COASTAL OBSERVER

When Hunter Eddy began his teaching career a decade ago he got some advice from Celeste Pringle, who was the Georgetonw County School District’s deputy superintendent at the time. 

Pringle told him “as long as you do right by the students, you’ll be a success. Always put them first.”

Eddy, who has been an assistant principal at Waccamaw High School since 2018, took that advice to heart and will continue to do so when he takes over as principal on July 1.

He expects his years at the school will make the transition smoother and bring stability to the school.

“We have a great staff here. They’re outstanding at their jobs,” Eddy said. “The principal’s job is to support them, but stay out of the way and let them do their jobs in the classroom because they are phenomenal. That’s kind of the way I see my role.”

The transition from interim principal David Hammel to Eddy has already started. Hammel loops Eddy in on all work-related emails and last week the two of them reviewed the teachers’ contracts for next year.

Hammel will leave Waccamaw to become the executive director at Teach My People, and after school mentoring program.

“That’s an invaluable experience I’ll get, getting to work with him for the next few months,” Eddy said. “It will help me be ready when July does

get here.”

Eddy is even using a table in Hammel’s office as his workspace.

A native of Ninety Six,  Eddy graduated from Erskine College with a degree in history and government. He then enlisted in the Army and became a helicopter pilot.

“It basically changed my life. I loved it,” he said. “I got to travel around the world; some places good, some places not as good.”

Before getting into education, Eddy worked numerous jobs including as an aide to U.S. Rep. Butler Derrick and in banking. He also owned his own business.

Ten years ago he felt like God was leading him to join his wife, Andria, in the education field.

“It’s been a great ride,” Eddy said.

Eddy’s first job with the district was teaching social studies and psychology at Carvers Bay High School. 

“That was a great experience to be out there,” he said.

He was also an assistant coach for the football and boys basketball teams. At Waccamaw he’s coached boys golf and football.

“I love coaching,” he said.

After two years at Carvers Bay, Eddy decided to transfer to Waccamaw to cut down on his commute. Eddy and his wife have lived in Pawleys Island since 2000.

Hammel was principal at the time, and when talking to Eddy about his goals, the idea of becoming an assistant principal never came up.

“It’s not like this has been Hunter Eddy’s goal or lifetime dream to principal at Waccamaw High School or to be in administration,” Eddy said. “The Lord has a funny way of making his plans work; not necessarily my plans.”

Eddy became director of the school’s Warrior Virtual Online Academy when the district started online classes in the 2016-17 school year. 

At the time, he had no idea how important being able to learn online would become a few years later when the global pandemic hit.

One of Eddy’s goals is to get a Junior ROTC program started, something Hammel was working on during his first stint as principal and has continued since he took over last summer.

Eddy said even if he wasn’t a veteran, he would still want the program.

“The military changed my life,” he said. “Not all the kids in the ROTC have to go in the military. The leadership, the citizenship, the intangibles that they’ll get from being part of that program will carry them far in life.”

Hammel recently presented his JROTC proposal to the school board, which will have to find money in the budget to pay for it. Waccamaw is the only high school in the district without the program.

One thing Eddy already knows is that being principal is not a 40-hour-a-week job.

“We say specifically at Waccamaw, ‘this is the building that never seems to go to sleep,’” Eddy said. “There’s always something here every day.”

Last Saturday morning, Eddy headed over to the school because the alarm was going off. Turns out an AAU basketball team was practicing in the gym and forgot to tell anyone.