Student Nomination Story

Sr. Barney is the best Spanish teacher someone could have. He really wears his heart on his sleeve, and isn't afraid to open up to students. He is fun, he is heartfelt, and overall the best teacher ever. He makes sure that his classes are fun and engaging. During virtual and in-person school, he is able to make someone smile. I transferred mid year from a school that didn't bring me much joy, and from day one, because of Sr. Barney I knew I belonged at DGS. On my first day, I had Spanish first period, and I was extremely nervous walking into his class. I walked in and he said, "Se llama Norah. Ella fue a McAuliffe" the whole class booed," Pero ahora ella va DGS", the whole class clapped. Meaning, This is Norah. She used to go to McAuliffe, but now she goes here. Looking in through the doorway at all the smiling and clapping students, and then to my smiling, clapping teacher put a smile on my face. My first day jitters disappeared and I was ready to call Denver Green School Northfield my school. From day one, Sr. Barney was someone I could look forward to seeing if I was down. I was ecstatic when he moved up to 7th grade to teach us again, and I can not imagine having a different Spanish teacher. Even logging on to his Zoom calls, I have a smile on my face. I know he will greet everyone, ask people how they are, and laugh with his students. The DGS Northfield community loves Sr. Barney, the fun heartfelt Spanish teacher. But, the important thing is that he loves his school, colleagues, and students back.

Norah Krause

Senor Barney not only is an amazing educator but an amazing person. He always has a smile on his face and makes everyone feel loved and appreciated. I am always so excited to walk into his classroom and hear "Hola Amaya, Como Estas?" Everyday Senor Barney teaches us how to communicate and while doing this he is constantly communicating with us. He is asking us questions about how our days are going and is always keen to ensure that everyone feels safe and loved. He knows how to keep learning fun and to make us all feel like Spanish is a break from learning while really we are learning new content everyday. Not only do we love Senor Barney but we know he loves us back.

Amaya Whitehead-Bust

Sr. Barney is an amazing teacher. He is always making class as fun as possible while still teaching us new words every day. He has done an outstanding job making sure that we remember all the Spanish he has taught us, I'm surprised how much I have remembered over the summer and with COVID. Even during online school, he has made learning so much fun, each week we have a fun competition like Kahoot. He has also made online learning feel more normal by making our routine very similar to what we're doing in person. Sr. Barney also makes everyone in our class feel welcome, everyone feels comfortable not knowing the answer and asking for help. It's amazing the learning environment he creates, we are learning but at the same time it doesn't feel like a boring school day. Class is always hands-on even during online learning. We taped words to different objects in our room so we would be able to constantly see the names of the objects are, and start remembering what those words mean. Overall, Sr. Barney is an amazing teacher.

Talya Sigel

Señor Barney is the Spanish teacher. His Spanish class is so fun. We play a game like kahoot every Thursday. When we were in real school he would have interactive activities constantly. He lets kids draw for the class, show music to the class and even presented a few kids YouTube channels. While in online school he has done a “mental health check” three times and my friends have said the same thing. I remember that one time there was something very bad that happened to me at school, he asked me if there was anything he could do to help. Sometimes I get sensory issues and he lets me work in the hallway. My friend Em was crying in his class and he stopped in the middle of his lesson to acomidate them. He has always been welcoming and helpful to lgbtq+ students in his classes. We make up characters in class and three of them this year have been LGBTQ+. When I came out he was kind about it and didn’t treat me any differently. He is so kind to everyone his classes and really does care about us. He knows everyone and has inside jokes with all of his classes. This sounds all good, but at the same time A lot of us can carry a full conversation in Spanish with only a year of education. I recently went to Mexico and was speaking at the same level as my sister who has taken 4 years of Spanish. He knows how to cater to visual, auditorial, kinestheic and linguistic learners. He knows how to be nice and still continue to help us learn. When we truly and deeply respect someone, we learn. I have learned to love school because I can look forward to his class at the end of the day. One more thing, he has his own YouTube channel for Spanish raps. He loves to have a good laugh with us and help us learn at the same time. The picture I attached is me at a party in his class celebrating how well we did in his class you can see the pure happiness in so many of our faces.

Kade Bassoukos

To see more exceptional teacher nominees, visit The Honor Roll.