For some, he’s a coach; while for many others he’s a teacher. A longtime Green River educator was recently awarded with a unique honor that comes with one of the symbols of the Cowboy State.
Rick Barker, a physical education teacher at Monroe Intermediate School recently received the Pax Ricketts Award from the Wyoming Association for Health and Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. While many awards come with a plaque honoring the individual, the Pax Ricketts Award brings with it a Stetson hat with the honor. U.S. Senator Mike Enzi presented Barker with the hat during the WAHPERD conference.
During the Sweetwater County School District No. 2 board meeting Tuesday night, MIS principal Anne Marie Covey said Barker initially wasn’t planning to attend the conference and received a call from the organization seeking her help in convincing him to attend to receive the award. He was nominated for the award by Nancy Eklund.
Barker, who has taught in the district for the past 32 years, said the award was a complete shock. Barker has earned a number of other prestigious awards during his career in Green River, including the Wyoming High School Athletics Association Coach of the Year.
Barker’s education philosophy focuses on instilling the importance of both healthy eating and physical activity.
“I give my best effort to get students to understand what healthy activities are,” Barker said.
Barker is a native Wyoming resident who grew up in New Castle. His family moved to Minnesota during his senior year in high school and he attended Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minn., before returning to Wyoming and accepting his first teaching job in Green River. Barker has taught at the district’s rural schools, as well as its elementary schools and MIS, where he’s taught for the past 10 years.
“I’ve enjoyed doing it considerably,” Barker said.
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