Bobbie Barrett still remembers little

Jimmy Prince and the students like him.

Jimmy Prince was one of Barrett’s

students when she was student teaching in Missoula. He was the kind

of student who maybe didn’t have the best home life. Maybe he was

up against the odds when it came to making it through school. But

he was just the student Barrett still thinks about after 50 years

in education.

“I’ve always tried to be a voice for

those students who had no other voice or advocate,” she said. “I

knew I really wanted to be involved with something that gave kids a

chance. I’ve always tried to have a heart for those kids.”

That early experience would set the

stage for much of Barrett’s 50-year career in education. She

retires this year from the Whitefish School District as curriculum

director and principal for Whitefish Independent High School. She

also served as principal at Muldown Elementary before accepting her

current position.

Many students have followed since her

student teaching experience. She taught in Spokane, Wash.,

Lewistown and served as a principal in Cut Bank before coming to

Whitefish.

At a recent retirement party for

Barrett, colleagues poured buttons into a large jar to represent

the students Barrett has cared for over the years. There were more

than 3,000 buttons placed in the jar.

“It was heavy,” Barrett said of the

jar. “It was pretty amazing. It’s been a long career. I hate for it

to be over.”

A few buttons didn’t make it into the

jar, in a way representing those few students who did fall through

the cracks over the years.

Barrett admits she sometimes thinks of

students whom she doesn’t know how their story ended. She also

thinks of the success stories.

“We try to think about the kids we’re

now working with,” she said.

Paraeducator Karen Cordi thanked

Barrett for her service to the independent high school during a

lunch last week at the school.

She told the Native American story of a

grandfather who tells his grandson that he has two wolves fighting

inside of him. One wolf is an evil, unhappy wolf and the other is

beautiful and good. The grandson asks which wolf will win the fight

and the grandfather replies the wolf that is fed will win.

“For the past 12 years Bobbie has fed

us with kindness, truth and compassion,” Cordi said. “It’s because

of you that it’s grown.”

Counselor Kelly Talsma praises Barrett

as someone who focuses on the things that matter.

“She has focused on kids and

academics,” she said. “She has dedicated her life to

education.”

Barrett believes in the goal of the

independent high school and its students, however, she gives credit

to the program and its staff, saying she is able to contribute from

a broader picture.

“It’s been well designed,” Barrett

said. “It’s the people that make it work. (The students) are proud

of it and want their own school.”

Barrett speaks with a fondness for the

independent high school and its students. About 120 students have

graduated from the school since it opened 12 years ago. Many of the

students who attend the school are those that Barrett has worked to

never forget.

“The kids who go there each have their

own story,” she said. “They are bright and articulate, but they’re

kids who need a different environment and approach to learning.

They are students who likely would not have graduated. We feel

we’ve made a distinct difference for them.”

Career highlights

Besides her involvement in the

independent high school, Barrett names a few other highlights of

her career.

She lists being part of the district

when it earned a national award from the U.S. Department of

Education for its Title I program and overseeing the renovation of

Muldown in the early 1990s.

As Whitefish’s first curriculum

director she was involved in the creation of the Northwest Montana

Educational Co-op. The co-op is a group of mostly rural schools

that combine for curriculum development. The group formed when the

state Office of Public first began requiring district’s to have a

full-time curriculum director.

Whitefish eventually chose to opt-out

of the co-op, but Barrett is proud that it continues today.

“We were able to merge and share ideas

about what curriculum should be like,” she said. “It’s been very

successful. Our part in that was to help it start. It’s nice to see

something that you have cared about and worked on to continue.”

Past and future

Although she won’t be directly involved

any longer, Barrett still looks to the future of education with

excitement.

“The influence of technology in

teaching and how it will look in six months or a year,” she said.

“The influence in how you teach and how kids learn.”

Barrett says she’ll miss being apart of

education and can’t imagine spending her life any other way. Ever

since her time as a young woman in Helena babysitting children,

education has been her path.

“I thought about physical therapy or

the medical field, but by the time I started college I knew,” she

said. “Maybe it’s just in your blood to do this that long. At this

point in my life I can’t picture myself doing anything else.”