What people are saying about “It’s the Kids!”

I had 7 more years left of my teaching career when I met Barbara Barnes and was introduced to EFG.  She and her organization, along with Warrington Parker of Rockwell International and futurist Joel Barker, taught me to come out of my shell; think and teach outside the box; relate the present to the past and the future; work with students in new ways that showed them where their strengths were and gave them hope for their future; become a leader; work the system; and become a superb problem-solver.  My last five years of teaching were the most rewarding, most difficult, and best of my 31 years in education.

In her book, Barbara returns time and again to the obstacles facing implementation of this new EFG curriculum and educational change, in general.  The creative teachers in EFG quickly learned how to overcome or circumvent lack of funds; district, local, state, and union rules and regulations; reluctant teachers and administrators; and, finally, No Child Left Behind.  We utilized partnerships, volunteers, in-kind contributions, donations, and other methods to accomplish our goals.

I learned from It’s the Kids that Barbara was ahead of her time decades before I met her.  She is still ahead of her time, and perhaps the time will never catch up with her!  The areas with which I am familiar where Barbara had left other educators in the dust involve technology, partnerships, evaluation techniques, group learning activities, multi-age activities, community involvement, and funding, among others, all of which are referenced in numerous examples in her book.

And such a forward thinker, as well as the teachers who learn from her, will always find obstacles in front of her because so few people want to blow up the system and start over.  It takes special teachers, administrators, and community partners to be able to say, yes, we are “required” to do such and so, but here are ways we can deal with that in a creative and effective manner.  People who read this book hopefully can glean from it what we EFG-trained teachers know from experience—that there are ways that our students can lead us into the future if we only allow them the means to do so.

~Sue RosenburgEducator

“Barbara Barnes, one of the greatest leaders I have ever known, gives you a whirlwind tour of her life as a difference-maker in public education and, at the very same time, lays out a powerfulpositive pathway for the future of K-12 education. This is one great read!”  

~Joel Barker, Futurist, Filmmaker, Author

By Anne Batty in the San Clemente Journal

A few minutes conversation with educator Barbara Barnes and one soon realizes she is much like the heroine in Barbara Taylor Bradford’s well-read novel, “A Woman of Substance.” In her seven plus decades she has worn and is still wearing many hats…wife, mother, grandmother, educator, consultant and volunteer. And all are worn with humility, boundless energy and enthusiasm, plus a fiery passion for what she does evidenced in a mischievous grin and sapphire blue eyes that light up her face as she speaks.

Growing up in an era when professional choices for women were very limited, Barbara Barnes was born in Petersburg, Illinois, next to New Salem State Park where Abraham Lincoln once lived. Like many of her generation she was encouraged to become either a nurse or a teacher, so she entered Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois as a music major, switching to elementary education because she could easily incorporate her passion for music into a teaching career.

Relocating to California, she began teaching in the Cupertino School District, where she had opportunity to become a Principal when her Principal encouraged her to get a Master’s Degree in administration. Upon obtaining her degree from San Jose State University, she was hired right away. That beginning catapulted Barbara’s life into a whirlwind of extraordinary experiences and accomplishments that continue evolving today.

After spending 10 years as a teacher and reading specialist, and 14 years as a school principal, Barbara Barnes became the Director of Business Partnerships in the Irvine Unified School District. Taking an early retirement she soon began forming partnerships of her own, collaborating with educators, business leaders and the community she was instrumental in the transformation of poor performing, inner city, and multiracial, low socio-economic schools. Her work addressing the needs of these often neglected students took her on the road, traveling to a multi-racial, 17 language school in Bellflower, California, a Vietnamese school in Sacramento, and an African American school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, among many others. Using the same strategies applied there, through these experiences Barbara developed professional training programs with UCI, Chapman and Universities in Tennessee, Virginia, Idaho, North Florida and even England.

“Tiring of an immense amount of traveling, I also had opportunity to work with a firm in Scottsdale, Arizona, training teachers and principals all over the United States via satellite,” Barnes shared. “From a TV studio I was able to reach several schools at once. It was very challenging but a lot less exhausting.”

Recalling some of her extraordinary experiences, Barbara tells of an encounter in a primarily Hispanic school in Tucson, Arizona, where educators, parents and students who were cleaning up a vacant lot next to the schoolyard discovered several cowboy and Native American artifacts.

“It was amazing,” she exclaimed, a broad smile spreading across her face. “Everyone got so excited about their finds they decided to build a museum to house them, and with donations from businesses they were able to historically restore an old structure to display their finds. It was quite an accomplishment and a great learning experience for all involved.”

Another one of Barbara Barnes’ adventures included a trek into the Alaskan bush. She tells of being approached by a school superintendent while presenting at a teacher training conference in Arizona. “This gentleman came up to me and said he was expecting to receive a grant for his district soon and was wondering if I would be interested in consulting there,” Barbara revealed chuckling. “I said, ‘sure, call me when you get the grant’ without even asking where the school might be located.”

A couple of weeks later the call came through that the grant was in place, and she was asked to come. It was then that she discovered the school was in Akiachak, Alaska in a remote area that required travel by passenger plane to Anchorage, cargo plane to Bethel and bush plane to Akiachak. And if that wasn’t surprising enough, once there she discovered the entire school was on stilts with walkways high above ground between her module living quarters and the school, due to the deep snowfalls in the area.

“That first evening I was invited to the Assistant Principal’s home for dinner, and I was served a meal of rice and beans,” she recounted with humor. “But the entire adventure ended with the incredible opportunity of training 70 teachers from surrounding villages in the Yupiit School District brought in by the same bush pilot that had brought me there.”

These and many other school transformation experiences have been shared by Barnes at the World Conference on Education for all, the National Symposium on Partnerships in Educations in Washington, D.C., the International Partnership Network conferences in England, France, Canada and Norway, the New Business Initiatives in Education Conference in New York, the National School Boards Conference and the New Zealand Principal’s Conference.

And the accomplishments of Barbara Barnes’ don’t stop there. A part of the San Clemente, California, community since 1997, she came to town to be near her children, and because she loved living near the beach. Although still retired from Principalship, in late August, 2002, she was hired as Principal for the San Onofre School, located on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, where she remained for the next four years.

“As a last minute replacement for the former principal, the teachers weren’t quite sure what to make of me,” Barnes explained. “In February of 2003 the Marines were getting ready to go into Iraq for the first time and everyone was very nervous because they didn’t know the outcome of this deployment, so I decided we should initiate a family dinner for the schoolchildren’s families. It seems the teachers were of the opinion that the town didn’t care about or even know about their school, and thought that no one would help with such a big undertaking. Barbara proved them wrong, securing, on her own, the help of the Kiwanis Club, who generously donated money, Sonny’s and Carbonara’s restaurants, Billy’s Delicatessen, Wal Mart, Costco and Coca Cola who provided food, paper goods, and drinks. She also garnered volunteers to set-up, serve, and clean-up, from among the members of the San Clemente Presbyterian Church. With all this help, the Family Dinner was a big success, serving over 500 marines and their families, and the school has continued to hold five of these dinners.

“The restaurants were incredible,” Barbara said. “The only thing they asked was, how much do you need, do you want it hot or cold, and do you want us to deliver it. It was so heartwarming and a true testament to the spirit of our town.”

True to her values, in another incident as principal she decided the school should have a monthly Flag Ceremony. When the Marine Chaplain heard about it he asked if he could come and say a prayer for the Flag and for the marines. Barnes’ response was, “absolutely.” A few weeks later she got a call from a Fallbrook School District administrator who was concerned that she had said a prayer at school. Her answer was, “No, the Chaplain said a prayer and we’re on Federal property.” And that ended the concern.

While acting as principal at the school, Barbara Barnes also instituted an after school intervention and enrichment program for all students entitled Terrific Tuesday. Upon retirement she formalized the mentoring and afterschool club program as part of the San Clemente Presbyterian Church Learning Center. Volunteers from SCPC, Our Lady of Fatima and the community now help San Onofre elementary and middle school students to complete homework and master skills. These volunteers also lead the guitar, quilting and art club. As a result of the success of the San Onofre program, SCPC Learning Center has expanded to include four afternoons each week at Marblehead, Las Palmas, Shorecliffs and Bernice Ayer Schools in San Clemente. Through these free programs students are significantly improving their skills and Bernice Ayer and San Onofre featured this afterschool program in their California Distinguished Schools Designation.

Retirement seems to be a word that is not included in Barbara Barnes’ vocabulary. Currently she serves on the Advisory Board of Crystal Cove Alliance at Crystal Cove State Park, University of California, Irvine Department of Education Leadership Council and the Steering Committee of the Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center. When she isn’t busy interacting with her three sons and car pooling four grandchildren to school and activities, in her spare time she indulges in traveling, photography, collecting antiques and Lincoln memorabilia, and researching ancestral and WWII history. (Her dad was in the Battle of the Bulge.) And for this woman of substance, the beat goes on and on and on…..