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After 20 years at Fillmore, Brad Hayes leaving a legacy
FILLMORE -- When Brad Hayes arrived on the scene as Fillmore Elementary School principal in 1996, he inherited an old building that leaked every time it rained, a community concerned that its centerpiece school was an endangered species with one foot in the grave, and a job that required him to share time at Central Elementary.
But driven by the notion a person should endeavor to "leave a place better than you found it," Hayes will depart Fillmore Elementary June 10, retiring after 20 years as principal and leaving behind a remodeled building that is the pride and joy of the community and a school that has achieved Four-Star status during his tenure.
Yet the personable Hayes, now 55 and a veteran of 34 years in education, is quick to deflect the praise that should accompany such achievements.
He talks of being fortunate to have had a great veteran faculty in place -- including longtime school secretary Marcia Sutherlin -- when he arrived at Fillmore, and notes that he's been "blessed" to be the beneficiary of excellent hires thereafter.
Overall, the staff and faculty "have been the kind of people who share your vision," Hayes praised, pointing to their "day-to-day outpouring of passion and dedication."
While Sutherlin "looked after" Hayes as a young administrator and made sure he paid heed to traditions of the school and community, he's been fortunate to have Penny Long as secretary, aka "assistant principal," since 2009.
"I can't imagine him not being here in the building," Long said earlier this week as Hayes prepared for his Fillmore departure. "He's a wonderful boss."
And from all accounts an excellent administrator as the Four-Star rating would attest.
It was during the 2004-06 remodeling/reconstruction that changed the face of the school and revived community spirit that Fillmore Elementary earned its Four-Star School rating from the Indiana Department of Education.
"The interesting part of that," Hayes related, "is that it came in the midst of when the heaviest construction was going on.
"It didn't matter that there were sledgehammers going and people on the roof," he smiled.
"I'm most proud of that, overcoming those kind of obstacles," he added, musing about how before renovation, whenever it rained, water ran down the inside walls of Narda Cotton's classroom, knocking down posters and everything else in sight in the process.
That's one reason Hayes also expressed pride in "leaving the building in good shape for the next person (incoming Principal Debbie Steffy)," offering equal praise for "the outpouring of concern and caring for this school. I've always wanted it to be something the town and South Putnam Schools could be proud of."
Hayes found himself at Fillmore after starting his career at Cloverdale, where he filled in for a sixth-grade teacher on maternity leave in 1982. The next year he taught fulltime at Fillmore, spending his one year as a teacher there in the old locker room off the gym where the Fillmore High School Cardinals once flew.
"The next year," he recalled, "Jim Hammond (South Putnam superintendent) told me Greencastle was looking for an elementary teacher who could coach swimming."
Hayes signed on with Greencastle, teaching fifth grade and coaching swimming and tennis. And when the departure of IBM Corp. changed not just the dynamic of the community but the student numbers within the school corporation, Hayes was asked to take on a professional development role. He taught physical education part-time while doing the grant paperwork and professional development programming in a role funded by a grant from IBM.
Hayes then became assistant principal at Greencastle Middle School for two years before coming to Fillmore 20 years ago.
"I never thought in a million years that I would end up in Fillmore as principal of the school," Hayes reflected. "I'm a firm believer in things happening for reason.
"I certainly don't regret it at all. It's certainly been a life experience that I'll never forget."
He feels the same way about his retirement decision, which takes advantage of the state's "Rule of 85" (age plus years as a teacher/administrator equaling 85 to reach full retirement benefits).
Always looking for a sign, he said, "I just woke up one day and said, 'It's time to let someone else take the reins.'"
As the days now dwindle, Hayes said, "When I finally decided I was going to retire, the time has flown by so fast ... parents and kids have been so complimentary and sweet about the whole thing."
But the recent kindergarten graduation -- his last -- caught Hayes a bit off-guard.
"That was a little tough," he said, explaining that a number of parents with kids in kindergarten were Fillmore students themselves when Hayes first took over, so things have come full circle.
"We took some photos, so that was touching," Hayes said, pointing to Wednesday's fifth-grade graduation and the awards program on the last day, Thursday, as other final events of note.
"Those are the things that are going to tug at my heart and make it a reality, I guess," he offered.
Oddly, one of the things Hayes has most noticed as being different between the start of his principalship and the end came at the recent kindergarten graduation as well.
"I remember when I first got here," he said, "the parents were all jockeying for an outlet to plug in their camcorders, and we had all these parents with big camcorders up on their shoulders trying to get close to the action."
Now, of course, everyone has a cell phone with a camera.
"It just stuck out in my mind that nobody asked for an outlet. It was so dramatic, so noticeable."
Technology will take another leap forward at Fillmore next year, Hayes noted, as third-, fourth- and fifth-graders will have school-issued laptops.
"It's exciting to think about crossing into that frontier," he said, hoping, however, that future educators proceed with caution.
"I hope we don't lose the one-on-one, face-to-face human interaction with the kids," Hayes said. "It's so important to get to know them."
And what will retirement bring for Hayes?
"Right now I'm going to relax and enjoy some time and see what's out there," he said.
Could that mean another job in education at some point?
"I won't close the door on any options," he said.