ROCHELLE — Rich Harvey has been preparing to take the next step in his professional career for quite some time, and the Rochelle Township High School assistant principal will be taking on a new role when the 2018-19 school year begins.

The Rochelle School District 212 Board of Education revealed at its meeting Monday evening that Harvey will become the high school’s new athletic director, beginning July 1, 2018. Harvey has been an assistant principal at RTHS for the past 11 years, and he will resign from his post effective June 30, 2018 to replace current athletic director Kevin Crandall, who is retiring after the 2017-18 school year.

“It’s an opportunity for me to work in a different capacity at a great school with great teachers, great kids and a great administration,” Harvey said. “The community is very proud of the school and that’s one of the things I want to impress upon our students. I want them to be proud of who we are and I want to have that student participation so we can continue to receive that community support.”

An accomplished athlete in his own right, Harvey has already been inducted into both the Mt. Zion High School Athletic Hall of Fame and the Millikin University Athletic Hall of Fame. He coached wrestling at DeKalb High School for 14 years prior to working at RTHS, and since joining the Hubs, he’s been both an assistant principal and an assistant football coach for 11 years while spending roughly six years with the RTHS wrestling program.

“I wish him all the luck in the world,” Crandall said. “He has a good grasp of how things are run here… I’m sure once he gets in and gets going, he’ll do a great job. He’s organized and he’s a hard worker. He has a passion for athletics.”

Harvey studied education at Millikin University, and he said his past experiences as both an assistant principal and a coach of numerous sports will help prepare him for his new tasks as Rochelle’s athletic director.

“I thought that a change at this time could be good for my career,” Harvey said. “I’m going to use Kevin as a resource as far as planning and budgeting goes, and it’s very beneficial for us to have Kevin here. He’s done a great job and I’m looking forward to working with him. We’ve always believed that we’re here for the kids and we want to give them as many opportunities as possible.”

Crandall has spent the last 24 years as Rochelle’s athletic director. Harvey said he’s looking forward to working in a new environment in addition to building a stronger relationship with Rochelle’s athletic coaches and student-athletes.

“I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to work with our coaches and our students across all sports,” Harvey said. “I want to give every sport the attention it needs, and I want to be a resource of support for the coaches to help develop their programs. I’ll have an opportunity to see kids succeed and develop across all of our programs and I think that’s the biggest part for me.”