Andy Walsh

Andy Walsh was born and raised a Green Bay Packers fan in Durand, Illinois, near the Illinois-Wisconsin border. Andy's father Bernie was one of 14 children, and while many of his siblings were Bears fans, Bernie was drawn as a child to the Vince Lombardi Packers teams of the 1960s. He maintained his loyalty to the Packers and shared his love of the team with his wife, Deb, and they passed it along to their three sons Andy, Brian and Dave. The family enjoyed visiting Lambeau Field as part of family vacations, and Andy's love for the Packers grew stronger each year. It truly is a family affair on game day. There are times when the children's activities coincide with when the games are played, so the family will record the game, put their cell phones away, and let other family members know not to communicate with them about what happens in the game so they can see it all unfold together.  

Andy has been the Assistant Superintendent for the Olympia School District – a position he took on in the middle of the pandemic. The entire staff at the Olympia School District has been dedicated the past two years to ensuring that the students receive in-person instruction. Even though things are not fully back to "normal" yet, the Packers and the NFL have been a great diversion from the daily and weekly stresses that go along with helping lead a school district during these challenging times.

Along with being huge Packers fans, Andy and his family are strong supporters of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In January 2020, Andy led the first meeting for a new St. Jude Run team, a fundraising run that begins in many different communities in Central Illinois. Teams run together to make their way to Peoria to culminate months of fundraising for the families of St. Jude. Andy and Jami had participated in this event previously and multiple members of the Olympia School District mentioned the desire to start their own team. With the help of many others, Andy was a co-coordinator and helped start the team, which has raised over $120,000 for the families of St. Jude over the past two years.