Reed Gabhart came to St. Francis in January of 1990. Being a Hoosier with no knowledge of the school, his first memory is of getting lost and driving to Carrolton on his way to the interview. Undaunted, he arrived late, and has been forever grateful his tardiness and bad sense of direction was overlooked.

Mr. Gabhart first graduated from Indiana University in 1982, with a double major in Theatre and Telecommunications. Although being a disc jockey (WAKY radio) and waiting tables was enlightening, he returned to school and received a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from IU Southeast in 1989. Reed earned his Master’s Degree in Education from IUS in 1999 and added a junior high certification in mathematics in the fall of 2005.

Mr. Gabhart was a full-time math specialist who taught 4^th, 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade Pre-Algebra, Algebra I and Geometry courses until 1998. At this time he took the position of Dean of Students and became a half-time math teacher, specializing in 4^th grade math and 8^th grade Algebra I. In 2003, he became Middle School Head, retaining his two math courses.

During his time at St. Francis, Mr. Gabhart has jumped into many extracurricular areas including coaching basketball, coed tennis for 10+ years, math teams (highlighted by a 3^rd place finish in the state in 1993!) and as student council sponsor for the past seven years. Additionally, he has been able to keep his interest in theatre alive by directing numerous St. Francis productions including Our Town, The Importance of Being Earnest (twice), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (twice!), Harvey, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Fools, Cyrano de Bergerac, Oliver!, The Odd Couple and most recently, Fiddler on the Roof in the spring of 2006. 

For personal hobbies, Mr. Gabhart loves music and doesn’t need much coaxing to bring the guitar out in school assemblies. He loves playing tennis and distance running, having run his first marathon in Alaska with a group of St. Francis teachers to raise money for Leukemia research. He  completed his second Boston Marathon in the spring of 2005 and has his sights set on the Memphis Marathon in December of 2006.

“I feel St. Francis is a diamond in the rough and I am so glad I stumbled onto it. Working in this community has truly been a blessing. I don’t know how or why  we wind up on the paths we do, but being a cheerleader for this school was meant for me.”