If you, like many other girls, spend WAY too much time in the school bathrooms or wander the halls endlessly during periods, chances are you’ve seen Barb. She is one of the kindest women you can talk to, and she gives off a nurturing vibe that gives her a celebrity persona particularly with the girls. She always has a smile on her face and has a positive outlook on life. 

When we interviewed the legend herself, she says that she loves her job and the kids she gets to be around, since she doesn’t have her own and finds that this way she can get to know how kids work nowadays. She loves the fact that the students feel they can interact with her like she is a normal person who cares and can help, rather than just a faculty member seeking out the trouble they could get into. Barb can give support and advice due to her past; like all people, she has her own problems, but has taken them as lessons to make her a better person, rather than forcing her to carry their negative effects with her. Currently, Barb has her wonderful husband that she lives with, and she describes their marriage as fairy tale-like and a dream. 

You may be asking what Barb’s job is at the school. She describes her work as a security guard position, where she has multiple varying tasks throughout the day. She patrols the hallways and bathrooms, watches the school cameras (alternating with the other security guard Bill), and investigates issues among students, handling them herself when necessary. She started in the beginning of May of last school year, she’s been with us for 8 months. 

Since Barb works closely with current high school students, we decided to ask her about her own high school experience. She went to Pompton Lakes and had the same typical problems that West Milford students have. Barb commented that she observes more stress and pressure from current student. With all the

 extra activities they are involved in that give them more on their plate. She says she regrets not being as involved in clubs and sports as she could have been, even though she was captain of the JV basketball team and did spring track. We asked her what advice she would give to current high school students, and she tells us that everyone needs to just relax, because this is supposed to be the most enjoyable period of your life. Up next is college and the real world, so we should take advantage of the freedom and fun we have available to us right now, and just overall to let things happen.