Unlike a lot of people, Julie Burrell never really had to struggle to determine what she wanted to do for a career. She knew early.
    “I knew in second grade I was going to be an elementary teacher,” Burrell said.
    It proved to be the right decision. Burrell, 57, taught elementary school in Benkelman for 33 years, took a couple of years off and now has returned to teaching at Wauneta-Palisade for a year. She is one of four new teachers new to the district.
    “I had a two-year break,” she said. “I missed the kids and missed being around other educators.”
    She’s teaching third grade at Wauneta-Palisade Elementary School, in part to help train her expected replacement, her student teacher, Tori Guillen. Burrell expects to be in the job a year.
    She took the break to help get her mother resettled after Burrell’s father died three years ago. Her mother has now moved from the family farm into Kearney, setting the stage for Burrell’s return to the classroom.

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