Normal West Community, Highland Park
Inducted 2018

From Normal Community West High School and Highland Park High School, Bobbie Monroe has been a member of the Illinois Athletic Directors Association for 11 years, beginning in 2001.  In that time frame, Bobbie had served the IADA as the Division 5 Rep and served on the executive board as Mentor Chair and Co-Chair of the State Conference.

Previous to her 11 years in athletic administration, Bobbie served as Physical Education teacher at Chiddix Junior High, Normal Community High School and Normal West High School.  She then became Department Head for Physical Education in Unit 5 Schools in 1994.  She also coached softball at Normal Community High School, and her coaching career culminated with winning the 2001 Class AA Softball State Championship.  Bobbie was then named the first female Athletic Director of Normal West High School in 2001.  She held this position for 5 years before moving to Highland Park High School to serve as their Athletic Director in 2006, until her retirement in 2012.  Bobbie was named the IADA Class 3A/4A Athletic Director of the Year in 2012.  She served the IHSA on the bench crew at the Volleyball State Finals for three years and on the committee for State Softball Hitting Derby for three years.

Dr. Thomas Koulentes, Principal at Libertyville High School, said, “I have seen many school leaders attempt to impose their will and accomplish tasks through the use of positional authority and institutional power.  Bobbie is a Hall of Fame Athletic Director because her leadership is the direct opposite of this approach; it is based upon a foundation of humility, service and an unwavering commitment to moral and ethical integrity.”

Retired Principal at Normal Community West High School, Thomas Eder, states that, “Bobbie was visionary in her advocacy of girls’ sports programs and women coaches.  She was highly respected by every coach in every sport, but her passion for finding outstanding women to spearhead the girls’ programs was notable.  I would regard her as a pioneer in the area.”

Bobbie’s extensive contributions to high school athletics and her dedication to the IADA are a few of the many reasons that led Bobbie to this selection as a member of the Illinois Athletic Directors Association Hall of Fame.