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Barona keeps classes engaged, interested
That’s a challenge since students are growing up in the tech age
Heather Barona was genuinely surprised to be nominated for Gulf Breeze Middle School’s Teacher of the Year for the first time, even if the honor came 15 years into her career. Winning the school honor, she said, was a shock. “I always thought most of the other teachers just thought I was at least a little crazy,” she laughed. “Some of these teachers here taught me when I was in middle school here, and to have them tell me I am doing a good job like this means an awful lot. But I have to do some things that might look a little crazy to keep the attention of middle school students for 90 minutes at a time. You have to have variety and creativity.” She said the most difficult thing about the award was writing the 15-page essay about herself. “One of my friends read it and said that was the worst writing she had ever read,” she laughed. “I am a good writer. But writing about myself — well, it was impossible. I don’t think about how other people or teachers view my teaching. I just do it every day.” Barona is the only teacher at Gulf Breeze Middle who teaches two periods of 90-minute blocks. She teaches reading and has students enter her classroom from every grade level - 6th, 7th and 8th grades. She has been at GBMS for five years. “My husband and I are homegrown Gulf Breeze people,” she said. “We both attended this school, and I graduated from Gulf Breeze High. We decided to move to Mississippi and go to college when we already had two kids of our own.” After she secured her teaching degree, she taught ESE (special education) and GED courses in a high school in Mississippi for five years. Her husband went into the field of technology and computers. She had her third child in Mississippi while completing her Master’s degree in ESE. “We saw our kids getting to the school age where we wanted them to go to school in Gulf Breeze,” she said. “So we decided it was time to come back home about 10 years ago. So I called and asked if there was any opening at all in Santa Rosa County Schools. They hired me that year to teach at Sims Middle School in Pace, and I loved it. I am still friends with many teachers there.” There, Barona began teaching ‘Reading 180,’ a 90-minute block-reading course. “Pace had started block scheduling, and they wanted someone to teach Reading 180 to ESE students. But here at Gulf Breeze, Reading 180 is for many more students than just the ESE students,” she said. Her family moved to Gulf Breeze, and she drove to Pace every day. “When there was an opening in Gulf Breeze, I took it even though I loved Sims,” she said. “Gas prices being what they are, and being closer to home for my kids, it just seemed like the right move. I love it here.” She originally was hired at Gulf Breeze Middle to teach ESE. “But then during the summer, (Principal Jennifer) Granse called and asked if I would be willing to teach Reading 180. I said, ‘Sure!’And I am still doing it.” The biggest challenge, she thinks, is keeping students interested and engaged for 90 minutes using the “archaic” instruments in the classroom – pencils and paper. “Students nowadays are used to doing everything electronically when they leave school,” she said. “They have instant gratification and instant feedback. They use computers and cell phones for everything. Then we make them sit in a classroom with a pencil and paper for hours and expect to keep their attention. That is why I try to keep the lessons modern and relevant to what they are doing in their real lives.” Barona now has one child at Pensacola Junior College, one a senior at Gulf breeze High, and another at Oriole Beach Elementary who will be at her school with her next year. “All our families are all within, literally, one square mile of each other in Gulf Breeze,” she laughed. “And that is usually a good thing. “Gulf Breeze is a real community. People look out for each other,” she said. “That is invaluable to us. Life is good!” |
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