Episode 32: Ben Barkey

Show Description:

Ben Barkey is an education professional and current principal at Madison Elementary in Warsaw Indiana. Before that, he taught Science and Robotics at Edgewood Middle School, served as the STEM instructional coach at Washington STEM Academy (science, technology, engineering, and math), where he acted as lead facilitator in transforming Washington into an Indiana Certified STEM school. He also served the position as assistant principal for the class of 2017 at Warsaw Community High School.

He is the recipient of the 2017 Air Force Association National Teacher of the Year for leading the (STEM) programs in the Warsaw school system. He was also awarded the Charlotte M. Boener Award for Innovative Science Teaching (awarded to Middle School Science Teacher of the Year for Indiana) as well as the Bio-Crossroads Teacher of Champions award.

In this interview, Ben highlights his story as to what brought him to the education, his motivation for teaching and building meaningful relationships within the school system, and his passion for innovating new ideas to make learning more engaging.

Show Highlights:

4:45-15:45: Ben covers his educational background starting from his time as a middle school science teacher and high school golf coach, to becoming principal at Madison elementary. He tells of his experience when he earned the Air Force Association's National Teacher of the year
15:45-28:15: Learn about Ben's faith testimony as he explains what brought him back to education during 3 pivotal moments in his life. He gets into his motivation for why he has invested the last 18 years of his life into education, and he explains his passion for growing meaningful relationships with his students and fellow education professionals
28:15-32:15: Ben discusses with us the 2 main things that he would change with the current education system
32:15-41:15: We ask Mr. Barkey the most important things to teach the younger generation OUTSIDE of the regular textbook and state standards. He explains his vision for teaching students in a way that is engaging and fun
41:15-47:45: We end on the concept of mastery, and Ben gives his final advice to those are finding their calling