After 35 years in education, one Greene County School District employee is hanging it up.

Julie Neal has spent the last ten years as the district reading specialist, where she mainly coaches teachers and gives them the literary resources for students to be successful readers. She also is in charge of testing students to gauge where their literacy skills are at. Her educational career started in 1986 at the North Grade Building, where Jefferson Hy-Vee is now, and she taught third grade. 

Then when the elementary school was newly built in the 1990s, Neal then taught second and third grade. A few years later she became a Title I Reading teacher, before she eventually earned her masters degree in education, as well as her reading specialist degree. She talks about her favorite parts of her job.

“Seeing some of the young teachers grow into stronger and better teachers, seeing a lot of that in the last few years. I’m very proud of them. Seeing the kids. Sometimes I forget why we’re here. It’s a reality check, go back into (the classroom) and talk to the kids, and know why you’re there, to help them.” 

Neal points out a lasting effect she wants to leave with every child and parent.

“I just want them to read to them and make sure they are reading every night because that’s just a magic cure. Just like practicing baseball, you practice baseball to get better at baseball, you practice reading to get better at reading.” 

After retirement, Julie and her husband will be moving to Oregon to be closer to family and her husband has a high school teaching job there.