Karen Barker and Her Outstanding Teaching Career

My grandma and her 36 years of teaching Physical Education in Portland Oregon.

By: AJ Harwood

"I miss it everyday, I miss the children, I miss the experiences, it was my whole life except for family" said Karen, my grandma. She thinks about her teaching days constantly, "Watching those kids grow was so important to me and thats why I chose to stay for so long". As long as I can remember this was and will always be her most important and substantial accomplishment.

Being around my grandma for no longer then a minute you'll know she worked with kids and was an educator for a long time. Her commitment to these kids to teach them and help them grow into adults is what she loved most. It all started in college, "I was attending OSU and I needed a change, as much as studying to be a dental hygienist sounds, it wasn't for me". She wanted to do something she wanted and no longer cared about how much a job pays, she just wanted something she enjoyed. She switched her career for the second time after visiting a correctional center called Mclaren Correctional Institute in WoodBurn Oregon. It was specifically for kids that've been in trouble with the law and couldn't go to jail yet. What she loved was she connected with all the kids there. "When I was there, we had an unspoken bond at first site, I knew they needed help and they knew I wanted to help them". After that visit she applied to Woodlen Elementary in Portland to be a physical education instructor, "It seemed to be the right thing, I was fairly active at the time and I thought kids would connect most physically rather than a classroom setting". She corrected herself, "Nothing's wrong with teaching in a classroom, just I've had the best luck with kids when we're doing something they enjoy".

As a teacher she always had connections, good or bad, with everyone that stepped into her gym. Her main thing was growth, and safety of course, but mainly growth. "How can we grow and how can I help you grow?" was he saying. She would always do different activities or event nights to help bring the kids together, "It brought kids and their families to school and made a connection between the both". Her favorite thing was to see the difference she maid throughout the kids either physically, mentally and emotionally that are having hard lives, good lives too. She described, "I feel as I was a safety net for the kids, a place where they could always come and be able to talk or express their issues and concerns, no matter the situation". Her best experience was in the late 90's, the school district didn't have a lot of funding and was making cuts to their education and programs and a lot of the schools in the area were having to put their PE out first. "I was overwhelmed with gratitude when I found out they kept my program, it made me feel like I was really making a change". She said "Being on the butcher block like that was expected because of the cost of everything I was doing but I knew it wasn't going to last long as it was a needed cost for the kids". The children were her number one and she knew if anything was to happen to her program it was going to affect the school and her students. She knew and still to this day knows she is a respected educator within the school and her legacy will last forever.

When retiring from being an educator she truly regretted it, "It was one of the hardest decisions I've ver made, leaving those kids truly hurt my soul". They were her life, so she found a way to stay connected to kids without having it be full time. She founded a program for kids from kinder garden through senior year of college to help them with any schooling work and raise funds for a payed education if needed to be provided. It's called the Morris Lucas Foundation named after the former Portland Trailblazer basketball star. The Blazers are partners with my grandma in order to get these kids funding. Again, her main thing is growth through physical education so they'er always doing activities

with the basketball team. Running this foundation during retirement and educating kids for 36 years was a full life and people definitely recognize that, so she was nominated for a Life Time Achievement Award. Not only did she inspire so many kids, adults, families and educators she also inspired the world by showing them nothing was impossible. "Being great is not just given out like a cookie, it's awarded through hard work and dedication".