Julian Coach Bill Porter Wins Statewide Honor
By Bobbi Zane

Coach Bill Porter is shown with Julian High School's award-winning girls cross-country team. Standing in the back row, from left, are Coach Porter, Katie Sanders, Kalyn Kelly, Deanna Wolf, Heather Hallahan and Victoria Thompson. Seated in the front row are Theresa Duey and Kristen Engevik.

Bill Porter, longtime cross-country and track coach at Julian Union High School, was named a Model Coach by the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports in California.

Coach Porter was one of 13 coaches statewide to receive the honor, which recognizes coaches who have served as positive role models in their schools and communities. The announcement was made in January.

In his 18 years of coaching Julian athletes, Coach Porter's boys and girls teams have won eight league titles, four CIF titles, and four individual CIF championships. In addition, his students have achieved the highest grade point averages of all the athletic teams at JHS.

At the same time, Coach Porter's work has demonstrated and taught the Six Pillars of Character that comprise the core ethical values that CIF has established as a standard for high school sports coaches. These include: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and good citizenship.

Coach Porter is "a living example of the Six Pillars of Character," according to Heather Hallahan, record-setting track team member, who told the selection committee that he "inspires us all to follow his footsteps. He's taught us to be the best we can be, above and beyond."

The cross country and track teams have budded and blossomed under his care from the start, whether it's been two people or 30 (a large crowd for a school of only 200), and he's done it almost single-handedly.

A native of La Jolla, Bill Porter holds a degree from California Western University and served in the Marines in Vietnam in 1965, holding the rank of first lieutenant. He taught seventh and eighth grade at Julian Junior High School from 1967 to 1972, and has worked with artist James Hubbell as an artisan blacksmith. His work includes the gates to the Julian Library. Porter began coaching cross-country and track and field at the high school in 1989.

In addition to his work with student athletes, Porter is active in the Julian community. Currently president of the Julian Community Services District, he has served on that board of directors for seven years. He also worked with Pierre Redman to raise money for, and organized construction of, an all-weather track at the high school; Julian residents use the track on a daily basis.

Porter was also honored by Julian Pathways/Julian Backcountry Collaborative last fall, when he received a Males as Positive Forces award. He hosts monthly storytelling gatherings on a regular basis as well as other events at his home.

This is the seventh year that the CIF has recognized the work of California coaches, according to Executive Director Marie M. Ishida. "We are honored to be able to recognize coaches throughout our state who are dedicated to impacting the lives of high school athletes, not only by teaching them the values of Pursuing Victory with Honor and the Six Pillars of Character, but also that there is more to participating in sports than just winning and losing."

Pursuing Victory with Honor and the Six Pillars of Character are essential elements of a larger program called Character Counts!, a widely used approach to character education that reaches millions of young people; it is designed to cut misbehavior and crime and improve commitment to schools.

The California Interscholastic Federation is one of hundreds of youth-oriented organizations that employ the principles of excellence developed by Character Counts!