marianne barrick

St. James Teacher Retires after Nearly Four Decades

By Gretchen R. Crowe
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 6/14/07) barrick

As the fourth-grade choir shuffled out of St. James Church after the final Mass of the school year last Friday, the plaid- and white-clad youths showered choruses of “thank-you Mrs. Barrick” and “bye Mrs. Barrick” onto the beloved mentor who herself was bidding her final farewells.
The longtime science teacher, known as Marianne to her family, friends and colleagues, and the only one to have an assigned parking space in the school lot, is retiring this summer after 38 years of teaching at the Falls Church school.
She, along with the six other teachers leaving St. James School this year, received a touching tribute from the students and faculty following the Mass — flowers, small gifts and a personalized rendition of “You are My Sunshine,” with verses highlighting the special talents each educator had brought to the community of learning.
“I forgot to stock up on tissues,” Barrick said after she was honored with a standing ovation and the promise that the room with sinks and large flat tables that Barrick designed 11 years ago will forever be known as the “Marianne Barrick Science Lab.”
“I kept thinking all through the Mass … this is the last time I’m going to see all these children. I just love them.”
For reasons mostly due to health, Barrick has decided to retire at the end of summer school.
“The brain and the spirit and the enthusiasm are willing, but the body needs to be traded in for a newer model,” she joked, referring to the arthritis that slows her walk with a grey quad cane. “When you get to be the last one out of the building during the fire drill, you know it’s time.”
With a degree in liberal arts, Barrick’s strength isn’t only science; she spent years also teaching religion and reading, and has a personal passion for writing.
Her daughter Sharon’s children, Jonathon and Meagan Carter, students at Dominion High School in Sterling, get “their love of gadgetry and writing from my side of the family,” Barrick said. “They kind of all follow along in the footsteps, I guess.”
Barrick has influenced more children than those in her own family tree. She has taught the children of her first students — who she called her “grandstudents.” Over her nearly four decades of service, Barrick has “touched the future” by encouraging the careers of several doctors and scientists.
“We’ve had a number of St. James students go on to all sorts of scientific careers and many of them say I’m to blame for it,” she said. “(They) just needed a little watering of the seed.”
Born in Jersey City, N.J., Barrick was Catholic school educated from kindergarten to college. She married husband Chuck in 1965 and had Sharon a year later. She began teaching at St. James in September 1968, where she has dabbled in every grade with an emphasis on fourth through eighth. As the years progressed, she took over the science fair and established the school’s lab.
First-year Principal Sister, Servant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Anne Sweeney said that in her short acquaintance with Barrick she has seen a sense of wonder, awe and discovery emanate from the longtime teacher.
“She can really challenge kids, but yet support them,” Sister Mary Anne said. “She’s a very inspiring woman.”
Moments of greatness jump out at Barrick from her long career. Several years ago three students won grand prize in a science competition, and as a result Barrick got to meet some of her personal heroes, including Robert Ballard, discoverer of the wrecked Titanic; Don Herbert, star of the old television show “Mr. Wizard;” and Bill Nye the Science Guy.
“I got to hobnob with some famous people,” she said.
More recently, her students competed in the finals of the largest model rocket contest in the world. Though they didn’t win, Barrick said, “they’re already talking about next year.”
Her retirement doesn’t officially begin until after the upcoming weeks of summer school, but Barrick is already making plans. She will first take care of her daughter who is recovering from surgery; then she hopes to volunteer at local schools or participate in activities at senior centers.
No matter what, after leaving a job where she said she had been both affirmed and supported, and where she had found the “greatest sense of faith community and family,” Barrick is determined to stay active.
“I do not intend to sit and do nothing, that’s for sure,” she said.

Gretchen R. Crowe can be reached at gcrowe@catholicherald.com.