Wear-Enloe named SSDF Distinguished Alum

Published 2:00 am Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Janet Wear-Enloe’s message for Smith-Cotton High School’s Class of 2027 was to overcome the fear of getting involved and take action to become an asset to their community.

Wear-Enloe, the Sedalia School District Foundation’s Distinguished Alumni honoree for 2026, addressed the seniors Thursday morning in the Heckart Performing Arts Center at S-C. Also in the crowd were members of her family along with friends and classmates.

A Smith-Cotton Class of 1979 graduate, Wear-Enloe is director of business development for SSM Health, which has locations across Missouri. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, and has 35 years of experience in marketing, communications, public relations and business development.

Wear-Enloe shared her guiding principles:

• Recognize your strengths and put them to use. • Join an organization you care about.

• Be an active volunteer.

• Take a leadership role.

She said she questioned her qualifications to provide an inspiring message to students so much younger than herself, but came to a realization about the value of not being “special.”

“You don’t have to have everything figured out,” she said. “You don’t have to have a perfect plan, be the smartest person in the room, have something that no one else does. I realized that maybe that is the most important thing I can tell you … You just have to believe that what you are going to do next matters, and then take that step.”

Wear-Enloe urged the students to build a mindset that is open to new challenges. “When you are willing to say ‘yes’ to opportunities, you are opening yourself up to so many blessings: Friendships, fun, laughter, and goodwill,” she said.

Her address noted some of her professional successes as well as some shortcomings.

“Success rarely happens in a straight line,” she said. “There will be setbacks, there will be unexpected turns, there will be moments when your plans change completely. That’s not failure, that’s life.”

Wear-Enloe encouraged the seniors to be “aggressively friendly” in creating new relationships and community connections.

“When you use your natural talents and gifts, there is joy in the process,” she said. “I wish each of you the courage to discover your gifts, the confidence to use them, and someday the satisfaction of being able to say, ‘I used everything (God) gave me.’”

S-C Principal Wade Norton, an alumnus of the school, also provided a message to all S-C alums, stressing the  importance of connections. 

“Don’t forget to reconnect with your high school, your hometown. A connection great or small matters more than  you know. From donating a yearbook, taking a tour of a building, sharing your stories with our students or giving  back in other ways, we need you,” Norton said. 

He also encouraged the current seniors to maintain their high school connections as they move forward with their  lives. 

“Don’t forget that as you form new connections, strive to keep those connections that you have made over these  past four years. Becoming an alum automatically connects you to a new network of generations of Smith-Cotton  Tigers,” he said. 

Release courtesy of Sedalia 200.