Retire VA 23 - 27

Barbara Wright retired from fulltime
work at Virginia Western
Community College in 2016, but
continues to teach two sections of
Health 100 each semester.
BARBARA WRIGHT
Barbara Wright, 72, also decided to return
to the classroom after she retired from
Virginia Western Community College.
She started her teaching career in
public schools in West Virginia. After taking
time off to raise her family and relocating
to the Roanoke Valley, she started
teaching at the college as an adjunct
before accepting a full-time position in
2004. She became the program head of
the health and physical education and
recreation program before retiring in 2016.
Itching to start teaching again, Wright
returned to the college as an adjunct as
soon as the state-mandated break in her
service passed.
She now teaches two sections of
Health 100: First Aid & Cardiopulmonary
Resuscitation a semester. She designed it
to accommodate working professionals,
especially teachers who have busy
schedules. The class meets on Friday
evenings and Saturdays, as well as online.
The importance of having first aid and
CPR skills, she says, is why she feels the
need to continue teaching the class. " I feel
there's a need for it and I feel I do more
than the average Red Cross instructor in
terms of throwing in practical stuff, " she
says.
As a former administrator, Wright can
attest to the benefits of adjuncts who can
bring in outside perspectives. She points
to Michael Shmerkin, an former Israeli
Olympic athlete, who she met by chance
at an ice rink and ended up hiring to teach
ice skating. " He brought in an experience
these kids would never see, " she says. " He
did backflips on the ice for us. " I
RETIRE-VA 2024 / Retire-VA.com 27
COURTESY OF BARBARA WRIGHT
http://www.Retire-VA.com
Retire VA 23

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