It’s official: Mrs. Barber is retiring

FVHS math teacher Carole Barber is retiring. She has been teaching for 31 years and has been at Fuquay Varina High School for 20 years. The students and staff will be sad to see her go, and FVHS will not be the same without her. 

“I’m 64, it’s time to retire,” said Barber. She will enjoy her time in retirement, spending time with her family, and she may continue to teach in a different way.

 “I might plan on tutoring, but I will not sub,” said Barber.

Barber is known for always helping students and making sure nobody falls behind. 

“She was a good teacher and she always taught. There was never a time in class when she just told a kid to figure it out, if you had a concern or were struggling with something she would sit there and work with you until you fully understood it, she would never just show you once and walk away,” said sophomore Sally McGahey. 

Barber has always made an effort to connect with her students. She is always there for her students whether they have a concern about grades, a question about math, or if you just wanted someone to talk to and listen to you, she is always there. 

“The biggest thing is that you need to come to school, and you need to give it 100 percent. You need to try, even though it is hard sometimes to get out of bed, you need to come ready to learn with a good attitude,” said Barber. 

Barber is a role model for new math teachers, and she has parting advice for them. 

“I would tell them students are not expected to be perfect. You are supposed to make mistakes and be forgiving and open but also have high expectations,” said Barber. 

Barber also is the person who calls out names at graduation, and this is yet another role that will need to be filled after her departure from FVHS. She is also one of the most experienced teachers at the school and will be missed by both students and many other teachers at the school.

Barber shared some parting advice as she gets ready to move on from FVHS.

“Teaching is like pole vaulting. If you lower the bar so low, everyone can get over it, then there is no challenge to it. There is no thrill to making it over the bar. If you raise the bar so high that nobody can get over it, then that is really defeating. The key to being a good teacher is to figure out where to put the bar. When the bar is in the right place, everyone will be happy,” said Barber.