Mr. Jonathan Hardy resigned as a Technology Support Specialist this school year but is not leaving Strath Haven High School.
Hardy will continue to support the fall drama and spring musical with support for the tech crew.
“I can still be a helping hand and a foster of creativity for the theater department. That is what I applied for. That’s how I stick around and [make] sure these guys [Tech Crew] can build things out of nowhere, and then people interact with them,” Hardy said.
Hardy has helped many teachers and students with tech problems. He helped students with their Chromebooks and helped teachers with any technological problem they faced during their instructional time. His strategy in the role was to spent plenty of time in classrooms, working directly with teachers and students.
“As soon as you get an email, show up. Don’t even send them an email, just find where they’re at and be like, ‘Hey, I saw your email. What’s up?’ Put a face to the technology instead of just being a person behind the screen,” Hardy said.
Senior and head of lights for tech crew Olivia Gianopulos has a tight bond with Hardy due to spending time with him in tech during her junior year.
“I didn’t feel like I was deserving of a leadership position when everyone else around me who had a leadership position was a senior,” Gianopulos said. “But he taught me a lot about how to have courage and how to stand up for what I believe in, even when I thought that I didn’t deserve to be in a position.”
The most valuable lesson Gianopulos learned from Hardy was that tech crew often goes unnoticed.
“John [Hardy] has taught me most, and it took me a long time to get it, the best type of appreciation is not being recognized at all, because in our situation, if you were recognized, it’s probably because you did something wrong,” Gianopulos said.
Senior assistant to the stage manager Emily Crawley has been open with Hardy since she joined the tech crew. She admires his care and advice for what everyone in tech crew tells him.
“I don’t know if the next person could replicate it, because Tony [Hardy] went to school here, and he’s just been with us for so many years,” Crawley said. “We’re like a big family. I would [advise the next person] to get personal and know the students.”
Currently, Hardy has open mornings and uses the time to clean and catch up with family.
“I’m getting ready to paint pumpkins, and I would say, ‘Clean house, clean mind,’” Hardy said. “I’m finishing up my thesis for my master’s degree, so I can’t look at clutter and then think about writing a 50-page thesis.”
