In many ways and through various avenues, Hope Barnhill uplifts the lives of others.
For years, she did that as a math teacher, as she exhibited through her work at Hahnville High School where she was named St. Charles Parish’s High School Teacher of the Year in 2017-18.
She also does it as a career development facilitator at Hahnville High, helping each class of students find their best fit and track for a prospective career.
And she does it by serving her community – a fact well noticed and highlighted by the St. Charles Parish Rotary Club this month, which earlier this month honored Barnhill as its Citizen of the Year award winner.
“Mrs. Barnhill has shown unwavering dedication, compassion, and service to our community. Her tireless efforts and generous spirit have touched countless lives and made St. Charles Parish a better place for all of us,” noted the club in its announcement of the honor.
Barnhill said she was floored by the honor, which was announced by a Rotary representative at a meeting of Hahnville’s Interact Club, which Barnhill sponsors.
“I was shell-shocked, really,” Barnhill said. “Completely caught off guard.”
Through Interact, a community-service oriented club at the school, Barnhill helps guide the students to and through volunteer efforts in the community. That has included annually volunteering with the parish’s Gift and Toy Fund at Christmas time and volunteering to help put on a Mardi Gras Ball for residents at the Luling Living Center.
Outside of her duties at Hahnville, Barnhill has served as the worship leader for First Baptist Church in Luling and has been involved in music ministry all her life – she was a volunteer worship leader at the church for approximately a decade.
Through great tragedy, Barnhill found helping others to be a calling.
“There’s been times where life hasn’t been pretty,” Barnhill said.
In 2004, Barnhill and husband Keith lost their son Joshua, who passed away at the age of 4 due to an illness.
“What’s helped me through that is getting out of my own head and my own emotions, and helping other people that need something else,” Barnhill said. “That was a moment in my life where I realized service is not about me, it’s about other people and I can put myself aside, reach out from my little world and see the need that’s out there.
“I’ve always been a nurturer – most teachers are – but that was just a little different way to look at what nurturing really is.”
While she’s stepped away from the classroom for the time being to focus on her role helping students find their career path, Barnhill has more than two decades of teaching experience. The profession was one she said she knew she wanted to enter since her senior year of high school.
That said, Barnhill was excited to say that next school year she’ll be back in the classroom to teach math once again.
As career development facilitator, she works with students to figure out their goals and what steps are to be taken to reach those goals.
“It’s very rewarding to have a student figure out this is what I want to do and ask, ‘Can you help me get there?’” Barnhill said. “From there, you dig and find out exactly what a student really needs to know to reach those goals.”
No matter what capacity it’s in, if Barnhill is helping, she is happy.
“Often times when you want to give back to others, you have to seek out ways to do that, and there are thousands of small things that add up to a large moment in someone’s life,” Barnhill said. “There’s always a way an individual can move beyond themselves and help another.”
