A longtime principal in the Lincoln County School District announced his resignation from his position Wednesday night through social media.

Shannon Eubanks, who has been principal at Enterprise Attendance Center for 12 years, posted his good-bye on Twitter. “It would take a special opportunity to ever leave my job at Enterprise, but that opportunity has come,” he wrote. “While I am excited about the new opportunities ahead, it is bittersweet in the knowledge that I will no longer be with so many good friends. Not to mention the joy brought by seeing the impact made on the life of a child. But as I became an educator to make a difference, I believe the path I am taking will allow me to make an even greater difference.”

Eubanks told The Daily Leader Thursday that social media was the easiest way to reach everyone with his news. He said he turned in his resignation to Superintendent Mickey Myers and it was presented to the board Tuesday night as a “release of contract.” His official termination with the district is July 18, he said. “They told me they accepted it and was giving me time to let people know,” he said. “They gave me time to reach everybody.”

Eubanks won’t say what the “special opportunity” — the new job — will be. “Right now, it’ not official. It will be announced in a few weeks,” he said. “Until it’s an official announcement, I’m not at liberty to divulge what it is, but it will be focused on education.”

He hinted, however, that he’d be working on education issues and funding and his job will take him around the state. He won’t start the job for a few months, but resigned now so the district would have time to find a suitable replacement. “I felt it was better to do it now, rather than in August or September,” he said.

In Eubanks’ time at Enterprise, he oversaw facility improvements and an increase in academic and extracurricular offering. “We’ve done a lot of good things,” he said.

The K-12 school was the smallest in the district when he took over and now hovers at the top with about 850 students. He said that number fluctuates by a few students every few years, sometimes knocking them into a close second.

Eubanks’ wife, Kimmy, plans to remain as librarian at Enterprise. His daughters will enter second and seventh grades in the fall. He plans to stay active in the school and community and commute to his job.

“Enterprise is a family and from the beginning you showed that with your love and support offered to me and my family,” he wrote. “It’s a special place because it is made up of special people, both at the school and in the community, working together to make it so. I am proud my family is a part of the Enterprise family and plan on us remaining so for years to come.”

Eubanks thanks school board members and Myers for their support, but gave a special shout-out to former superintendent Terry Brister, “who as principal at Loyd Star first brought me into the Lincoln County Schools, then as superintendent had the faith and foresight to bring me down to Enterprise as principal. Who I am today is in no small part a thanks to his guidance and mentorship.”

Eubanks, who earned his specialist degree from University of Southern Mississippi, said his new position will allow him to not only make an impact on students at Enterprise and Lincoln County, but also throughout the state. “That’s what my hope is. I got into education to make an impact on students,” he said. “My hope is that I’ll be able to make a bigger impact.”