Crider to work in Dunlap, but staying in Morton

After six years at Morton Junior High School, Greg Crider has decided it is time to move on. But while he will leave the school after the completion of the semester, he will not be leaving Morton altogether.

Crider lives in Morton with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children, Jarrett, 11; Elyse, 8; and Isabella, 4. He plans on staying in Morton, where he will continue to be involved in the community as vice president of Morton Youth Baseball Association. He also hopes to continue coaching his son’s local sports teams.

“Our kids love it here in the district, and that’s what will really make leaving the district hard for me,” he said. “They’re always here with me after school or at an athletic event. That made the decision very difficult.”

Crider will, however, have to give up Rotary next school year since he will not be able to make the daytime Thursday meetings. He will also have to leave the people he has worked with in District 709.

“The hardest thing was talking to the whole staff and letting them know the decision I’ve made,” he said. “I think the next person to run the building is coming into a great situation with great people who really love kids. That’s the biggest thing I’ll miss.”

Crider, a 1992 graduate of Dunlap High School, will return to his alma mater July 1, serving the entire district as athletic director.

It was at DHS, he said, that he decided to follow in the footsteps of his coaches and his father, who worked in the district for 37 years.

“One of my fondest memories of Dunlap was working with the coaches there,” he said. “I just knew that was what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to stay with sports and coach because of what they did.”   

After high school, Crider went on to Eureka College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education and was a member of the 1994 NAIA National Championship basketball team. Since then, he has worked in education and coached at Tremont and Illini Bluffs before coming to MJHS. Along the way, he earned a master’s degree in educational administration from Bradley University and specialist degree in educational leadership from Western Illinois University.

Crider said although he planned on pursuing a job at the district office level, he was not ready to “sit behind a desk.” Being able to work with the students and interact with other people was a must.

“I’ve been an AD before and loved it,” he said. “This is a new position for the district. They’re taking the high school AD and making it a district-wide athletics position. Being a new position, the job description is somewhat open, but one of the big things they want accomplished is an alignment of all athletic programs, K-12.”

In the new role, Crider will also be in charge of the sports facilities and have all the duties of a high school athletic director. He said he will work to bring the district’s athletics programs to the same level as the school’s stellar academics.

“They feel like they have the facilities, they have the kids, they have everything they need to be on par with their academics. They’ve kind of given me autonomy to do what I feel I need to do to make academics and athletics equal.”

As Dunlap’s district-wide athletic director, Crider said he hopes to communicate with Dunlap’s recreational leagues, providing an alignment between school and recreational activities and he looks forward to working with the students, including children of his former high school classmates.

“It’s really been a whirlwind,” Crider said of his decision to leave District 709. “The toughest part of it has been letting people know. I had no idea the number of people who you come across in the job of principal that you somehow touch in some way. There’s been a lot of ‘sad to see you go,’ ‘I can’t believe you’re going’ and ‘I’m mad at you.’ You forget that even though you’re inside this building, there are a lot of lives you touch throughout the community.”

However, Crider said he is excited for the new role in Dunlap.

“It’s a perfect chance for me to get my foot in the door at the district office level, but I still get to be out in all the buildings, working with the kids and coaches and athletes,” he said. “It was super exciting the way they presented it to me.

“I will be bringing some unbridled enthusiasm to the athletic department. Hopefully people will get on board with that. I’ll be their biggest fan.”