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‘Die-hard kid lover’ looks back

Hardnett retires after 35 years in Fayette schools

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

Few people will ever be able to see the impact they have had on others in their lifetime, but Fayetteville resident Faith Hardnett has been able to bear witness to just a small sampling of people who have been touched in some way by her in her career as an educator in Fayette County.

Hardnett, who has spent time as a teacher, counselor and administrator in her 35 years in the county, retired this summer and hundreds of former colleagues and students attended her retirement party to wish her well.

Hardnett arrived in Fayette County in August 1970. She was to be a teacher at Fayette Junior High, which is where East Fayette Elementary School is now, during the first year that Fayette County schools would be fully integrated.

“Most of the roads were dirt, most of the parents were farmers and everybody knew everybody,” recalled Hardnett. “Some of the parents were nervous about integration and they escorted their children to school, but I wasn’t the least bit afraid. It was a beautiful day.”

Hardnett went on to say that she never saw herself as any particular color because her parents never taught her or her eight siblings to see the world like that. “That was the greatest gift they could have given me,” she added.

Hardnett was from a small town in the north Georgia mountains, Red Top Mountain in Bartow County. She had a double major at Morris Brown College of English and Education. While attending Georgia State University to get her master’s degree she wrote and illustrated an English textbook to be used in her classroom. Her advisor at the university used her book as an example of what dedicated teachers will do when they love their students.

Her students and their parents could see the love and they gave it right back to the young teacher, bringing her breakfasts on most mornings and, on at least one occasion, a big chocolate cake.

“The children and the parents kept me here all these years,” said Hardnett. “Staying here for three decades-plus says a lot about this community and the support of the administration here.”

That type of dedication is hard to find today in the teaching field but Hardnett hopes that some of the teachers she has worked with over the years will follow in her footsteps.

After her stint at Fayette Junior High, Hardnett went on to teach at the Fayette Elementary School, which is where the LaFayette Educational Center is today.

While there she met Superintendent Merlin Powers, who often made it a point to visit each school as much as possible each week.

Despite Powers always arriving at the school when Hardnett was at lunch, the two bonded and Powers told her he wanted her to serve as a principal at Fayette Junior High. She wasn’t ready to accept that position and she also did not feel the community was ready for something like that, but those words and that confidence stuck with her.

It was during this time, 1971-1979, that she started noticing that the children of her fellow teachers and the people in the administration often found their way into her classes. She was told by one parent that it was because her reputation preceded her.

“‘You’re a die-hard kid lover,’ they said, and that was an honor to me,” said Hardnett. “I was humbled by what people thought of me.”

Hardnett went to the University of West Georgia and got her degree in counseling. This paved the way for her to accept a job as a counselor at Fayette County High School in 1979, which was the only high school in the county at the time.

“It was not an easy thing to do,” admitted Hardnett. “I was the new kid on the block and I was facing some barriers, but it was one of the best transitions I’ve ever made.”

In 1980, Hardnett received an award she takes pride in, the STAR Teacher Award. Laura Johnson, the STAR Student that year, nominated Hardnett as her STAR teacher, even though it had been six years since she had been a student in Hardnett’s class.

“I think I passed out,” Hardnett recalled. “It meant so much to me. I never knew the impact I had on her and that was the greatest gift I had ever received from a student.”

She served as a counselor at the Fayette County High School until 1994. She feels that the secret to her success as a counselor was for the students to see her as warm, open and approachable. She stated that she was the same way with her children, Pierre and Cedric, despite being what she considers to be fairly strict.

Her loving attitude to the students even led to one former high school student tracking her down to East Fayette Elementary, while she served as a principal there, and apologizing for calling her a particularly bad name.

“This was 15 or 20 years after the incident and he came to ask for forgiveness,” Hardnett said. “I told him that I never stopped loving him and he said, ‘I know. That’s what haunted me the most.’ That taught me the power of forgiveness.”

In 1994, Hardnett went to McIntosh High School where she served as an assistant principal. From 1995-1997, she served as an assistant principal at Fayette Intermediate School. She served as principal of East Fayette Elementary School from 1997-2003.

It was at East Fayette that Hardnett put all of the knowledge she had accumulated at every level of education to use.

“My greatest accomplishment was being able to experience the joy of working at all levels, from elementary school to high school,” said Hardnett. “By doing so, God allowed me to see every child, from pre-K to college, in a totally different light.”

Hardnett flourished at East Fayette Elementary, learning the names of each child at the school each year and winning fans among the teachers and staff at the school by treating everyone with the same level of courtesy and respect.

“The principal is the lead teacher at a school and he or she sets the tone for the staff,” Hardnett explained, adding that she would never ask someone to do something she wasn’t willing to do herself.

One time at East Fayette, Hardnett strapped on a 25-pound vacuum cleaner after hours and helped clean the school when one of her custodians was sick. To Hardnett, it is important to always give 100 percent, whether to a student, a parent or a staff member or colleague.

“All the degrees that I have achieved are not important,” Hardnett said, though she has eight to her name, including three master’s degrees. “What matters to me is, have I treated you with respect and dignity? Have I made you feel special and helped you if I could?”

Hardnett went on to explain that while some of the positions she has held in her career have carried authority and power with them, she used them to touch lives not to put herself above others.

“The more you achieve and the more blessed you are, the more humble you should be,” Hardnett said. “Money has not brought me happiness but the respect and love of the children and their parents has.”

Hardnett firmly believes that the children are our future and her attitude towards every one of her students has always been a nurturing and caring one.

“It is our job to make them feel good,” she explained. “Keep telling them that they are a good person, drill it in. They’ll believe it. They believe what we tell them.”

After leaving East Fayette Elementary School in 2003, she became the director of pupil personnel services in Fayette County while also continuing to teach senior English at night school for much of that time.

After 37 years of teaching, 35 of which have taken place in Fayette County, Hardnett realized it was time to step down, though when asked what she would be doing now, the question floored her for a moment as she realized the finality of retiring.

First, Hardnett plans on taking a deep breath and reconnecting with herself. She plans on spending more time with her husband, Claude, and her two sons, when she can “catch up” with them. She also plans to study at the International Theological Seminary and to continue to offer professional counseling.

She has been told by many that she is a great listener and while she wants to be sure to keep her mind active while enjoying her retirement, it is obvious to all who know her that her heart is her true engine.

It was raining the day of Hardnett’s retirement party and she thought the weather would keep most people away from the event. This theory was destroyed when she saw that the hundreds of people in attendance waited in line for hours to make their way towards her and offer their congratulations and best wishes.

During the ceremony, Hardnett remarked to her brother, a minister, “If Heaven is like this, I’m ready to go.” He responded by telling her, “This is the life you have lived.”

Hardnett credits her strong faith for helping her become she person she is today and also gives a lot of credit to the school administration in Fayette County for helping the schools and students achieve as highly as they do each year. She truly loves Fayette County, having grown up with it and watching it grow over the years, and it is clear that the county loves her back.