CFNN Reporter Kaydin Brown

Have you ever wondered how houses get built? It starts with a plan. Our teacher of the week, Mr. Hanes, teaches these plans. Mr. Hanes is the Drafting teacher and one of the Cross Country coaches here at Cape Fear High School. 

Mr. Hanes is known throughout Cape Fear High as a positive and friendly face. He found his love for teaching at a job fair. He explained how this experience led him to this career path.

“I really got into it by accident, I went to a teaching job fair when I was currently working as an engineer at the time. I took a chance to get into teaching and just fell in love with it. It makes a big difference to me to have a job that I feel like I’m making an impact and a difference in people’s lives. That’s when I knew it was for me and it just kinda came natural. I didn’t go to be a teacher, it was just a fortunate accident,” he said.

After high school, Hanes furthered his education at Pennsylvania College of Technology in Wayne’s Fort, Pennsylvania. There, he got a bachelor of Science in Manufacturing Engineering Technology and dual licensed in Trading Industrializing Education and Technology Education 6-12. 

Mr. Hanes has been teaching for 21 years. He taught at Jack Britt High School for 2 years and has been here at Cape Fear High for the past 19 years. Hanes currently teaches Drafting I, Drafting II Architecture Honors, Drafting II Engineering Honors, and AP Computer Science.

Hanes favorite part of teaching is the students. 

“My favorite part of teaching is to just be around young people and make a difference in their lives, make an impact. I feel like helping form someone’s life is important to me. At the end of the day, I always feel like I’ve had some kind of success with getting through to somebody. I like a lot of the students coming back and the success stories and they tell me how well they do. My ultimate goal is for all my students to end up better than I’m doing,” he explained.

Mr. Hanes grew up in Pennsylvania, where he lived until he was 24 years old. He’s been in North Carolina for 22 years now. Hanes is married with two stepchildren who go to Jack Britt High School. One is a senior this year and the other is a sophomore. Mr. Hanes enjoys hunting, fishing, being outside, coaching, teaching, hanging out with his family, and taking care of his 4 dogs and 2 cats.

Mr. Hanes loves so many things about Cape Fear High School. 

“I just love the school and the atmosphere. I like that it’s a very tight knit community, where a lot of generations of families have come to the same school. The people here just genuinely seem to care about children and I think that’s what it’s all about, forming relationships and caring for the students,” he said.

Mr. Hanes is a Cross Country and Track coach here at Cape Fear High. He has been coaching for 21 years, where he has coached Softball, Baseball, Soccer, Cross Country, and Track. Hanes has been involved with Cross Country and Track for 16 years. 

“The Cape Fear Cross Country Team has had a great season. A lot of personal successes this year,” he said. 

It’s easy to see why Mr. Hanes is so loved and admired here at Cape Fear High. He genuinely cares about students and wants them to succeed.

Congratulations to this week’s teacher of the week, Mr. Hanes, you deserve it!