Julie Budd taught at Hillsdale Academy for 25 years. Sophia Bryant | Collegian
After teaching eighth grade for 25 years, Julie Budd will retire from Hillsdale Academy at the end of this school year.
“I will surely miss the school, and the students, and my great colleagues,” Budd said. “What a blessing it has been.”
Budd has been involved with Hillsdale Academy since her oldest son started fourth grade when it opened in 1990 under the leadership of George Roche III, the president of Hillsdale College from 1971–1999. She said prior to that, she had been feeling frustrated with her son’s options for education.
“I just felt like it was an answer to prayer when we got the letter telling us that Dr. Roche was thinking about opening the school, and they were trying to garner what kind of interest there would be,” Budd said.
Budd, daughter of retired history professor John Willson, graduated from Hillsdale College in 1984 and worked in marketing at a local bank. After the academy opened, she was offered a job teaching eighth grade.
“The best part of my job is working with the students,” Budd said. “This age group can be a challenge, but I love it. They challenge me daily and I can honestly say that I have learned just as much from them as they have from me over the years.”
During her time at the Academy, Budd has organized eighth grade traditions such as annual trips to Stratford, Ontario to see attend a Shakespeare festival; reading “A Christmas Carol” aloud followed by a Victorian Tea with the seventh graders; and decorating chalkboards with the day’s schedule, calligraphy, and sketches.
“My expectation is for my students to strive to be excellent students, but even better human beings,” Budd said. “I am grateful that they have pushed me to do the same.”
Along with teaching eighth grade, Budd has coached junior high and high school track.
“The athletes and coaches alike rely on her steady encouragement and her meticulous record-keeping,” Hillsdale Academy teacher Deanna Ducher said in an email. “We’re grateful that she’s agreed to continue on in that role even after retirement so we will still see Mrs. Budd and her trusty clipboard at the meets.”
Budd has also worked as the adviser for the junior high service club and the Upper School Pro-Life Club, and served as a Mentor Teacher for grades 5-8. Budd coached quiz bowl for eighth grade, and the team has taken first place for the majority of the 25 years she has been coaching.
“Since the founding of Hillsdale Academy, Mrs. Julie Budd has been one of the most integral components of helping our school start, grow, and become such a special place,” Hillsdale Academy Headmaster Mike Roberts said in an email. “She has served as a parent, coach, and teacher. For the past 25 years, Mrs. Budd has been teaching and mentoring the eighth grade class as they finish lower school and become well prepared for high school. I appreciate the excellence she has brought to Hillsdale Academy and she will be greatly missed.”
Hillsdale College freshman Evie Gray, who had Budd as a teacher in eighth grade, said she enjoyed learning from her.
“She always emphasized excellence in the classroom, which grew me as a student,” Gray said.
Gray said she especially loved reading a series of short stories that dealt with the pride of the human condition.
“That particular unit gave me a love of short stories that I still carry with me today, and I am very grateful for that experience in Mrs. Budd’s class,” Gray said. “I appreciate how she cared about her students’ understanding of the material.”
Hillsdale College freshman Alethia Diener said Budd has taught and supported her throughout eighth grade and high school.
“From literature discussions to random kind notes and goodie bags to the valuable lesson that I can choose a godly attitude in any circumstance, Mrs. Budd helped form me as a young adult,” Diener said.
Ducher said Budd’s high expectations and compassion have guided students during the transitional eighth grade year.
“She has fostered in her classroom not only striving for academic excellence but more especially the pursuit of maturity, virtue, and Christian witness,” Ducher said. “Her role as the one to prepare students for high school has been key to the students’ future success, but seeing their characters develop has always been the most important to her.”
Budd said she will miss teaching and cherish memories from her time at the school.
“More than anything, I will remember the interesting and sometimes hilarious class conversations, seeing students strive to accomplish their goals, receiving kind notes, and watching those often goofy, gawky students who walk in the door in the fall grow into young men and women as they continue to grow in wisdom and virtue,” Budd said. “It’s those small things that made my time at Hillsdale Academy something special.”
