Julie Lay’s roots in Vandalia run deep. A graduate of Vandalia High School herself, she returned after college at Eastern Illinois University to build both her family and her career here. Now with two daughters of her own—a seventh grader and a sophomore—Julie sees her legacy unfolding not just in her classroom, but across generations of Vandalia families.

Her journey into education was seeded early, following her mother, who was also a teacher. “You’d go after school or during the summer and play teacher in your mom’s classroom,” she recalls. But the real turning point came in her junior year of high school, when she enrolled in a webpage design class. Back in 2003, web design wasn’t simple. It was all HTML code, no easy drag-and-drop builders. Julie found she loved it. “That was my clicking moment. I thought, I could teach this class.”

That realization set her path. She knew she wanted to teach, but not in elementary school like her mom. Computers and technology offered something both practical and exciting. A quirky detail helped seal the deal: “The only classroom with air conditioning back then was the computer lab,” she laughs. “That was my deciding factor.”

Over the years, Julie has taught media production, webpage design, and dual credit classes that allow students to graduate with both high school and college credit. Today, she teaches media production and two sections of Python coding. Her proudest achievement may be the way she and her colleagues have aligned Vandalia’s business and computer programs from kindergarten through high school. “We’ve started kids as early as third grade with block coding. By the time they get to me, they’re doing full Python and can earn certificates that qualify them for real jobs.”

Julie sees her role as helping students bridge the gap between rote technical skill and genuine creativity. “Some kids are happy being the technician, just typing what they’re told. But others start to ask, what if I want the background blue instead of purple? That’s when it gets exciting. They’re creating something I never would have thought of.” It’s this blend of problem-solving and imagination, she believes, that elevates a student from worker to innovator.

The rise of artificial intelligence has only sharpened her perspective. “I thought AI would just be like Siri—faster Googling. I didn’t see this coming,” she admits. The challenge now is sorting which tools are credible and which are just noise. For Julie, that makes teaching discernment as important as teaching code. “Our job is making sure students have ethical reasoning, that they can spot bias, and that they grow their brains for a world that keeps changing.”

Beyond her classroom, Julie’s own daughters reflect the dual influences of tech and tradition. “They’re tech savvy, but they’re also farmers’ daughters to the core,” she says with pride. Her husband works the land with more technology than she uses in her classroom, a reminder that innovation and hard work aren’t mutually exclusive.

Julie is quick to point out that the most important lessons aren’t digital at all. “We’ve told our girls: you’re not robots. You’re human first. Look people in the eye, talk to them, use your human skills.” It’s advice she passes on to her students, too, reminding them that being well-rounded matters as much as being technically skilled.

For Vandalia, Julie Lay represents a bridge—between generations, between practical skills and creative thinking, between the familiar traditions of community and the uncharted future of technology. In her classroom, students aren’t just learning code. They’re learning how to shape the future, and more than that… how to present themselves as an indispensable part of it.