Leslee Barnes
Teacher of the Year for Weatherford High School
Welcome to My Learning Studio
1. Why did you choose a career in teaching?
I didn’t have some glamorous revelation when I was young of becoming a teacher. When I was in college I was changing my major to history and my adviser recommended a teaching career. So, I began to also take education classes. I will tell you what has kept me in education. I have been so blessed to teach with an amazing team of colleagues. In my early days of teaching they were my mentors. As the years progress, they have been the people who are my teammates. We challenge each other to be better. We grow together. We lesson plan together. We analyze data together and come up with new strategies. We create and try new things together.
2. What has been your most proud moment as a teacher?
I am not sure that I could come up with only one proud moment as a teacher. I am proud every year when my students are successful on their end of course exams or their AP exams. I am proud each year that my Student Council wins sweepstakes. I am proud when I see former students of mine walk across the graduation stage. I am also proud when they become amazing adults and come back to see me. I think that this job lends itself to being proud. I will be forever grateful for what my students teach me.
3. Describe your most fun day as a teacher. Think of a day that brings a smile to your face or a chuckle when you think about that memory.
4. Why should parents choose Weatherford ISD?
I recently had the opportunity to answer this question a few weeks ago. I am a member of the League of Women Voters, a non-partisan organization. Recently, at our unit meetings, we were discussing the topic of school vouchers/ school choice that is before the Texas legislature. I was the only public school educator at the table. The majority of the people at the table were professionals and many were retired. They looked to me often during this conversation to add insight on public schools. I gave them a lot of information about Weatherford ISD.
Most of the general public, including parents, do not know that we already have choice built into public schools. In Weatherford ISD, students can choose to take advanced classes or general education classes. We have open enrollment for advanced classes, so if students want to put in that kind of effort, no one is stopping them. Weatherford ISD also has choices for struggling students when the traditional classroom setting just isn’t meeting their needs. Some students who are in need of credit recovery or course acceleration in order to graduate early might join our PASS program. Other students might join our RISE program, which offers flexible school half-day. Students in this program might need to work a job or they might have family, personal, or social needs where they would be successful if they had a more flexible schedule. Even within our Pre-AP, AP, and general education programs, we are offering options.
Students can also choose a traditional classroom setting or a blended learning environment at Weatherford ISD. Students in a blended learning environment will attend the traditional classroom setting on several days of the week and can work from an alternative location on the other days of the week. This model allows students to learn how to manage their time as they begin to transition into a college setting where they will be required to manage their own time wisely. Time will no longer be managed for them. Weatherford ISD works in conjunction with Weatherford College to provide dual credit opportunities for our students to gain college credit before graduating from high. Students can utilize summer school to accelerate their learning so that they may graduate with a diploma early. Students with severe physical disabilities have the opportunity to learn with trained professionals as they have a more customized learning environment in our Functional Academics Classes. Students who come to school with limited or no English proficiency have access to assistance in a general education classroom just like students with learning disabilities. Choice abounds in public schools despite what legislators say. It is disheartening that the media has not picked up on the amount of choice there already exists within Texas public schools as the legislature is trying to pull funding away from public school to give parents choice. I feel that if the public, including parents, knew everything that is being offered to all students in their communities, these issues in our state policies would be a moot point.
I am glad to be an advocate for this profession that I dearly love. I am glad to be counted among the many excellent educators around this state who teach, day in and day out, year after year, in a profession that invests so much in our future prosperity. We make a difference in the lives of people every single day, and this is why educators have the most rewarding job in the world.
5. Professional baseball players have a walk-up song that plays as they walk up to home plate to bat. If teachers had a walk-up song, what would yours be?
Leslee Barnes
Email: lbarnes@weatherfordisd.com
Website: https://lesleebarnes.wordpress.com/
Location: 2121 Bethel Road, Weatherford, TX, United States
Phone: (817) 598-2862
Twitter: @MrsBarnesWHS