ARCADIA, Indiana — Hamilton Heights High School is mourning the sudden loss of their principal.
Superintendent Dr. Derek Arrowood said in a letter to families that Principal Jarrod Mason died early Tuesday.
Now, students and colleagues are sharing the impact Mason made on students, staff and the tight-knit community of Arcadia.
Flags were at half-staff outside Hamilton Heights High School Wednesday, with counselors instead of classes inside. It follows the shocking, sudden loss of their beloved principal.
Clint Flanders is a youth pastor at Arcadia Christian Church and helped counsel kids Wednesday morning.
He also graduated from Hamilton Heights a couple years before Mason did.
"He was a great principal and a great guy who really, really loved the kids," Flanders said.
"He really had the ability to communicate with everybody," said Hamilton Heights Superintendent Dr. Derek Arrowood. "Our community's now devastated. I'm personally devastated. He was a dear friend and he cared about kids. They always knew he was going to be fair. They always knew he'd be firm. But they always knew that he'd love them no matter what."
Sam Carey is a senior at Hamilton Heights.
"He was amazing," Carey said. "He said, 'OK, I'll put you first.' He always put us first and then his work."
Mason, who leaves behind a wife and three children, the youngest of whom is a high school sophomore, impacted countless young lives.
He not only led Hamilton Heights for more than a decade, but also grew up here. He was a Husky through and through.
Arrowood and Flanders both said Mason loved coaching football, including the unified team, loved his family and loved the town of Arcadia.
The superintendent saw it and felt it when they first met in 2014.
"When I started, I met with him and asked him about his goals. He said, 'Listen, I'm in my dream job," Arrowood said, pausing to hold back tears. "So he said, 'This is where I'm supposed to be. This is what I'm supposed to be doing and I don't want to go any place else. I want to be here.'"
School leaders say the 48-year-old had been sick in the ICU with multiple health issues for just over a week.
Arrowood said they got encouraging news Tuesday morning, but things then took a sudden turn for the worse and Mason died at the hospital.
With school on an e-learning day Wednesday, many kids gathered at The Remnant coffee shop to do their work and be with each other.
They not only mourned, but also shared memories of Mason.
"He touched everyone's hearts. Very inspiring man," Carey said. "He's the one who gave me the nudge to graduate early. I'll graduate in three years."
"He invested in kids," Flanders said. "Individually, no matter, you know it didn't matter if they were straight-A students or kids who maybe, you know, struggled sometimes. He wanted to invest in them and take time and let them know he cared about them."
An educator, a difference maker, a life well-lived.
"He's going to be greatly missed," Flanders said.
Thursday is another e-learning day for Hamilton Heights. Once again, counselors will be available in the school's media center.
Also, there's a celebration of life in the works. Plans for that service are still being finalized.