of the things that’s kept me here.”
Her connection to Mission CISD has also become personal. Her son attended Bryan Elementary, Mission Junior High and Veterans Memorial High School, where he graduated as salutatorian. For Shults, watching him succeed in the same district she spent her career supporting gave her work an even deeper meaning.
Nearly 38 years after arriving at Mission CISD expecting to stay only temporarily, Shults has built a career defined by service, relationships and quiet work behind the scenes.
She may not seek the spotlight herself. In fact, she says she prefers helping create it for others.
“I do not like the spotlight,” Shults said. “But what I do like to do is help create the spotlight, to shine on other people.”
For 38 years, that is exactly what she has done — supporting the people who serve Mission CISD students and helping strengthen the district she now simply calls home.