As we grow ever nearer to the end of the semester, we are forced to say goodbye to a mentor and a friend. As many of you may already know, Mr. Barry was offered a position at North Central High School in Indianapolis. Leaving DCHS was a difficult decision, but it would have been irresponsible on his part to not take this opportunity given his lifelong goals of reaching administration. Barry will be teaching at NCHS for the remainder of this school year, at which point he will be moving into an administrative position.
With Mr. Barry gone and his shadow fading, we are left in peculiar circumstances. Mrs. Brettnacher, a former DCHS senior English teacher who retired during the 2012-2013 school year, has returned to teach until the end of the semester, allowing the administration some extra time to find a permanent replacement. Alternately, Mrs. Carpenter has agreed to take control of the swim team. Although the timing is inconvenient, she has the knowledge and skill base required to keep the team on track having been a swim coach for 22 years.
Mr. Barry may be out of sight; however, he has left his mark in our minds. He has also left us with some final words. In terms of advice, he stated, ”Don’t ask for words of advice; live your life, take risks, and make mistakes.There are always more questions than answers,and before you judge someone else, remember you have no idea what they have been through.” In the words of Bob Dylan, ”Don’t criticize what you can’t understand.”
As for his advice on how we should approach the remainder of the school year, he exclaimed, ”As far as the rest of the year goes, enjoy yourselves – This is your senior year and it only happens once. As this journey ends, do not be in too much of a rush to start your next chapter, take time to remember your friends, peers, classmates, and the dedicated teachers here who have all worked so hard to help you reach these goals – Say “Thank you”, a lot!”
Mr. Barry was adamant and humble about how he hopes to be remembered. ”When it comes to remembering me, I would hope that each of you will do so in your own way. Take the good, leave the bad, and simply move forward. My job was not to be someone you would always remember, but rather to be a person who could help you transition from this place to the next. I hope I have been of service to you all.”
As his memory fades and we are left with only his most important lessons, it is important to him that we carry on. He did everything he could to get us prepared for college, and in honor of him, we must strive to be better than we were before. We must prove that the ideals he worked so hard to implant upon us are not a waste of his time. We know he is thinking of us, so we must think of him and use his influence as motivation. Mr. Barry wanted us to know that we had an impact on him as well. ”Know I will miss you, I will miss this, my career and life are forever changed for the better by the time we spent together.” Just remember, he may be gone, but his memory lives on.
