As a student at Seymour High School, Gunnar Ortlieb stood out for all of the right reasons.
He demonstrated an ability to lead his classmates early on with positive persuasion and mentored younger kids to get involved in activities that kept them out of trouble.
His sense of humor and upbeat personality made him a favorite to youth of all ages, his teachers and other adults.
Now, in his final semester at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ortlieb, 22, has stayed true to who he is and what he wants to accomplish in his life.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
After completing his student teaching at Sprunica Elementary School in Brown County, he will graduate this spring from IU with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a concentration in literacy development.
Making the decision to attend IU after graduating from SHS in 2017 was easy, he said.
“The campus was beautiful, full of green space and Bloomington was equally impressive,” he said. “That combined with the raving reviews of the IU School of Education, it was an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass up.”
It also afforded him a way to stay close to Seymour and maintain the relationships he has developed in the community, he said.
One of the most important being his ties to his alma mater.
Helping youth
During his senior year, he completed an internship with SHS Assistant Principal Talmadge Reasoner and other administrators at the school. From that experience, he developed a passion for education and the logistics behind it, he said.
That passion turned into aspirations for a career in the field of education, which he continues to fulfill in college.
“My time at IU has opened my eyes to the many ways in which education can impact all aspects of life and prosperity,” he said. “Getting to be a part of that process of development in students’ lives is something that has been incredibly rewarding and fulfilling.”
Ortlieb has never shied away from involvement in activities or making lasting relationships with the people he respects and admires the most.
He has had the opportunity to spend lots of time in classrooms during field experiences and especially now as a student teacher. He also continues to help at SHS with the planning of special events.
But Ortlieb’s ability to reach students isn’t confined to just the classroom. In the past year, he was appointed to the Boys and Girls Club of Seymour board of directors and is the youngest member ever to serve on the board.
That honor is one of particular importance and value to him as he is a former “club kid” himself, having spent much time at the club playing and participating in sports.
“The Boys and Girls Club has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember,” he said.
In eighth grade, he became more interested in helping with the programming that was being offered.
“I volunteered behind the counter from when I was in the eighth grade until I was eventually hired as a part-time employee at the beginning of my sophomore year,” he said.
He continued working at the club until his senior year and has used his sense of community and interest in technology to help the club with fundraisers.
Former Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Steve Stanfield selected Ortlieb as Youth of the Year, which included a scholarship and an opportunity to speak at the club’s annual dinner.
Three years later, Executive Director Ryon Wheeler asked him to join the board.
“I can say what makes me the most proud in having him on the board now is that he has grown to fulfill exactly what our mission states, ‘Empowering youth to be productive, responsible and caring citizens,’” Wheeler said. “He is giving his time, talent and treasure to make sure kids not only have the same opportunity as him, but even more opportunities.”
Ortlieb said he owes a lot to the club.
“Given all that the organization has done for me over the years, I’m excited for the opportunity to serve in a different capacity now,” he said.
His goal on the board is to introduce a youth perspective to the club’s leadership, whose job it is to serve that very population.
“It has allowed me to give back to an organization that quite literally built me from the bottom up,” he said.
Joining the police force
Education and giving youth a voice haven’t been his only interests, as he also has delved into law enforcement and became a fully sworn police officer with the IU Police Department.
That position now seems to occupy the majority of his time, he said.
“I started with the department my junior year as a cadet and eventually was inducted into the 47th class of the Indiana University Police Academy,” he said.
That journey led him to face head-on his lifelong struggle with being overweight. Instead of using his weight as an excuse, it became his motivation.
“Since graduating high school in 2017, I’ve lost over 80 pounds and have been able to keep up with physical training and fitness in some capacity since then,” he said.
With the tough requirements of the physical training tests for entry and graduation of the police academy, Ortlieb knew he had his work cut out for him.
But using the connections and relationships he had made along the way, including Reasoner, an Iron Man finisher himself, and former boss Curt Staley at Big O Tires in Seymour, Ortlieb was able to develop a wellness program that put him in the right direction.
“Through a change in diet, increase in exercise and a strong desire to succeed, I was able to overcome my weight,” he said.
Having graduated from the police academy, he said he is now able to far exceed the requirements of the physical training testing he once dreaded.
“I am now able to focus on constant improvement rather than simply being good enough,” he said
His primary jurisdiction as an officer is the IU campus and surrounding area.
“It’s an incredibly unique policing experience that isn’t found elsewhere,” he said.
Although he’s not ruling out coming back to Seymour if the right opportunity presents itself, he is moving forward with his life in Bloomington right now. He has accepted a full-time offer to serve as a patrol officer, a position that will allow him to serve in a larger capacity starting in May when he begins his four-month field training program.
“I’ve always had a passion for law enforcement, and this allows me the opportunity to leverage that along with my interest in education to have a truly one-of-a-kind experience,” he said.
‘Change the world’
His first taste of what community engagement looked like from a police officer’s perspective was when he participated in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program as a fifth-grader.
“Officer Tim Toborg truly did an excellent job of instilling not only the values of the DARE program, but also the ways in which they could be implemented,” Ortlieb said. “He portrayed it in a way that made me not only not want to take part in drugs or anything of the sort, but also made me not want to disappoint him.”
Ortlieb has taken that approach and applied it to how he handles any situation.
“To this day, I credit many of my mentalities and successes to the DARE program and its everlasting effect that it has had on me,” he said.
During the beginning of his senior year in 2016, SHS began a new chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions under the guidance of School Resource Officer Keith Williams. Ortlieb had never heard of the organization.
But Williams chose Ortlieb to serve as president, hoping to make something special of the new group.
“The first person I thought of was Gunnar. He was highly motivated, well liked and respected among his peers,” Williams said. “To me, he was perfect to lead a group to ‘Change the World,’ which was their motto.”
Ortlieb went to work and assembled a team of his closest and most-trusted friends to create a message and meaningful content that would reach their peers, not the “corny feel-good type of PSAs that were common,” Ortlieb said.
“The content we produced went worldwide with hundreds of thousands of people having been reached, spanning topics that few were comfortable talking about,” he said. “It gained attention, and we saw change throughout the school and the community alike.”
SADD was able to develop partnerships with local agencies, including Jackson County United Way, the Jackson County Drug-Free Council and Seymour Police Department, to make an even bigger impact on the local community.
“It’s always amazing to me what a big difference such a small action can make,” he said.
Making an impression
Ortlieb has spent years being involved in positions and organizations that allowed him to develop relationships and work to communicate effectively with many different types of people.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what age you are, almost anyone can interact with Gunnar,” Williams said. “He obviously was the type of person that thought 15 steps ahead, and he was very detailed on how he was going to reach his goals.”
At first, Williams tried to talk Gunnar out of pursuing a career in law enforcement.
“I told him that with his obvious talents and ambition, he needed to be looking at something more,” Williams said.
Besides SADD, Ortlieb also served as president of the Renaissance Club. He was a member of Key Club and an ambassador for Teens for Change. Using his technology skills, he provided filming and videography services to the school for special projects and to the volleyball and girls basketball teams.
“I’m a firm believer that getting involved outside of regular classes is a huge part of the growing process that takes place both during and following high school and college,” he said.
Ortlieb’s involvement in different organizations and activities was not just a résumé builder, it was a way to get through the trials of young adulthood.
As a child, he often struggled with anxiety and stress, issues most youth face today. But instead of adding to his worries, being so busy cured him of those issues, he said.
“I was too busy to be worried, upset or anxiety ridden,” he said. “I was having too much fun being involved.”
Although it may sound like a cliché, Ortlieb said it’s true you can do anything you set your mind to do.
“No matter your circumstances, family problems, physical fitness, mental health, you can overcome and conquer whatever you are truly passionate about,” he said. “Nothing comes easy, but the determination to win and succeed will override any shortcomings or obstacles that may currently stand in your way.”
For Ortlieb, making the right decision didn’t always mean making the popular decision.
“Lifelong dreams can become reality so long as you surround yourself with the right people and make the choices that will lead you to that destination,” he said. “Oftentimes, people set a destination but don’t take the time to make a route, more often than not arriving at the destination isn’t the climax, it’s the journey that makes the difference.”
Williams may have been the mentor in their friendship, but he said he is just as inspired by Ortlieb.
“Gunnar is one of those people that leaves an impression on you no matter what,” Williams said. “The thing that impresses me most about him is he continues to be who he is no matter what. He’s still out to change the world and will take whatever he’s handed and make it work not only for him but for everyone around him. He loves people and making life better for them.”
The two remain in contact, and Williams said he considers Ortlieb to be family.
“Now, he just walks in the house like he’s family,” Williams said. “He is. He’s a fellow officer. Gunnar inspires me and makes me better, and if someone’s close with Gunnar, I would say that’s the same effect he has on that person also. Why wouldn’t you want that around?”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Ortlieb file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Gunnar Ortlieb
Age: 22
Hometown: Seymour
Residence: Bloomington
Education: 2017 graduate of Seymour High School; 2020 graduate of the Indiana University Police Academy; will graduate in May 2021 from the Indiana University School of Education with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education
Occupation: Police officer with the Indiana University Police Department
Family: Parents, Julie Eakins and Scott Ortlieb; sisters, Zoe, 19, and Paisley, 6; grandmother, Pat Wilson
[sc:pullout-text-end]