A “no-frills” type of girl. That’s how USD 257 school board clerk Terry Taylor describes herself. TAYLOR has worked at USD 257 Board of Education office for 18 years. NOW that the kids are out of the house, Taylor and her husband are in “transition.”
“I’m just a simple girl,” she said. “I care about my job, family and community, and I want it to grow. I’m proud of this town.”
Taylor grew up on a farm outside of Iola and attended Humboldt High School.
“I married a local guy and we’ve always been here,” she said “We raised our kids here and are very proud of the education they got here.”
Her husband, Mike Taylor, is the human resource manager at B&W Trailer Hitches. They have been married for 24 years. Taylor said she loves spending time with her family. Her son Corey is a sociology major at McPherson College and plays baseball. Her daughter Erika and grandson Darrien live in Iola and Erika works as a receptionist at B&W.
“I like to go and watch Corey’s games,” she said. “Ball has been our life for a long time.”
Taylor said she married into a big sports family. The kids got their interest from baseball because Mike coaches.
“Baseball is his favorite sport and he coached Legion for 24 years so that was the big instigator,” she said.
Her family lives in Humboldt and his is in Iola. They try to spend as much time together as possible. Taylor said she couldn’t see herself living anywhere else.
“I can’t wait to watch my grandkids grow in the Iola school system,” she said. “It’s good to appreciate our school system. It’s done great things for my kids and it will do great things for my grandson.”
“I’ve worked 12 years in payroll and in 2009 I took over the clerk of the board position,” she said. “I attend the meetings, take minutes, keep up with who renews when and do basically anything the board asks of me.”
Previously, she had worked in a doctor’s office and a bank. An ad in the Register brought her to USD 257.
“I was at a point in my life where I needed a change,” she said. “I had banking and human resource experience so I thought this would be a good fit.”
Eighteen years later she loves her job.
“I’m happy here. They taught me well and we’re a good team,” she said. “You never know what life holds but I don’t have any anticipation of going anywhere.”
This year the board office made a move to 305 N. Washington.
“Dealing with the people side of it is my favorite,” she said. “I like to be helpful and I want people to know that if they need help they can come to me.”
Last summer the district hired a new superintendent, Jack Koehn. Taylor works with Koehn on a daily basis.
“I think he’s a good, strong leader for us and he will help us accomplish things we’ve wanted to do for awhile,” Taylor said. “He has great ideas and I can’t speak highly enough of him.”
“I would like to travel some and I really want to go see Alaska and other states,” she said. But, “I’m not really picky.”
When the time comes for retirement she would enjoy working with little kids. In the past taught Sunday School at her church.
In her free time she loves spending time with Mike, having friends over on the patio and gardening. She said she’s an outdoor girl.
The local, “no-frills, simple” girl hopes that her hometown will continue to excel.
“There’s a lot of things to see Iola grow into,” she said. “I’ve experienced a lot of good people through the school and hopefully its just the beginning of our growth.”
Terry Taylor, local to the bone
