Garrison looks to make a difference in Tuscola after leaving Mahomet-Seymour
By FRED KRONER
Neal Garrison, who has coached boys’ cross-country and served as a guidance counselor at Mahomet-Seymour High School for the past 20 years, has resigned.
The M-S Board of Education is expected to act on his resignation at the Monday evening (June 20) meeting.
Garrison, who will continue to live in Mahomet, was hired as a social worker at Tuscola High School. After he was hired for that position, a coaching position came open in cross-country and he will also serve as the Warriors’ boys’ cross-country head coach.
At Mahomet-Seymour, Garrison helped build the boys’ cross-country program into a Class 2A state power. He guided the Bulldogs to the state finals eight times, including a school-record seven in a row from 2011-17, and to four state trophies between 2014-17.
M-S was the state runner-up in Class 2A in 2014 and 2015 and the state champions in 2016 and 2017.
“I found an opportunity where I can make a bigger difference for longer,” Garrison said. “I’m not looking for a paycheck, and I don’t want to do an OK job.
“I want to make a difference. I can pour my heart into my kids. Mahomet has gotten to the point where it doesn’t have the infrastructure to help students like I want.”
At Mahomet, with an enrollment of approximately 944 students, Garrison was one of three guidance counselors at the high school. At Tuscola, with an enrollment of approximately 290 students, he will be the only social worker at the high school.
“You can get to know students better if there are less to manage,” Garrison said. “You can take better care and have more time to distribute among them.
“That is intriguing to me.”
During the interview process – which started months ago – Garrison said he was impressed by the people he met in Tuscola.
“There are a lot of people who like the town,” he said. “You can tell the passion they have for their town.”
Garrison said it’s not easy to make a move after two decades in the same location.
“The most difficult is the families I’ve invested in, both in counseling and cross-country,” Garrison said. “The hard part is leaving the people and the relationships.”
He recognizes the move means starting over.
“There is a risk,” he said. “I am going from a lot of seniority to none, and I’m going from having things established. I’m glad I could get hired with 25 years of experience.
“I hope what I have learned can make a difference for students and families (at Tuscola).”
There is something to be said, Garrison believes, about tackling new challenges.
“If you get out of your comfort zone, it’s scary. Uncertainty is scary,” he said, “but when you get out of your comfort zone, that’s when things are exciting.”
Before starting his tenure at M-S, Garrison worked one year at Eastern Illinois University, one year at Fisher High School and three years at Catlin (now part of Salt Fork).
At M-S, he was the fourth boys’ cross-country coach in school history.
Merv Correll started the program in the fall of 1970 and coached for two years. He was followed by John King, whose 29-year tenure included nine state-meet appearances with the boys’ teams.
Bonnie Byers Moxley was the boys’ head coach for one season before the boys’ and girls’ programs were separated in 2002, Garrison’s first year in the district. Moxley continued as the girls’ cross-country head coach for 16 years.
Garrison said leaving the history he established at M-S – which included coaching 18 individual All-Staters – won’t be what he will miss the most.
“The success we’ve had is in the past,” Garrison said. “It’s much harder to leave the people than the past success.
“It’s the families and the connections that’s gut-wrenching to leave behind. The reason for the success is we’ve had great kids and great families.”
Garrison’s coaching tenure produced 18 of M-S’ 27 all-staters in boys’ cross-country, including eight top-10 placers. He directed the program to seven regional titles and six sectional championships. He also coached M-S’ only cross-country individual state champion (Mathias Powell, who is also the school’s only three-time All-Stater in the sport.)
Garrison believes his assistant the past two years – former M-S All-Stater Andrew Walmer – would be “the logical person,” to be his replacement.
“He is passionate about people and passionate about running,” Garrison said. “He’d be a good one.”
Walmer was a top-10 state placer for the Bulldogs in both 2015 and 2016.
Garrison sees challenges in the future for those in education.
“New teachers have to teach 12 more years (to reach full retirement at age 67),” he said. “It will be harder to keep teachers, and will make people re-question whether they want to be in the profession. I feel education in general will take a big hit everywhere.”
School districts such as M-S – where enrollments have been steadily climbing – won’t be alone in facing future battles.
“At every school, what is the strength is also the weakness,” Garrison said. “The growth in Mahomet is spectacular. The fact there is growth is good, as long as you have the leadership that is prepared for growth. That is super important.”
Garrison’s wife, Amber, is an English teacher at St. Joseph Middle School, where she has worked for 22 years.
Neal Garrison said the Covid years, which started in March, 2020, helped them to re-evaluate.
“That time reminded us what our passion is and why we got into education,” he said.
