Julie Byarski knows what kind of positive impact athletics can have on a small town school and community.

Now Byarski is hoping to bring that kind of enthusiasm to Atlanta.

Byarski will take over as athletic director for Atlanta High School in the fall and was welcomed during an Atlanta Community Schools Board of Education meeting on Monday.

“It’s my philosophy that Atlanta schools is an academic institution first and foremost, however sports provides not only physical health, but great pride for the students, parents, staff and alumni,” Byarski said. “My goal is to encourage participation in athletics because it provides our students with important lessons for life such as teamwork, self-discipline, courage and conduct.”

Byarski takes over athletic director duties from George Felski and will look to infuse enthusiasm and success into an athletic department that’s seen it’s fair share of struggles in recent seasons.

Recent successes include a football playoff berth in 2013, a baseball quarterfinal appearance in 2013 and volleyball player Allison Marklin setting a volleyball record for aces in a match in 2014.

“I hope to get this place rocking again and proud of our past,” Byarski said. “I’m looking forward to it and like I said I hope to bring a lot of enthusiasm back and get parents involved in the community and get the kids to look forward to that success in academics to mean success in sports also.”

Byarski is well familiar with Atlanta. Her husband Sly was a former JV boys basketball coach for the Huskies and Byarski’s family received an outpouring of support when Sly was diagnosed with brain cancer.

“What really means a lot to me is watching this guy here really love Atlanta schools and coach(ing) the kids while he was here,” Byarski said. “I heard him say to the boys, ‘You can do it,’ encourage them and then when our incident happened health-wise in our family, I watched the Atlanta community turn that coaching around and tell him, ‘Get up. Let’s do it’ and it’s a year and a half later.”

“I want to thank everyone for making us feel like family. I want to thank Atlanta Community Schools for the warm welcome back. Our family looks forward to once again living in the area we call home.”

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.