thanks, mr. barnes
we all had THAT teacher.
the one that not only made you enjoy the classroom despite the subject matter, but also (as a friend of mine wrote) "got people to use brains they didn't know they had." the kind of teacher that cultivated such a safe and supportive environment in the classroom that you never thought twice about going to them with any problem, whether school-related or not.
and to a certain degree, the kind of teacher who would go to see pink floyd at arrowhead stadium and subsequently miss 3 days of school.
well, at olathe south high school, we had keith barnes. he was every bit that teacher and more. he taught biology and was never without a funny neumonic or story. he made us care about studying. he was the perfect balance of fun and challenging and people scrambled to land a spot in one of his coveted, college-prep classes.
frankly, he was the very definition of a beloved teacher.
i just received word last night, that mr. barnes passed away on friday.
there are other teachers that i had in high school that have died. i suppose the time for such things is inevitable. but, this one hurts. mr. barnes wasn't just a teacher. he was an icon. his "chicken lab" projects and year-end house parties were the stuff of legend.
there will never be another like him. the school was at a loss when he retired several years ago. now, the rest of the world shares that loss.
goodbye, mr. barnes. and thank you. you will be missed.
the one that not only made you enjoy the classroom despite the subject matter, but also (as a friend of mine wrote) "got people to use brains they didn't know they had." the kind of teacher that cultivated such a safe and supportive environment in the classroom that you never thought twice about going to them with any problem, whether school-related or not.
and to a certain degree, the kind of teacher who would go to see pink floyd at arrowhead stadium and subsequently miss 3 days of school.
well, at olathe south high school, we had keith barnes. he was every bit that teacher and more. he taught biology and was never without a funny neumonic or story. he made us care about studying. he was the perfect balance of fun and challenging and people scrambled to land a spot in one of his coveted, college-prep classes.
frankly, he was the very definition of a beloved teacher.
i just received word last night, that mr. barnes passed away on friday.
there are other teachers that i had in high school that have died. i suppose the time for such things is inevitable. but, this one hurts. mr. barnes wasn't just a teacher. he was an icon. his "chicken lab" projects and year-end house parties were the stuff of legend.
there will never be another like him. the school was at a loss when he retired several years ago. now, the rest of the world shares that loss.
goodbye, mr. barnes. and thank you. you will be missed.
posted by cade at 6:02 AM
5 Comments:
He was very loved and will be missed greatly. I met my husband in his biology class in '95, and Barnes came to our wedding years later. :) I respected him as a teacher and yet he still felt like a friend... I think that a lot of us felt that way...
Thanks for posting this. I was also very sad to hear about the passing of Mr. Barnes. He was definitely one of the best and my most favorite teachers. He was the one that helped inspire my love of science that ultimately led me to a degree in biology. I am thankful that I was able to express my appreciation to him in recent years.
And yes, the chicken lab was a great learning experience...all of those chickens injected with testosterone were simply scary! My favorite memory was when he took our genetics class to St. Louis so we could visit the labs where the human genome project was being put together...very cool.
He will be missed.
Kylene
Great tribute. Add mine to the list of weddings Barnes attended--just this past February. A great teacher and a wonderful friend.
I was one of those who'd been awoken by the cane...but metaphorically too. I came to OHS in about '79 and was a bit of a lost soul from transferring so many schools due to my Dad relocating w/GMotors so much. My schooling, self-esteem, outlook were all at a low. (As I actually called him) - "Dr. Barnes" - got me fired up and turned around. OHS was a very pivotal school for me; might I add Irish Lubberts, Fred Meier and Doug Clark to the 'most inspirational' list? Wish I'd heard about Dr. Barnes' passing before now (2009!) but I'm now on city number 22 (literally) and am just grateful to have stayed connected with my favorite set of people out of all of those cities...the KANSAS CITY/OLATHE folk. I lit a candle for my favorite scientist tonight...may the speed of light (the only true constant as we know it) convey my best to him before I'm even done typing here. May the memories glow forever.
Ga n'Eire erin ga bohaur laute.
David Scally Jr./OHS '81
interesting article. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did anyone learn that some chinese hacker had busted twitter yesterday again.
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