The Story Behind Barner’s Retirement

Mr. Barner has been the face of the Lafayette Athletic Department since 1997. All athletes that have come through this building have been impacted by his attitude toward sportsmanship and going above and beyond the expectations.

Jessica Beattie, captain and senior of the LHS swim team said, “Mr. Barner has had a huge impact on our swimming team throughout my four years here. He has always gotten us a charter bus for states, dinner for the team, and hotels.”

Mr. Barner is beyond proud of the Athletic department here at Lafayette. Looking back on the last 19 years of his job here, he said his favorite memory is when the One Act team lost all but one of their members. They had 10 days till conference and Mrs. McCory took stage crew members and made them part of the cast. Not only did the One Act win conference, they won Regionals, and then States.

This is only a metaphor for the obstacles that sometimes get in the way of Lafayette Athletes. However, nothing has stopped Lafayette athletics from being extraordinary for the last 19 years.

Mr. Barner challenges everyone to “find a school in the country of 1,200 kids with the community that has the wealth determined by the state that has won like Lafayette has won with the lack of facility we have.”

The ‘lack of facility’ Barner refers to the absence of an auxiliary gym. Lafayette is the only WJCC High School with no auxiliary gym. Along with that, sports like field hockey, baseball, football, and many others, do not have adequate field or gym space to practice at school. The students have to be transported to the fields at WISC, James Blaire, or the Rec center. The baseball team has to have their home games at WISC while Jamestown and Warhill have their own baseball fields.

Barner shows a lot of frustration with the lack of facilities that Lafayette has. However, he has done a lot to help this issue. With the support of the Booster Club, WJCC has decided after many years to add an auxiliary gym for Lafayette. Though “it should have been done many years ago,” Barner says, it’ll be an important addition to LHS athletics.

Although Barner will not give the reason for his retirement, he says “the icing on the cake” was the Pilot Program that Warhill was given. This Pilot program will allow Warhill to recruit 100 freshmen straight out of middle school. The students will go to Warhill and take specialized classes fit for their interest.

When asked what she thought the benefit to the program was, WJCC’s director of PR & Engagement, Betsy Overkamp-Smith, says, “Any program that enhances student engagement and provides new learning opportunities will be a benefit to the school division. But, more importantly it will be a significant benefit to students.”

However, Lafayette and Jamestown could be harmed by this program. If they each lose their top 30 students because they decide to go to Warhill for the Pilot Program, both high schools will suffer a decrease in SOL scores and thus, could lose funding from the state. While their test scores go down, Warhill’s scores will likely rise as they are gaining the top students.

Not only does this pilot program open new doors academically, but also athletically. Warhill coaches will be allowed to recruit students for the “Pilot Program” but they can also play any WHS sport they choose. If there is a very good baseball player that is going into ninth grade, Warhill is going to try and recruit them to boost their baseball team.

100 students may not seem like a lot, but even one player can change the whole sport, as we saw with the Warhill volleyball team when they won states. A starter on the team was zoned for Lafayette but she was working out with Warhill. WJCC gave her till tryout time to move into Warhill zoning.

According to one student insider who wished to remain anonymous, “They put down an address that someone else lives at. The people who really lived there wrote up a fake mortgage for the player. She shouldn’t have been eligible to play.”

Barner believes that with powerhouses like Julia Howard and Abby Oren, had we had one more, “who knows what could have happened?” This event led to the resignation of the Lafayette volleyball coaches.

Things are looking up for Lafayette. A plan has been approved to build an auxiliary gym at Lafayette. Lafayette and Jamestown are also both hoping to get a pilot program similar to Warhill’s in the coming years.

Barner says, “We have the best kids and we have a group of outstanding coaches. We have 22 varsity sports, 12 of the coaches have been here 15 years or longer and two others have been here around 8 years or longer.  This brings continuity to the school.” He is also proud of the “community service the athletes do, the tutoring of athletes by athletes(I-Pass), and the sportsmanship award.”

Barner will be missed here at Lafayette. And from what he says, he will miss being here as well. Under his leadership, we have won the Wachovia Sportsmanship Award for the last four years, and the significance of accomplishments like this cannot be over-emphasized. Although he leaves big shoes to fill, the entire LHS community wishes him well in his future endeavors. We will be cheering him on and we know he will be doing the same for our athletes and students.