Duck Ponderings: Thank you Barb Johnson

Barb Johnson realized that her life was about giving. One of my favorite lines in the book “Give and Take” by Adam Grant is simply “Givers give!” Barb gave and gave while not expecting any acknowledgments whatsoever. She understood that a family, whether it be at home, church, or in the community, functions and grows much better when someone is there and can be depended on through thick and thin.

I suspect an outsider would think Barb had a high paying position within the Town of Hope, that she had a large staff; however, insiders knew Barb had exceptional organizational skills, a strong work ethic, and a network of devoted volunteers. There is no dollar amount representative of the value of what Barb Johnson did for our community. Barb's compensation was in terms of the lives of young people and adults that she touched day after day.

Barb started teaching in FRHC at Hope Elementary in 1972 and retired in 2003; I started in 1974. Interestingly, in her thank you letter to the staff when retiring, Barb indicated her thinking after accepting the position was to only be around for a few years. We are so glad that was not the case!

One of our favorite school stories was how we had to put up with a cranking duplicator until enough problems persisted that we finally got a xerox machine. Then, we were restricted to the number of pages copied at times. Not far behind would have to be the story of the leaking roof when I thought about approaching the school board to request umbrellas due to the number of water buckets in my room. Once moving to the new Hope Elementary, other stories developed. We were called to the dining room to hear an employee of the state, a former marine, give us orders, to participate in Performance Based Accreditation, PBA, which resulted in pages and pages of documentation showing our improvement strategies soon to be followed by the standardized testing and curriculum movement.

No mater what, educators like Barb constantly found ways for students to learn inside and outside of the four walls of the classroom. I can recall so many wonderful experiences which Barb spearheaded such as: whole-school American Native Day, cross-grade level games and reading trade books in the afternoon on Fridays, 20th century whole-school production, the celebration of 100 years of flight where Bernoulli's Principle was the topic in my class of multi-grades, Christmas at Simmons with many, many students performing over the years. Barb inspired me, all of us, to be better individuals and educators.

Barb sponsored Little Hoosiers for years, a club that consistently won awards. I still hear wonderful stories from former students fondly recalling their yearly trips to Muscatatuck State Park for Little Hoosier Camp. Her club was very active in the movement of our one-room schoolhouse that has now served well over 50,000 students throughout Indiana which Barb served as schoolmarm often.

I teamed with Barb and former Hauser graduate, Ben Cleland, in creating an Interactive Video Model of Hope in the 1930s and 1940s for the Yellow Trail Museum. First, we secured a grant from the Town of Hope. My job was to pull the words from a CD made earlier with her help. Barb's job was to find pictures. Over 30 folders of Hope photos from that time period were created, and Barb filled each one. I can't think of another person in town who could have accomplished the task like Barb. To still hear her voice on it as well as the voice of Merrill Clouse and Ike Wasson will always be treasured. While writing a play with content related to Hope and the Vietnam War, “The Well House,” I needed more information and consulted with Barb. She quickly delivered several pages.

Barb was a great contributor of articles to our local newspaper keeping our community up on activities through the Yellow Trail Museum. Before going to the hospital for major back surgery a few days before an annual Old-Fashioned Independence Day Celebration, Barb made sure HSJ Online received information to post. She also had all the plans in place for those helping. Our town square was busy with wholesome family activities throughout the evening and ended with spectacular fireworks. No one left disappointed other than we all missed Barb's physical presence.

How would you define Barb's greatness? I certainly could create an extensive list of descriptive words. The one that stands out the most would be humbleness. A perfect example transpired at the Annual Yellow Trail Museum at WILLow LeaVes in February which I am so glad fit into my schedule. As typical, Barb had the evening agenda well planned and made sure many others were recognized. When finished, Barb received a standing ovation. I think she even got a little emotional. Of course, she wanted to pass the recognition to others. None of us knew she would not be with us a few days later.

Undoubtedly, the history pages of Hope will continue to turn and be filled due to people like Barb Johnson. Even though Barb did not put much weight on awards, she was deserving of any award this world could bestow upon her before attaining her ultimate crowns. During her Celebration of Life, appropriately held in the Hauser gym, many people gathered to show their heartfelt appreciation for an individual that left her mark always and forever. To the master of thank yous, we sincerely thank you!

If you wish to contribute to Simmons School to honor Barb, you can send a check to:
Simmons School
9273 North State Road 9
Hope, IN 47246

Or, another way to honor her is by volunteering for one of the great organizations in Hope!