After establishing an expansive legacy at Prep, Mr. Hardy has announced his retirement. Over the course of his illustrious career Hardy has coached chess, soccer, and above all else, taught math for the thirty-three years.
Contrary to popular belief, Mr. Hardy is not a terrifying teacher who loves to intimidate freshmen. Hardy loves to see his students grow, learn and succeed. His approach to teaching is intentional. “Of course you have to be harsh early on” said Mr. Hardy. “When a sense of respect and trust is established, then I tend to be more lenient.”
Mr. Ellinger praises Hardy as “the most loyal and dedicated teacher I have ever had the privilege to work with.” Mr. Hardy has always found new ways to present information to his students. Whether it is through creative powerpoints, group labs, in-class worksheets, pop quizzes or old fashioned lectures, Mr. Hardy makes sure his students learn in whatever way suits them best.

“I met a Prep alumni about twenty-five years ago, who talked about how he greatly benefited from the structure of Mr. Hardy’s classes,” said Mr. Ellinger. “If he didn’t have someone there to JUG him the moment he stepped out of line, he would have struggled in college.”

Hardy will miss his life at Prep and all of the relationships he’s made.“I will miss watching kids grow up” remarked Hardy. “That and the school spirit around here. The energy at this school is truly remarkable.”

Hardy is beloved by his students and will be missed. “Mr. Hardy is definitely one of my favorite teachers at Prep, and I will always remember him”, remarked Christian Krueger ‘20.

With all of his free time, Hardy plans to get projects done that have “been on the back burner for a while.” Of course he will continue to do math everyday, as anyone should, but he will also do some landscaping and continue to stay in good health.

“It has been a pleasure to spend two of my most formative years with such an incredible role model,” said Jake Podany ‘20. “Math really does equal fun forever.”