Brenda Hart has worn many hats as an educator over the decades.
“My son asked me one time, ‘Do you think of yourself as a sixth grade teacher or a math teacher?’ ” Hart recalled. “I actually think of myself as a Catholic school teacher.”
Hart has taught for 43 years, 41 of them at St. Joseph School in Herndon. Now at 65, she plans to step into a new adventure — retirement. “I’m really making myself retire,” she said. “My husband always said — and we always believed — that he had a job so I could fulfill my vocation.”
Contemplating the change makes her emotional. “I don’t think you end up in Catholic school by accident,” she said. “Pieces had to fall into place for me to accept this job. My husband calls them ‘God winks.’ Every once in a while, God ‘winks’ at you, and something good happens.”
Hart started seeing “God winks” in her life after she noticed an ad in a local paper 41 years ago for a position at St. Joseph. She began in the school’s Learning Resource Program, then taught fourth grade. She later took a part-time position in the school’s library, and eventually began teaching sixth grade. She’s been a sixth grade teacher for the past 28 years.
Hart has taught generations of St. Joseph students over the decades, including the parents of some current students. “I’ll walk into the second grade classroom, and a little kid will go, ‘My mommy knows you,’ which is so adorable,” she said with a laugh.
With a wide smile and a joyful attitude, Hart said there’s something special about teaching sixth grade. “It’s a great age in that they’re kind of caught in-between. Some of them think they’re ready to be grownups, and some of them are secretly still playing with Legos and Barbies,” she said. “I think more than anything, trying to lead by example, trying to be as Christlike, as patient, as respectful as I can be toward them — I always feel like you get it in return.”
Hart has seen many changes in education over 40-plus years in the classroom, but none as significant as the technology boom of the early 2000s. Hart herself was an early adopter of the Smart Board, a digital display used like a whiteboard. But the 2020 pandemic and subsequent virtual education served as reminders of the limits of technology and the necessity of in-person education, she said. For students today, Hart said “the main challenge has to be social media.”
But Hart said she’s seeing a reversal of technological trends. “The other thing that’s starting to happen is moving away from using so much technology in the classroom. Close those Chromebooks and get out the pen and paper,” she said. “I’m old school, but they need a lot more of that than they need playing (online) educational games.”
Thinking about retirement is very bittersweet, Hart said. “The idea that I won’t be getting up in the morning and coming here and fulfilling my vocation is very heart-wrenching,” she said.
“I’ve been very fortunate in the relationships I’ve had here at St. Joseph. It’s a very strong community,” she added.
Now, she looks forward to future trips to visit her children and grandchildren throughout Virginia, as well as international trips with her husband.
“I’m hoping that’s what we’ll fall into,” she said. “What’s the next adventure?”
