001[Music] when i think of carol toomey there's a thousand words that would come in my mind but two or three the most prominent would be the commitment she's always had for the people and the and the athletics and just everything at center grove high school in the community and also the passion that she had towards her commitment for all the stuff that she did at center grove but most of all i think love when i think about carol the way she loved all the coaches and she loved all the she loves all the athletes and she loves every sports team i can't remember a game as a coach as a head football coach where i walked out and didn't see carol's carol sitting in the front row with her right smile and you know waving
002i guess i'd start with elegant graceful and refined she has such high expectations for those involved and for whatever she's doing she never shortcuts and she always makes sure that it's done the right way and she'll plan it out to the t my first word is organized when vandy needed a staff member to head our north central valuation team he picked carol i was surprised that he picked an athletic director to head up the north central team but that's who he picked and i was very impressed at how well carol planned out what we needed my second word to describe carol is dedicated carol is very dedicated to center grove high school she built the girls athletic program from gaa to a major girls program that often outshined several of our boys program the two
003words that most clearly come to my mind when i think about miss toomey are dedicated and determined uh scrappy and determined were the two i thought of right away just the things she was able to accomplish in in her career in the time time the era that she started in you had to be those things in order to get things done for women's sports i'm wearing my varsity letter sweater as it represents carol's keen interest in athletics but in all honesty carol is all things center grove carol is passionate she has an undeniable love caring and support for the school its students and its staff carol is also progressive forward thinking and willing to make dynamic improvement changes to make center grove better biggest impact i would say is that she hired me so for
004that thank you very much carol i i've loved it here also and it's been a great almost 40 years for me carol's impact towards my career here at center grove is huge because she's one of the people that really came to florida to get me and we had a person in common from florida and that person would you know really told me that i could she could be trusted and she would always have my back and it was absolutely the truth i believe mrs toomey's impact on center grove goes a long way you know when it starts just her career at the beginning of her career working with students in physical education and health she definitely has high standards for all those that she serves and she does a lot to make sure that students
005get the best education that they can no matter the subject or in the area that they're in most recently the biggest impact she had on me was two years ago she led a charge to get me into the indiana basketball hall of fame which if you play basketball in indiana that's about as great of an award as you can possibly achieve and she was very instrumental in making that happen for me so we've been in touch we've she's followed me i've followed her we've been in touch for 60 years and it's it's been pretty special i know that miss toomey is is part of the reason that i had the opportunities that i had as a student athlete and i didn't fully understand that as a student athlete when i was in high school but
006as i got older and i looked back and i understood all the things that she did for girls sports you know i really appreciate what she did for us to have the opportunities that we have when she started teaching in 1963-64 there was one team it was a basketball team and we got the gym one night a week for two hours and we got to play eight to ten games a year that was it that was what women's athletics was at center grove and we ended better than most schools when title nine passed in 1972 she put her determined foot through that door and she never looked back she did what she had to to make sure that women were given equal opportunities to every possible sport at center grove high school she took them
007from from one sport one night a week to multiple sports multiple championships i think mrs toomey's legacy for center grove will will be a lot of things not only just what she's done for sports in general here at the school district but what she's done for the school district as a whole when she started on the school board 12 years ago after finishing 40 years as an employee in the district she helped lead the school district to a whole new level we built more in the school district than we had in the years previous and she was a critical part of updating all of our buildings that have been out of date for some of them over 20 and 30 years i always knew that carol would support what she best what was best for
008center road and if you convince her that this is what needs to be done for center grove or if she was convinced that it was that she would always support what was best for center grove from our time on the school board carol showed us that you can make the tough challenging decisions and even though they're the right decisions still have grace kindness and respect for those that didn't agree she is the matriarch of girls sports um in center grove and and pretty much across the state she was a part of that and i think that she has served center grove um with great dedication and tireless love for the community for the school for all the students and all the athletes all the development of girls athletics women's athletics as we should call in
009today's world center grove high school is because carol 2 may had a plan and an idea and a passion to make the women's sport here just as good and just as equal as the men's sport which it should be but carol's backbone and drive really uh prompted that at the women's athletics to be where we are today i personally i can't thank mrs toomey enough for everything she's done not just for the school corporation but for me personally she was critical in bringing me into the school district bringing me up to speed on how things work who to know who to communicate with and and how to grow as a professional and i wish her so so much happiness as she continues on in the next steps after leaving the district here as a school
010board member i i wish carol the very best and dale also who dale is a fabulous support person for uh carol as a board member and as a coach but i know that in their retirement or in her retirement from the board that they will still be very supportive of center grove and i wish them the best i also want to give a shout out to carol husband dale toomey he has been such a support to carol in her career and accomplishments at center grove and oh my all the school board meetings that dale has attended i think makes him deserving of a badge of honor carol thanks for your time and commitment to center grove without a doubt your legacy will always be a part of center grove history i hope that retirement or
011whatever she chooses to call this this next stage of her life is all that she and dale hoped for and that they have continued health and happiness and that whatever direction she goes in i know she's going to be successful but i wish her all the best out we're going to miss missy carroll and i hope that you and dale take care of each other and um for the remaining great years that you have left and please don't be a stranger here at center grove we love seeing you yeah i just want to thank carolina thank you personally for being such a great friend and being such a great have a great service to our school and community uh and all the athletic programs not just football you've been you've been so loyal to every
012program here in center grove a lot of things wouldn't be like they are if it wasn't for you and your time you put in and i want to congratulate you on an unbelievable career uh and i like i said earlier i hope that you you hang around i'm honored to be your friend and it was an honor to work for you as a as a school board member i was honored it's honored to be your head football coach i'm still going to always be your head football coach and i appreciate all you've done for all the athletes here at center grove high school and have fun and relax this is timmy congratulations on a well-deserved retirement i know it is not in your nature to sit down slow down relax but if at any time
013you need pointers on this just call me we'll go to lunch and i will give you pointers because i am excellent at it and what i will tell you to do right now is pour yourself a drink pour dale a drink go sit on your couch in front of a fire and toast to a job well done [Music] you