CHIMACUM — A familiar face to many on the North Olympic Peninsula will soon return home to tackle a new opportunity — the role of athletic director for the Chimacum School District.

Port Townsend native Carrie Beebe’s hiring has been approved by the Chimacum School Board, and she will soon take the reins of the Cowboys prep sports programs.

“Chimacum brought me back home,” Beebe said. “My niece goes to school there, my sister lives out there. Through our family history, there have been some Chimacum connections. And I’ve always been interested in athletics, and this is an exciting position.

“It will be fun making Port Townsend work harder to try and be on top.”

Beebe’s Jefferson County roots run a little deeper than most.

“I guess my great, great, grandfather designed Fort Worden, and I know my great grandmother graduated from PTHS,” Beebe said.

Construction of Fort Worden began in 1898, so those connections to the community are long running.

She herself is a 1994 Port Townsend High School graduate who played volleyball and basketball and competed in track and field and golf while in high school.

Beebe earned an athletic scholarship to Bellevue College and played volleyball and basketball for the Bulldogs before graduating from Washington State University with a degree in kinesiology and physical education.

Her Olympic Peninsula ties are not limited to Jefferson County. She ran recreation and education programs for the Sequim Boys & Girls Club, served as interim unit director for a stretch and was selected to serve as a National Training Associate for Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

That position led to a move to southern Oregon.

“They recruited me down here to work at a new club site in Medford that never opened,” Beebe said. Instead, she became director of operations at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Rogue Valley before transitioning back into school-based education.

“I’ve been teaching English and language arts at the middle school level and was athletic director, volleyball and basketball coach and their AVID coordinator,” Beebe said of her time at White Mountain Middle School outside of Medford.

AVID or Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a program that identifies and supports students that show the potential for success in higher education.

Beebe hasn’t officially started at Chimacum, but she is hoping to grow the number of Chimacum students who take part in athletics.

“I’ve been looking at increasing participation,” Beebe said. “I’ve been big on building sportsmanship and leaders out of these athletes and the school itself. So if we can get more athletes into the program, get them focused on being student-athletes and being leaders, we will improve our schools.”

And she’s been familiarizing herself with the protocols for a return to play offered by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the state prep sports governing body.

“I’ve been thumbing through those and seeing what will be required,” Beebe said. “I have been volunteering down here with a youth organization so we have started implementing similar procedures. We will get a good system in place that keeps health and safety the top priority.”

Beebe also will oversee Chimacum’s transition from Class 1A status as a member of the Olympic League for most sports and the Nisqually League for football to the Northwest 2B/1B League for all sports.

The Cowboys still plan to play rival Port Townsend in sports such as football and boys and girls basketball.

And the schools will continue to combine as co-ops in boys and girls cross country, wrestling and tennis, and girls swim and dive and softball. A boys soccer co-op between the two schools also is expected to begin in the next athletic season.

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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-406-0674 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.