First-ever Chris Hefner Award given

By ANGELA FARR KING

Thursday, May 21, 2026, was graduation day for the 2026 class of fifth graders at Stony Point Elementary School. It was a bittersweet day for students, teachers, and parents as children said goodbye to the elementary school they have known for six years and prepared to enter middle school.

Each fifth grader received at least one very specialized award from their teacher, Mrs. Chelsea Harrington, who obviously knew them all very personally. More impressive than that, Mrs. Harrington did a unique and complicated handshake with each of her students, which she had done each morning to welcome them.

Something else special happened at this graduation ceremony. The first ever Chris Hefner Award was given out to a deserving student. Chris was a fifth grade teacher who taught at Stony Point for the entirety of his career before his retirement. He served the students of Stony Point for 28 years. Chris passed away from an unexpected illness on Friday, April 10, 2026. His former coworkers at Stony Point wanted to honor Chris in some way so they chose to begin the tradition of giving out an annual Chris Hefner Award and to have a portable mural painted by Keyley Sigmon of Keyley Shae Design Co.

Chris was known for his relationship building skills with his students and for his passion for teaching. He was often one of the last to leave the building each day because he was grading papers, working on lesson plans, or talking to coworkers. He modeled respect and quiet leadership and was able to tie lessons into real life scenarios for his students. He kept up with his students after they left his classroom and often stopped to talk to them when he saw them out in public. He cut out newspaper clippings of them in the newspaper and shared those with their parents.

Chris was a member of Stony Point Baptist Church and leaned heavily on his faith in the Lord. He was a huge sports fan and loved the Atlanta Braves and the North Carolina Tarheels. His classroom was covered in Tarheel’s memorabilia. His former coworker, Jordan Hefner, gave a lot of credit to Keyley Sigmon for creating a mural that embodied all of the things that Chris loved. He said it will hang in the new workroom in the upper grade hall because Chris always said, “We need a work room on our hall.” They finally have one so the mural will hang in there to honor Chris.

His former fifth grade coworker, Chelsea Harrington, was emotional as she spoke about him when presenting the award. She shared memories of their fun times together because Chris had a wonderful sense of humor. She also shared about how much he loved his students and Stony Point Elementary School and what a wonderful relationship builder he was.

Chris Hefner embodied what teachers should strive to be: advocates for children, people willing to go above and beyond what their contracts call for, a person that all coworkers love and respect, and an encourager to all who knew him. He will be missed and he will be remembered for years to come because he made such an impact on so many people.

His family was present at the graduation ceremony to witness the award and the mural presentation: his wife, Tammy, his daughter, Lynee, and his son, Zach.

Nyaomi Foote, a positive student role model and a young lady who loved sports like Chris, was presented with the first annual Chris Hefner Award. Her teacher and principal agree that Chris would have loved getting to know her. The award and the mural were a great way to honor a man who left a lasting legacy in the Stony Point community and in the Alexander County School System.