Patricia Barone
A West Coast native (born in San Francisco), Pat Barone received her high school education in Seattle before heading east (in contradiction to Horace Greeley's advice). Graduating summa cum laude in 1977 from Southern Connecticut State University, she was also awarded the English Prize. Her twenty-year teaching career at Branford High School began immediately thereafter, where she began by teaching grades 9 through 12 but gradually moved into a more specialized concentration in Junior Honors, writing courses, and drama classes.
In 1982, Pat earned a master's degree from Wesleyan University and the following year began four years of doctoral studies in American Civilization at New York University. The year 1986 saw the first students enrolled in Odyssey-Branford High School's program for gifted and talented students, which Pat researched, designed, and implemented. This initiative came at a particularly critical juncture, when the Board of Education had withdrawn its affiliation with New Haven's Educational Center for the Arts; and Odyssey afforded Branford youngsters ways of exploring their creativity in a structured alternative to the conventional classroom setting. The course focused on independent study projects, in addition to classes and mentoring sessions, and led to the biannual Odyssey Writers' Conference and the Odyssey Festival to exhibit students' projects. In addition, Pat taught the Senior Seminar in twentieth century world literature, a senior Advanced Placement course with both portfolio assessment and performance based graduation requirements.
Beyond her own classroom, Pat was a major contributor to the life of Branford High School in other ways as well. From 1990 to 1997 she was the drama coach for the spring musical productions, helping budding thespians more fully realize the characters they were portraying. Together with Maria Ogren, she researched and designed drama courses and supporting curricula. She also served on the SAM (Student Assistance Model) Team from 1993 to 1995.
When Branford High School was selected in 1994 by American College Testing (the Midwest alternative to SATs) as one of nine high schools nationally to participate in a pilot project, Pat served as the liaison with ACT and as the Project Coordinator at BHS to develop portfolio assessment criteria. Much of the work accomplished during this two-year project was seminal in leading to the performance based graduation requirements and senior exhibitions presently in place at the high school.
System-wide, Pat served as treasurer and negotiator of the Branford Education Association. She was a charter member of the system's Arista Committee, which began in 1986 with the first Art and Music Festival and later expanded to include the Young Authors' Conference, Social Studies Exposition, and Math and Science Fairs. She generously shared her time by serving on committees in every area of education, both at Branford High School and throughout the system.
Since her retirement in 1997, Pat has been enjoying new activities and challenges. Continuing her love for learning, teaching, and the arts, she is a docent at the Yale Center for British Art where she is involved in researching and designing tours for the permanent collection, as well as for many of the special exhibits (including one on Bloomsbury next month). She finds that drawing and painting in pastels and oils is proving to be an unending source of new learning experiences.
While cherishing the memories of her time at Branford as a dynamic and enriching time in her life peopled by supportive administrators, encouraging department heads and colleagues, and challenging students, Pat is enjoying the pace of her new life which allows her to share her time in a more relaxed way with her husband, Anthony, and son, Christopher- including winters in Key West! This seems a well-deserved reward for such a gracious and dedicated professional who gave twenty years of her life to improving and enriching educational opportunities for so many.
In 1982, Pat earned a master's degree from Wesleyan University and the following year began four years of doctoral studies in American Civilization at New York University. The year 1986 saw the first students enrolled in Odyssey-Branford High School's program for gifted and talented students, which Pat researched, designed, and implemented. This initiative came at a particularly critical juncture, when the Board of Education had withdrawn its affiliation with New Haven's Educational Center for the Arts; and Odyssey afforded Branford youngsters ways of exploring their creativity in a structured alternative to the conventional classroom setting. The course focused on independent study projects, in addition to classes and mentoring sessions, and led to the biannual Odyssey Writers' Conference and the Odyssey Festival to exhibit students' projects. In addition, Pat taught the Senior Seminar in twentieth century world literature, a senior Advanced Placement course with both portfolio assessment and performance based graduation requirements.
Beyond her own classroom, Pat was a major contributor to the life of Branford High School in other ways as well. From 1990 to 1997 she was the drama coach for the spring musical productions, helping budding thespians more fully realize the characters they were portraying. Together with Maria Ogren, she researched and designed drama courses and supporting curricula. She also served on the SAM (Student Assistance Model) Team from 1993 to 1995.
When Branford High School was selected in 1994 by American College Testing (the Midwest alternative to SATs) as one of nine high schools nationally to participate in a pilot project, Pat served as the liaison with ACT and as the Project Coordinator at BHS to develop portfolio assessment criteria. Much of the work accomplished during this two-year project was seminal in leading to the performance based graduation requirements and senior exhibitions presently in place at the high school.
System-wide, Pat served as treasurer and negotiator of the Branford Education Association. She was a charter member of the system's Arista Committee, which began in 1986 with the first Art and Music Festival and later expanded to include the Young Authors' Conference, Social Studies Exposition, and Math and Science Fairs. She generously shared her time by serving on committees in every area of education, both at Branford High School and throughout the system.
Since her retirement in 1997, Pat has been enjoying new activities and challenges. Continuing her love for learning, teaching, and the arts, she is a docent at the Yale Center for British Art where she is involved in researching and designing tours for the permanent collection, as well as for many of the special exhibits (including one on Bloomsbury next month). She finds that drawing and painting in pastels and oils is proving to be an unending source of new learning experiences.
While cherishing the memories of her time at Branford as a dynamic and enriching time in her life peopled by supportive administrators, encouraging department heads and colleagues, and challenging students, Pat is enjoying the pace of her new life which allows her to share her time in a more relaxed way with her husband, Anthony, and son, Christopher- including winters in Key West! This seems a well-deserved reward for such a gracious and dedicated professional who gave twenty years of her life to improving and enriching educational opportunities for so many.