Working...
Jackie Barnett Receives District Teacher of the Year Honor for 3rd Time
Sperry Schools Board of Education President Jeff Carter presents District Teacher of the Year Jackie Barnett with her award.
For the third time in her 33-year career as a Sperry High School teacher, Ms. Jackie Barnett is the District Teacher of the Year, and is one of only three Sperry teachers to have received this honor three times in their career. Ms. Barnett has taught English and psychology most of those years, and spends many hours outside the school day and during summer in the school’s driver education car as the district’s driving instructor.
“I can remember always looking forward to going to school,” Ms. Barnett recalls, “but never considered being a teacher until the last year of my undergraduate school.” Throughout her own public school years, she had a strong and supportive family who exemplified the value of education and fed her love of learning into her college years, and after having a college professor guide Ms. Barnett into teaching English, she recognized the importance of being a positive mentor for others. “I’m proud of my ability to connect with the students and show them why an education is important,” she said. After years of seeing education reforms come and go, she noted, “I eventually realized I had to use methods and techniques that worked for my students and me.”
High School Principal Richard Akin said, “Ms. Barnett is a great teacher who brings an enthusiasm of the curriculum to life. She is one of those exemplary teachers students seem to naturally gravitate to and are able to relate to her. In my twenty years of being a principal I have had the honor of working with many District Teachers of the Year. I can without reservation say that Ms. Barnett is one of the best of the best when it comes to meeting the needs of all her students at a point where they get the most out of her instructional time. ”
One of Ms. Barnett’s students pointed out, “She is always willing to present the lesson in a different manner to help each student learn the best way that they acquire new materials—and she doesn’t get mad when we need her to explain something multiple times!”
“It is no surprise that Ms. Barnett is a three-time recipient of this honor,” Sperry District Superintendent Dr. Brian Beagles said. “She takes on whatever task is set before her with an enthusiastic drive, whether that task be designing and implementing a new course, participating on multiple committees, or learning and utilizing new technologies to better instruct students in the ways they are accustomed to interacting with the world. There will never be enough teachers like her in the system.”
Ms. Barnett will complete her Oklahoma State Teacher of the Year application soon. Teachers of the Year from each district are eligible to apply for the State Teacher of the Year award which will be decided next school year.
Sperry High School Principal Richard Akin and District Teacher of the Year Jackie Barnett display Ms. Barnett's award.
