December 2021 Alumni Spotlights: Julie Guilford (FC ‘84) and Steve Perkins  (NA ’87)

December 2021 Alumni Spotlights: Julie Guilford (FC ‘84) and Steve Perkins (NA ’87)

This week, we’re revisiting an inspiring alumni spotlight from our December 2021 Legacy Ledger! 🌟 Julie Collings (FCHS ‘84) and Steve Perkins (NAHS ‘87) have dedicated nearly 30 years each to shaping lives and strengthening “the village.” From the halls of Head Start to advanced Latin classrooms, they’ve truly walked the walk.
 
Julie Collings is a nationally certified school nurse and 2018 FCHS Hall of Fame inductee who has served our schools and community with unmatched dedication.
Steve Perkins is an NAHS Hall of Famer and Indiana Teacher of the Year (2013), whose passion for teaching Latin has earned him national acclaim.
 
Their journeys are a testament to the power of education and commitment.

Excerpt from the December 2021 Legacy Ledger (Issue 15):

Guest Contributor: Rex Bickers, FCHS 1970

This month, our profiles exemplify just exactly how “the village” should work. Steve Perkins and Julie Collings have talked the talk and walked the walk for nearly thirty years each. They have been there, in those hallways, from Head Start to fourth-year Latin.

For the past three months, this column has focused its spotlight on a handful of NAHS and FCHS legends from the 1960s and even earlier. This month, the time machine gets a spin of the dial with two graduates from the 1980s. Among the NAHS Hall of Famers, that’s uncommonly young. There are only seven inductees from the past forty years. It would be great to have more profiles of Bulldogs from the more recent past. A lot of you who are reading this… probably know plenty. After all, many have now passed the thirty-year mark in their careers. Will you suggest the names of some schoolmates that others would like to meet?

Because FC is a younger school, Hall of Famers from the 1980s show up in greater numbers than their counterparts from the 1970s or 1960s. We will profile more of them in the coming months.

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Julie Guilford Collings, FCHS ‘84

Julie Guilford, FCHS ‘84 Headshot

Julie Collings worked as a school nurse for 29 years, meeting the needs of students and staff on a circuit of three elementary schools in the NAFC school system. She began her career with a BSN degree from Bellarmine University in 1988. She worked for five years in hospital and surgical outpatient settings. Wanting to focus on public health and health education, she followed her instincts and took on a Master’s degree in Public Health from IU, commuting back and forth to Bloomington for another three years. Focused on school safety, she is credentialed (American Heart Association and American Red Cross, Stop the Bleed) as an instructor for emergency care. She has earned her National Board Certification in School Nursing. It’s a distinction earned by only 21 other school nurses in Indiana. She was honored as Indiana School Nurse of the Year in 2017 and inducted into the FCHS Hall of Fame in 2018.

Julie has been equally committed to community service, as a member of the Floyd County Head Start Health Services Committee, Nutrition/Physical Activity Coalition at Baptist Health Floyd, and past board member of St. Elizabeth Charities Council. As an active volunteer leader at Northside Christian Church, Julie was part of a medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic. For the 2021-2022 school year, she made one more new pathway change, becoming a Health Careers instructor at Prosser.

Julie and her husband Bill enjoy family life with their children Max and Meredith, plus their two married sons, Sam and Brandon, three grandchildren and their fourth one on the way.

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Steve Perkins, NAHS ’87

Steve Perkins, NAHS 1987 Headshot

Steve foreshadowed his college experience during his years at New Albany. He was a member of Junior Classical League (JCL) each year, rising to consul (president) his senior year. He was also valedictorian of his class. He was a Phi Beta Kappa grad, earning his undergraduate degree at IU in Classical Studies. He taught middle school Latin before enrolling at the University of Texas (Austin), where he completed a Master’s degree. He honed his craft at LBJ High School and was recognized as Latin Teacher of the Year by the Texas Foreign Language Teachers’ Association.

Returning to Indiana, he truly found his calling at North Central High School (NCHS), teaching all levels of Latin and heading up the largest chapter of JCL in the state of Indiana. During his fourth year at NCHS, he co-authored the immensely successful Latin For Dummies. In 2013, he was selected as North Central’s Teacher of the Year in May, then went on to be honored as Indiana Teacher of the Year in September. He has received numerous other teaching awards and he was inducted into the NAHS Hall of Fame in 2014.

Like Julie, Steve was ready for a change after the 2020-21 school year. He had planned to retire, but he has returned to the classroom, teaching Latin at Guerin Catholic High School in Noblesville. He and his wife, Melissa (also a Latin teacher) have two children: Austin and Olivia.

Read the entire December 2021 Legacy Ledger (Issue 16).

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