Acklin still working to make a difference in lives of students

It’s easy to know where a runner is headed as they set off on a running course.

The starting and finish lines are well-marked. There are cones, arrows and, at times, a pacer vehicle to lead the way. Participants may falter, catch their breath or hold a steady pace, but everyone knows where they are ultimately going.

Then, there is the course of life. There is a start and finish line, yet not everyone knows where they are. Some of the pack may turn left, and another participant may have to go right. Along the way, there are stumbling blocks, sprinting points and winter months.

But for those who train in long-distance, there are lessons that can be applied to life along the way.

This has been the case for Jim Acklin.

A four-year track participant and 1975 graduate of Paris High School,  Acklin went on to Eastern Illinois University where he ran for the cross-country team, then went on to work towards his Master’s Degree in Biology until 1987.

His reward for running?

“It’s one of those sports where what you get out of it is in direct proportion to what you put in,” he said. “The only one that can hold you back is you. I always liked that part of it as an athlete and a coach as well.”

Holding himself to a high standard is also what he has given to students and athletes for 40 years.

Acklin began his teaching career as a science teacher at St. Joseph-Ogden High School in 1979. The next 22 years at SJ-O also included a 13-year tenure as the head cross-country and track and field coach.

“It was ideal for our kids and our program because I basically had the same program and the same level of expectations in the spring and the fall; I feel like that gave us a real leg-up on some of the schools that didn’t have that luxury,” he said.

From 1980-2001, Acklin served as an assistant coach to the track and field teams and helped lead them to three state championships, while also assisting in the coaching of 34 individual all-state performers.

Under his leadership, the 1991 boys’ cross-country team finished undefeated in all invitationals and postseason meets, while also setting a record low points for Class 1A at the state meet with 46, finishing the season ranked 13th in the nation.

Overall, Acklin helped SJ-O accumulate 20 conference titles, 16 regional titles, eight sectional titles and three state championships.

By 1990, Acklin was acknowledged as the Illinois Girls’ Coaches Association Coach of The Year. That same year, he was also awarded the WICD TV Golden Apple Award for Classroom Excellence in Science Teaching

In 1991, 1992, 1998 and 2000, he was named the Illinois Track & Cross-Country Association State Coach of the Year.

There was more than just trophies and accolades, though. Acklin wanted to do the important work of helping people realize their potential.

“Whether it was the teaching piece or the coaching piece that was me trying to get student-athletes to recognize that they are capable of more than even they thought they were,” he said.

“I was always trying to challenge student-athletes and push them as far along that continuum as I could.”

By the mid-1990’s Acklin decided to give himself the education for another course, should the opportunity ever arise. He went back to Eastern Illinois University to pursue his administrative degree, graduating with his Specialist’s Degree in Education in 1998.

“If an opportunity comes up and you’re not prepared for it, then it’s too late to turn the clock back,” he said. “You need to be ready when that opportunity presents itself.”

Although he wasn’t sold on being an administrator, he decided to take an opportunity at Ogden Grade School in 2000.

“I don’t know that I felt totally ready, but I knew that I was ready for a change and a new set of challenges,” he said.

Moving from high school students to students in kindergarten through eighth grade was a pleasant switch for Acklin.

“I found that I really liked being around the little guys,” he said.

Within three years, Acklin was ready for his next turn: becoming a superintendent.

In theory, this meant that Acklin needed to transition out of his coaching capacity. And he was okay with that as he took the helm at the Shiloh School District.

The twist and turns of life had another plan for Acklin, though. By the fall, after a coach who was supposed to coach a runner left the district, Acklin was working one-on-one with an athlete who did not have a team.

Acklin found himself out of the coaching capacity again after the athlete moved on. He also found himself back at SJ-O as the district’s superintendent in 2007.

In 2011, Acklin was inducted into the Illinois Track & Cross-Country Association’s Hall of Fame.

He then rejoined the coaching ranks after almost a decade out of the team atmosphere in 2012 when a coach moved to another state.

“It showed me how much I missed that connection with student-athletes,” he said. “As a superintendent, your decisions are affecting a lot more people, but you’re not forming those deep-lasting relationships that you do when you’re coaching.”

Students knew Acklin as the superintendent, but it was hearing them call him coach that left an impression.

“It was nice for me to be able to walk through the cafeteria and have the athletes say hey coach. That was just the best,” he said.

Acklin retired from SJ-O in 2012, but not before he could see parts of his work come full-circle.

He was proud to pass the coaching baton off to his former student-athlete, Jason Retz, in 2013.

“(Retz) was a good get for us, and gratifying for me to see one of my guys, he’s one of my former athletes, to have so much success,” Acklin said.

“He’s doing great things. He’ll be in the Hall of Fame of some sort if he continues to coach.”

Even though he’s been asked when he will be finished working, Acklin said he’s still not done working for teachers and kids.

Currently, he is in his third year as the Interim Superintendent at Chrisman Schools. He also serves as the Men’s & Women’s cross-country Coach at Danville Area Community College, and currently sits on the Ogden Village Board.

Acklin applies the same standards as he does for himself and students to those working with him within any school district.

He looks to principals, teachers, bus drivers and school board members to raise to the standard of excellence, knowing that nothing is ever going to be perfect, but that they strive towards continual improvement.

“I still enjoy feeling like I’m making a positive difference,” he said.

On Friday during halftime of the homecoming game, Acklin was also inducted into the SJ-O Hall of Fame. He was one of three members in the Class of 2019.

“I don’t know that anyone ever starts their career with the idea that you’re going to be in a Hall of Fame someday, whether it’s coaching or teaching or being an administrator or all of the above,” he said.

Acklin said it’s not about the recognition, but rather the quiet, unexpected moments that impact him the most.

“Teaching and coaching is one of those professions where you don’t realize what kind of impact you’ve made on people, maybe ever. But if you do find out, it’s often decades later,” Acklin said.

“I remember as a young teacher, and even years later, being frustrated with a student or athlete, team or class, and beating my head on the wall.

“And then decades later I’ll have someone reach out to me on Facebook or I’ll run into them and they will share with me something that I said, something that I may not even remember saying, but they will talk about how impactful that was for them, and how they felt like at that time that’s what they needed to hear and it made a real difference.

“You have a lot more influence than what you think.”