Name to a Face: Julie Kieckbusch - A Fan Favorite

Editor's Note: This year the Whitehall School District is losing several well-known and loved staff. For the next few weeks the Name to a Face column will be dedicated to those who will no longer be gracing the hallways of WHS/WMS/WES next semester. We wish them all the best in their retirement!

Julie Kieckbusch, born in Sheridan, MT, has had a passion for sports since she was little. A Sheridan Panther growing up, she spent her time heavily involved in basketball, volleyball, and track. Of course, in her free time she enjoyed the occasional cruise down the main street of Sheridan.

As a Montana Tech Oredigger she was inducted into the Digger Athletic Hall of Fame, Class of 1992: Four-time letter winner in Basketball, All-time leading scorer at the end of her career with 1,911 points, averaging 19.7 PPG, Named all-conference and Academic All-conference, Frontier conference MVP in 1992; All-District team in 1992, Academic All-American in 1992, and the Peggy Sarsfield Award recipient in 1992. She earned her degree in Technology and Business Development.

Her love of summers off brought her to the career of teaching; she has taught in Upton, Wyoming in additional to the Whitehall School system.

Technology has changed much throughout her career, and with that her curriculum was ever changing as well, teaching basics of computers along with accounting classes. Over the course of several decades, with advancements in technology, her teaching was top notch, helping students process the ever-changing technological world.

Her favorite memories involve Whitehall math teacher Kerry Sacry and herself solving the problems of the world together in the hallways of Whitehall High. Their discussions became a sight many of the students became accustomed to. A very hands-on teacher, she loved interacting with her students at a one-on-one level.

With the school system and curriculum constantly changing, Julie has tackled teaching with a "get it done" attitude and a winning personality; though many would, without a doubt, note her humor and sarcasm as key personality traits. She struggled with COVID-19 and masks, as it was more difficult to let her sarcasm and humor shine through.

A straight-forward and hardworking teacher who has always been easy to relate to, Julie has been an asset to the Whitehall School system and is listed as a favorite teacher by many a past student. In many cases some students probably would not know what a checkbook or a budget were without her accounting guidance!

Julie is looking forward to more leisure and family time. She will be sorely missed by the staff and students, as well as the alumni who come visit, at Whitehall High. Please thank Julie Kieckbusch for all her efforts and hard work.

We appreciate you, Julie!