Elgin names Poore as its new AD
Elgin High School has named Gwen Poore to replace retiring athletic director Art Rohlman, principal Dave Smiley confirmed Friday.
Poore came to Elgin last fall from Carbondale High School, where she held the posts of student activities director and wellness director. This year she has served as the director of Elgin High's career and technical education division.
Gwen is married to Pat Poore, the quarterbacks coach at Northern Illinois University. Through the years the Poores have made eight stops in six states, not atypical of families involved in college football coaching.
The couple's longest stint was in Carbondale, where they lived for seven years until Pat followed then-Southern Illinois football coach Jerry Kill to DeKalb upon his hiring as NIU head coach in December, 2007.
"We're hoping to be around here for a long time," Gwen Poore said Friday.
The new Elgin AD received a bachelor's degree in education and a Master's degree in educational administration from Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan. This marks her first appointment to the post of athletic director after 15 years of coaching, mainly in volleyball and track. She has also coached basketball and softball.
Poore plans to hit the ground running this summer.
"I know one of the first things we're doing is reviving our booster club," she said. "That will be first on my list along with keeping the rich tradition that Elgin has established. The administration has been great. Mr. Smiley seems to have a lot of faith in me, so I'm hoping to live up to that. There are four new athletic directors in the district, so I think we'll all be learning together."
Jeff Bral was named athletic director at Bartlett earlier this week. South Elgin and Larkin have yet to name replacements for their respective athletic director vacancies.
Smiley said Poore has the necessary training and skills to succeed in her new assignment.
"I like her experience from Carbondale," Smiley said. "She coached down there and has an extensive coaching background. We find her to be an outstanding administrator with great leadership skills. She's great with kids. We think she'll be excellent with our coaches and will certainly carry on the work that Art did. We're thrilled to have her."
Poore intends to be a familiar face around the Elgin campus throughout the summer in preparation for the 2009-2010 school year.
"Some of our challenges are facilities, so we're going to try to hit them hard this summer," she said. "I'm going to spend a lot of time at the school trying to make sure everything is set and ready.
"And I'm going to support my coaches. That's what I feel I'm there for, to support them and get them what they need to be successful. We've got some talent. We just have to tap into it and try to make things as good as they can be."
Poore's hiring is subject to approval by the Elgin Area School District U-46 board of education.