Upon graduating from Texas A & M University in Dec. of 1987, I began teaching 4th grade math, science, and social studies at Caldwell Intermediate School, as well as a 5th Grade Gifted/Talented class. My classes that year had the unusual experience of learning THREE different teacher names: the name of the teacher whose place I was taking at the semester break, my maiden name - Miss Barnes, and after getting married in March of that year, Mrs. Henry. I remained in Caldwell through the entire next school year before leaving to pursue an adventure in business ownership and teaching.
*Fun Fact: one of my sweet students in my very first class in Caldwell was Dana Smith. I had the joy of teaching her both of my years in Caldwell. Many years later, I was teaching a class at my church in College Station called, "The Excellent Wife," and in walked my Dana!!!! I was stunned to see her and even more stunned that she was now a wife and mom!! I brought her little school photo to the next class at church, which had an adorable message written to me in her 4th-grade handwriting. Dana is now Dana Kay and is the School Nurse at Cypress Grove Intermediate School in College Station! I keep up with many of my former students through Facebook and am so thankful to see how they've grown and inspired others around them.
*Fun Fact: one of my sweet students in my very first class in Caldwell was Dana Smith. I had the joy of teaching her both of my years in Caldwell. Many years later, I was teaching a class at my church in College Station called, "The Excellent Wife," and in walked my Dana!!!! I was stunned to see her and even more stunned that she was now a wife and mom!! I brought her little school photo to the next class at church, which had an adorable message written to me in her 4th-grade handwriting. Dana is now Dana Kay and is the School Nurse at Cypress Grove Intermediate School in College Station! I keep up with many of my former students through Facebook and am so thankful to see how they've grown and inspired others around them.
Through a part-time job I had as a college student, I was introduced to the Montessori Method of teaching. I was enthralled with the hands-on, developmentally appropriate lessons and became good friends with several of the teachers. Four of us entered into a partnership together to form Keystone Montessori School, Inc., in 1989, in Bryan, TX. I was named as the Director, as well as the teacher for the 3rd-6th grade classroom. While I loved so many aspects of that experience, the stress of owning a business and teaching a class proved too much; therefore, I sold my part of the partnership and accepted a teaching position at Rock Prairie Elementary School in College Station, TX, for the fall of 1990.
I was hired as a 3rd grade math/science/social studies teacher at Rock Prairie Elementary and began the period of my career where I learned what it meant to be a family with my colleagues. From the teachers to the administration to the custodians, we were family. The school had only been open one year at the time that I joined the faculty. Danny Stribling, a well-known educator and incredible man, was our principal. He believed in team-building and was always creating new ways for us to bond and to grow as teachers. When he moved on to a position with the Region office, Dr. Nancy Thornberry became our principal. We were all terrified that she was going to require us to wear dresses and panty hose, because she was known for her professional attire and her high standards for teachers. Little did we know that she was such a fun administrator and a strong support for her faculty and staff. Our Assistant Principal was also a phenomenal administrator. He went on to become very well-known in CSISD and is now the Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. Mr. Greg McIntyre was and is a very big influence in my career, as well as one of my biggest cheerleaders in my journey to return to the classroom in 2016. It was during my time at Rock Prairie that I was elected Rock Prairie Teacher of the Year, then CSISD Teacher of the Year, then a Region Finalist for Teacher of the Year, and Science Teacher of the Year - an award given by the Science Education Dept. of TAMU. Those awards were incredible, and shocking, and fun, but my memories are of my relationships with the students and faculty. I never lost my passion for teaching, but resigned when my own children were 3 and 1 year olds. I felt I couldn't continue to pour my life into my class while also pouring my life into raising my own children. I always imagined returning to the classroom as soon as my youngest child entered kindergarten. Little did I know how MANY children later that would be....
*Fun Fact: I attended a reunion a couple of years ago of ALL the teachers who have ever taught at RP since it opened. I was given one of the bricks of the original entryway to the school, bricks that were removed in a remodeling project.
*Another Fun Fact: One of the teachers on my 3rd grade team still remains as a teacher AND is using my old classroom!! Her name is Cynthia Stephens, and I had the fun experience of showing up in her classroom a couple of years ago in a wild costume to play the part of a hilarious character the kids had been reading about all year!
*Fun Fact: I attended a reunion a couple of years ago of ALL the teachers who have ever taught at RP since it opened. I was given one of the bricks of the original entryway to the school, bricks that were removed in a remodeling project.
*Another Fun Fact: One of the teachers on my 3rd grade team still remains as a teacher AND is using my old classroom!! Her name is Cynthia Stephens, and I had the fun experience of showing up in her classroom a couple of years ago in a wild costume to play the part of a hilarious character the kids had been reading about all year!
Fast forward to the fall of 2013. My daughter, Hannah, was in 8th grade at College Station Middle School, and was a percussionist in band. Having been a percussionist myself, I was ECSTATIC when she was invited to join the College Station High School Cougar Band Drumline as an 8th grader!!!!!!!!!! The first thing I asked was, "Hannah, do moms like, volunteer at games???!!!!" She said she thought so, which was all I needed to hear. I showed up at my first football game as a CSHS Band Chaperone, ready to jump in and live the band geek life again!! I watched the other chaperones and just joined in with whatever I saw them doing. At one point during the game, Hannah came out of the bleachers, walked over to me, and asked, "Mom, what are you doing?" I started explaining that I was just watching what the other chaperones were doing and trying to help out. She didn't even let me finish my sentence before saying, "Mom. Stop. Just stop. You KNOW you want to be up there with the kids, so come on." I was like, "But....do you think the band director....." She said, "Mom. Stop. Come. ON." I followed her up in the stands, looked at the band director, Eric Eaks, and motioned to the band section asking if I could join them. He said, "Sure! Go ahead!" And I did. OH MY, I did. I still look back at that one moment as the turning point in my life. It was like I needed Hannah to push me to do what I just naturally wanted to do! I was trying to fit into "the box" of what I THOUGHT a chaperone was supposed to be and do......but I've NEVER been a person who "fits in the box!" That used to drive me INSANE, but over the years, I've learned to embrace that and go with it! As a result of doing what I was created to do, Mr. Eaks hired me!!! It was a position that didn't exist prior to that moment, but I was blessed with the opportunity to join a staff who is incredibly dedicated and talented, a staff of all men, and little ol' me. It was a time of trial and error, figuring out what would most help the band staff be successful and focus on the things they do so incredibly well. I have had experiences I never would have had, traveled to places I never would have been, and gotten to know the most amazing teenagers on the planet. I always said it was as if God took all the ingredients of a perfect job for me, mixed them all together, and POOF! I was paid to have fun every day! So why in the WORLD would I give up that job???!!!!! To be continued......