Hope McMurtry Retires 

At the end of this school year, Hope McMurtry will be retiring from Hastings Senior High to travel and spend time with her family.

After high school, McMurtry began her career at Central Community College (CCC) in Kansas City, Kansas, studying education. Following graduation, she became a mother. With new responsibilities, it took her 10 years before she attended the University of Nebraska in Kearney (UNK) for her bachelor’s degree in Special Education, Endorsed K-12, and later got a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration, emphasizing Special Education Supervisor.

“I loved my elementary teachers… I looked up to them, and I wanted to be just like them whenever I became an adult. They instilled that passion,” McMurtry said.

As a student at JC Harmon High School, McMurtry was involved in band, orchestra, pep band, and jazz band, with the initial goal of being a music teacher. Occupied with family and being unable to keep up with her music skills, her goals changed, and she began prioritizing the well-being of students. 

“I was okay with the decision [to change],” McMurtry said. “Becoming a teacher was the most important goal.”

McMurtry describes teaching and helping her students as fulfilling. This will be her second time leaving HHS, as she was previously a life skills teacher for three years.

“It’s just a place where I have always felt valued as an employee and as a teacher,” McMurtry said. “I really enjoy working with the staff and the students… that’s been the best part of it.”

Looking back, one memory McMurtry will always remember is when she helped a student by giving him food when he needed it. The next day, the student arrived with a handmade pillow made of materials their mother owned and stuffed with newspaper. 

“I’m not one to get too emotional, but his gratitude for something that I didn’t think was a big deal made me cry,” McMurtry said.

After retirement, McMurtry looks forward to spending time traveling with her daughter, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Although McMurtry will not be a teacher anymore, it does not mean she is giving up on helping others, and she urges others to not give up either.

“My education was put on hold for 10 years before…  it was a disruption, [but] keep on pursuing that passion,” McMurtry said. “If you feel that strongly, keep going because it’s possible.”