Meet: Beachwood City Schools Superintendent Bob Hardis As Bob Hardis takes on the position of superintendent of the Beachwood City Schools, Beachwood Buzz proudly introduces him to the community. H ardis and his wife, Jamie, purchased their Beachwood home in 2006 after he accepted a job as Beachwood High School principal. He was raised in Bethesda, Maryland and recalls his childhood experiences to be much like those of his children’s, saying, “When making a comparison, Bethesda and Beachwood are both upper middle-class communities with strong public schools and close proximity to large cities with economic and cultural energy. Although similar in many ways, Beachwood is smaller, less transient and has multigenerational family connections that Bethesda lacks.” organization in Washington, D.C. His first position was to assist in grassroots lobbying efforts to prevent state and local governments from trampling the constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state. “It was a great job for a 20-something,” Hardis shared. “I learned many new skills and occasionally traveled around the country for public speaking engagements, often working with youth groups.” Hardis paused, then said, “I found those opportunities to be the most interesting and gratifying aspects of my work, and after much thought, chose to change my career path.” But politics was still in his blood. Having grown up near Washington D.C., Hardis was enthralled with the political process and international relations, particularly around Israel Hardis chose to settle in Beachwood because being near family has always been important to him and his wife. In fact, each of his educational and professional choices were tied to being around family. When attending undergrad at the University of Michigan, a career in education wasn’t on Hardis’s radar. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and accepted a job with a civil liberties and the Middle East. “I took every interesting history/ social studies class I could in high school and very quickly found that the most engaging courses at the University of Michigan were in the political science department,” Hardis told us. “I majored in political science and with that academic background, teaching social studies was an obvious choice when deciding to pursue a career in education.” Remaining in D.C., Hardis enrolled at The George Washington University where he earned his Master’s degree in Education in secondary social studies. His first teaching positions were in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland and the New York City Public Schools. Hardis then obtained his Master of Edu- 8 Beachwood Buzz n August 2015