The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Grace Lessen, The Quill
MRS. Julie Garrison
Julie Garrison grew up in Quincy and attended Quincy Senior High School.
Julie achieved her Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Quincy University.
Julie is married to Wayne Garrison and they will celebrate 20 years together on August 18th.
Together, they have two children. Bret, their son, is 13 and is in seventh grade and Jaylie, their daughter is 12 and is in sixth grade.
Julie currently works at La Harpe Elementary/ Jr. High School and has been teaching there for five years.
Julie is the second grade teacher at La Harpe and this year was her first year as a second grade teacher. In the past four years Julie has taught 4th grade.
Julie says some of her favorite parts of teaching are, "the students, the "aha" moments that come with teaching, when you see that look on a students face it is the best feeling in the world, and watching the students make growth over the course of the year are some of my favorite parts of teaching."
When Julie does have free time, she enjoys reading, listening to music, and spending time with friends and family.
Julie Garrison says COVID did effect with teaching,
"COVID has made it hard being a teacher. I know it was an adjustment for everyone involved, the students the staff and the parents. The way we were used to doing things had to be changed due to the guidelines we had to follow.
"I have to say I think the students did better with the adjustments than what I thought they would. When we went remote last March (2020) it was sad, you didn't get to finish that last quarter with your students. It felt like we (the teachers and the students) were robbed of that last quarter where you really try to prepare them for the next grade they are entering and expand on everything you had done the whole year.
"I am very grateful that we were able to open the school back up this past fall for in-person learning and never had to close this year".
Julie's advice to students is:
"Don't give up even when things get hard…you have to keep trying. That is the only way you are going to learn how to do the hard things in life".