Barbee bonds beyond the gym
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” This is the question every child answers as they walk across the stage at kindergarten graduation. Common responses include doctors, firefighters, dancers or maybe even the occasional veterinarian. Although for young Liz Barbee, none of these was the case.
“It's actually funny, I have a picture of myself when I was in kindergarten, and I've got gym shorts on, a t-shirt that's tucked in, my hair up in a ponytail and holding a sign that says ‘I want to be a [Physical Education] teacher when I grow up,’” Barbee said. “I've always loved sports, so it just kind of felt natural [and] I liked the idea of being around kids and coaching.”
Even though Barbee’s core classes are technically PE-related, she wears many different hats at Rose. These responsibilities have been piled on over the course of her 11 years of dedication and love for the department, including sports as a whole.
graphic by Carly Fagundus
“I am a PE teacher, I'm the Physical Education department chair, I'm the head coach of womens and mens golf, assistant boys basketball and assistant [coach], with coach Medlin,” Barbee said. “I spend a lot of time here coaching, juggling practice and assistant athletic director duties… just whatever needs to be done that given day.”
Even though Barbee devotes herself to balancing every aspect of her job, one class in particular holds her heart.
“I also teach Adaptive PE; this is where students work in stations alongside peer helpers to support students with special needs,” Barbee said. “That's my favorite part of the day… working with those kids is so much fun, they love doing it [and] seeing the regular-ed students interacting so well with them.”
Originally placed at Rose as an intern, Barbee instantly fell in love with the environment and her late mentor, Liz Upton. Upton instilled 30 years of love for Rose in Barbee while preparing her to fill the shoes she would soon leave behind upon retirement.
"Liz Upton is who I did my internship with, she was awesome; she was the queen of PE, and every student here called her ‘Ma Upton’ [because] they all thought of her like a mother,” Barbee said. “She taught me basically everything… how to handle the kids, how to gain respect, how to build relationships, what PE should look like and what’s important, like valuing JH Rose, being a Rose person through and through.”
After stepping into her new role in the gym, Barbee saw an opportunity to bring fresh ideas into the way PE was being taught at the time.
“When I first started teaching, every PE teacher [was] all kind of retiring at the same time,” Barbee said. “They did things the old-school way… so things have changed a lot in the last 10 years, whether it be how we do things in the gym or certain expectations that are placed on kids.”
Reflecting on the past decade, one underdog story from 2022 is the highlight of her golf coaching career. Funny enough, golf was not one of Barbee’s main sports growing up and was something she took on at Rose as a favor. Little did she know it would become one of her favorite stories of success after taking home a ring.
“We didn’t think we were going to win it… [the boys team] was really young at the time: Will Guidry, Cameron Hardison, Luke Moseley, Jack West was a freshman, and I think 4 '10 " at the time, plus Lake Williams,” Barbee said. “We just had a really, really good two-day tournament down in Pinehurst and unexpectedly won the state championship as a team… that was a big moment.”
One misconception Barbee finds commonly among her students is that due to her absence in class when one of her many other responsibilities takes precedence, they assume she's taking a day off. Despite this, consistency and participation in the gym are things Barbee strives to achieve on a regular basis.
“I'll come back the next day after a golf tournament, and they're like, ‘Where were you at yesterday?’" Barbee said. “It can tend to create a lot of chaos in there, getting displaced a lot… it's already difficult to get them to participate, so increasing participation in the gym would help PE a lot.”
Running between classes, practices, games, gates and more, Barbee proves to be the glue holding the PE department together every day. Her dedication and passion for this school and her students are what make her a crucial part of our Rose family.
“She's very valuable as a colleague, as a teacher, as a coach and as a faculty support staff,” Medlin said. “Honestly, coach Barbee is irreplaceable at Rose.”