Elizabeth Bailey
Greensburg Daily News
Greensburg —
The Greensburg Rotary Club gathered at the home of Larry and Beverly Moore for their annual Steak Fry to honor Julie Record as their educator of the year.
Record, North Decatur Jr/Sr High School Principal Gary Cook explained, has just finished her 30th year at the school. She graduated from Bloomfield in 1976, the year that the girls High School Basketball Tournament began. While Record has been at North, she has been involved far beyond the classroom, Cook said, as she coached a variety of teams for the school. When she doesnÕt have her game face on, she also participates in videotaping not only athletics but special occasions as well. Outside of school, Cook informed those gathered, Record is passionate about horses and has encouraged many young people to become involved in equestrian activities.
"Julie is the kind of person who is always willing to step up and go above and beyond," Cook said.
In 2007, she spearheaded the 40th anniversary celebration for North, compiling athletic history and helping to put together a special event to celebrate the occasion.
"Julie is what North Decatur is all about," he said.
Decatur County Community Schools superintendent Dr. Dan Roach noted that Record is a person who has a desire to encourage kids to do the right thing and perform at their highest level.
"She makes us all look really good," he said.
When Record arrived at North in the fall of 1980, she said, she met Margaret Davis and the volleyball team and was informed that she would be coaching varsity. Davis was informed she would be the cheerleading sponsor.
"We didn't speak for the first semester," Record smiled.
Still, she was "thrilled to be coaching," and as time passed, Davis became her best friend. Gary Cook joined the staff a few years later as a physical education teacher, later becoming assistant principal and athletic director before taking up his current post as principal. His position was assumed by Kyle Nobbe, who has assisted the department in running like a "well-oiled machine," she said.
"He's been great and pretty much does what I tell him to do," she smiled.
Record expressed her gratitude not only to the athletic department but to the school as a whole. She noted that Joe Stanley and Don Criswell served as her administrators for many years, molding her into the teacher she has become.
