HCS leaders: Growing our own, part two
Editor’s note: This is one in a series of articles marking the 50th Anniversary of Hartselle City Schools.
Hartselle City Schools has been fortunate to have strong lead ers. Several of these leaders came through Hartselle’s schools as students and teachers before rising to administrative positions.
Frank Parker graduated from Morgan County High School in 1965 before becoming a teacher and then principal at what was then Hartselle Junior High School on Petain Street.
Susan Slate Hayes graduated from Hartselle High School in 1982 before becoming an HHS teacher and assistant principal. She served as principal of Barkley Bridge Elementary School before closing her career as a district administrator.
Earon Eubanks Sheats graduated from Hartselle High School in 1997 before becoming a teacher at F.E. Burleson and Hartselle Junior High School and currently serves as principal at Hartselle Intermediate School.
Growing up within a community provides a teacher and a school leader with a sense of its culture.
All of the Hartselleraised Principals felt like they were part of a network in support of students, and the network reached way back. “I often think back to the incredible educators who influenced me, like Nancy Pressnell, Jimmy Yarbrough, Pam Berry and Carol Powell,” Sheats recalls. “They taught me to love and teach math, and their passion left such a lasting impression. I will never forget Mr. Don Pouncey. He believed in me when he hired me straight out of college in 2004 based on my character and school involvement as a student. His decision to trust me stuck with me and reminds me how important it is to leave a legacy for others to build on.” Parker’s recollections are similar. “I was born and raised in Hartselle and attended all twelve years of my public education in Hartselle. I benefited from having excellent educators who were my mentors. When I became an educator, I recalled the best from those mentors and I was surrounded by excellent, talented educators and staff members who upheld the highest standards and expectations. Students continue to benefit from that legacy of excellence.” Hayes agrees. “When in the classroom I was influenced by teachers such as Donna Rushen and Peggy Black, and when I was principal, I could hear Bobbie Long, Jerry Reeves, Lee Hartsell, and Nancy Horton in my head. Though not physically present, they became part of that team that was behind me. And I worked with more outstanding teachers than I can begin to count creative, resourceful, self-starters who were focused on students’ success. It’s a powerful thing to see communities stand behind parents, parents stand behind schools, and schools stand behind students.” “In my first or second week as principal of Barkley Bridge, I received a letter in the mail with my name and the school address scrawled across the front. Inside was a little scrap of paper with the words ‘Mighty Proud of You Young Lady. JPC.’ It was from Mr. Cain. He was long retired, but he remained on my team,” she added. “And in my first week or two as Principal at Barkley Bridge, I had to attend a training at the FEB Little Building. The classroom in which I sat to learn was my old first grade classroom. It felt very “full circle” to begin in the space as an elementary student and return to the space as an elementary Principal. I hope Mrs. Charlotte Young would have been proud of her former first-grader.” Hartselle’s systems of support and its tradition of valuing the education of its community’s children reach back even further than the 50 years during which HCS has operated as an independent school district. Here’s to another 50 years of excellence.
Other Hartselle City Schools’ “homegrown leaders” include J.P. Cain, Dr. Franklin Penn, Stewart Bennett, Jim Wright, Jim Grammer, Joe Weaver, William Booth, Debra Bodley Harvel Kreps, and Debra Napier Queen.
