The “Be Golden” award is a faculty and staff recognition program at the high school. It is given to a teacher or staff that is making a difference at Tyrone.

This award is given weekly by a faculty/staff member to another faculty/staff member. Whoever receives the trophy on Friday is responsible for awarding it to someone else the following week. The only criteria are to give it to someone who has done something to make the school a better place.

“With the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) initiative in our school, we want to not only recognize students for being golden but staff members as well,” said Shannon Davis, the award program coordinator, “This is a way to personally thank people we work with every day, but don’t always have the chance to show them how much they are appreciated.”

Last week the award went to special education teacher Mrs. Sarah Latchford.

She chose to give the award to paraprofessional Mr. Barry Herr.

Mrs. Latchford quote:

“I nominate Mr. Herr for the Golden Eagle Award because he is always coming to the rescue when we need him.  Mr. Herr is willing to do whatever is asked of him without hesitation. He tackles any task with ease and never complains. Mr. Herr is an asset to our district. He is always working crossing duty before and after school, helping out in classrooms during the day, and then doing security in the evenings. He enjoys working with our students and our students enjoy working with him. Thank you Mr. Herr for EVERYTHING you do for Tyrone!”

The Eagle Eye interviewed Mr. Herr about being this week’s award winner:

Eagle Eye: Why did you go into education?

Barry Herr: “I actually started working as a summertime custodian for the school and also doing security work, and enjoyed my time working here. Then there was an opportunity to apply for a paraprofessional position and being that I had a degree from Penn State took that leap and have enjoyed every day of it. Being able to help the students and help them understand and learn is very rewarding.” 

EE: What makes Tyrone a good place to work?

BH: “I can say that I have a lot of friends that I work with that makes it a good place to work, and the students- all greet you both inside and outside of school, making it feel like your making a difference in someone’s day.”

EE: Is this your dream job? If not, what is?

BH: “It definitely is. Before I went to college, I actually worked in the strip mines as a blaster and running a drill rig. And for that job you were required to work in all conditions of weather from extreme hot to frigid cold, and working long hours. And many times you would be out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night drilling for coal. Then I worked many years in retail stores as the Loss Prevention Manager. With the change in times this position was becoming more and more dangerous not knowing if the next shoplifter was possibly carrying and many causing injury to shoppers or myself. I now have a job that isn’t as stressful, working with kids that seem to enjoy their time with me, and not being outside in the different elements- the body is getting too old for that!”