BATTLE GROUND SCHOOL District employee Tom Hasart (third from left) is shown here with his 78-year-old father, Lowell ( far right), and his two sons, Shane, 21, and Colton, 24.
When Battle Ground School District classified employee Tom Hasart, who works in the district’s warehouse near Battle Ground High School, considers what he enjoys about his job, he has a lot of positive things to say.
“I like doing the mail run because I get to see and talk with lots of different people,” Hasart said. “I like bringing stuff to the little kids, like new boxes of crayons. That’s a fun thing. Recently I’ve been delivering all of the new Chromebooks to classrooms, stuff like that I really enjoy.”
Hasart, 50, is currently in his fifth full year of working for Battle Ground Public Schools. During his first two years employed with the district, he worked as a custodian, moving from Prairie High School, to Tukes Valley and eventually to Pleasant Valley. Prior to that, he worked as a substitute custodian for the district for a year. He has spent the last three years working in the district’s warehouse.
“I liked being a custodian because I got to be around the kids more,” Hasart said. “I was on swing shift mostly, though, so I didn’t get to see students all the time. I didn’t get a college degree, so I figured it I could keep a classroom clean and help kids learn that way, it was a way for me to give back.”
Prior to coming to work for the school district, Hasart ran a warehouse company for 15 years. Working in the warehouse for the Battle Ground School District, Hasart’s duties include delivering mail and freight, delivering new furniture to classrooms and many other odds and ends.
Hasart said a typical day for him starts at about 7 a.m. when he does the mail run for Amboy and Yacolt schools. After that, he goes out on his second run, delivering to all the people at the Lewisville campus, the staff in food service, the print shop, Prairie High School and the entire CASEE building. He then puts freight away and will load up some stuff for the following day.
Also certified in forklift instruction, Hasart also regularly teaches other workers in the warehouse how to properly drive a forklift.
Aside from working for the school district for the past five years, Hasart and his family also have a long history of attending Battle Ground schools. Hasart himself graduated from Battle Ground High School in 1982, playing football and tennis throughout his high school career. His father, Lowell, graduated from the high school in 1955, his brothers graduated in the 1970s and his grandma Lorraine also graduated from the high school in the early-to-mid 1930s.
However, the Hasart family Battle Ground High School graduates don’t stop there. Both of Hasart’s sons, Colton, 24, and Shane, 21, also graduated from the high school – Colton in 2009 and Shane in 2013.
“My dad ran track and was in the drama club at the high school,” Hasart said of his father’s time at the high school. “I had four of his teachers when I was a freshman there.”
Hasart’s father also worked as a custodian for the school district for three years and worked in maintenance for the district for 15 years prior to that. Both and Colton and Shane are also currently working part time as custodians for the district, one working at the CASEE Center and the other at Captain Strong Primary.
“They like it (working for the district) because it’s helping them pay their way through college,” Hasart said.
Colton currently attends Washington State University Vancouver and Shane is attending Clark College and will soon transfer to Washington State University Vancouver as well.
Hasart and his wife, Kristi, have lived in Battle Ground with their two sons since the youngest started kindergarten. Hasart said he hopes to continue his job at the district’s warehouse for as long as he can.
“I’ll keep working there until they throw me out,” he said, laughing.
