The nonprofit Indiana Youth Institute handed out its annual awards Tuesday, and one of them went to the principal of Elkhart Academy, the Elkhart Community Schools’ alternative school. Bryan Hammontree brings real-world experience to his job.
The Youth Institute honored Hammontree with its Youth Worker of the Year Award.
Hammontree has led Elkhart Academy for five years but his first contact with the school came as a student years earlier. He says he found himself in the alternative school after having spent two years in a residential program.
”I remember those times pretty vividly," Hammontree says. "I remember the things that worked and the things that didn’t work, and I thought, if I could have an opportunity to be a part of a program that could reach students that were in the same position as I was, and take those things that I learned, and take those things that worked for me and maybe adjust the things that didn’t, I would jump at that opportunity.”
But Hammontree said his staff is full of people who are passionate about helping kids with challenges.
"Our students get to work with people every day that love them, that care about them, that see them for who they are," he says. "If I can play a small role in any of that it motivates me to come here every day."
NOTE: Elkhart Community Schools holds the broadcast license for WVPE.
