ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A teacher who has served three generations of families in Albuquerque is retiring from teaching after 50 years of service. Though, she’s still not ready to leave education entirely behind.
A woman with a passion for teaching and love for kids, coach Barbara Anderson, better known as ‘Coach Andy’, has left her mark at LBJ Middle School. Beginning her career in 1972, Anderson started as a P.E. teacher at Taylor Middle School, fulfilling her dream of teaching dating back to when she was in 4th grade. She then went from Taylor to Lincoln Middle School, and from there to Cibola High School. In 1991, Lyndon Baines Johnson Middle School was built, and she helped open the school.
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“We built a community here. We built a community in this community. And I think that it’s something that everybody has a good stamp on,” said Anderson.
Anderson spearheaded the launch of middle school sports teams in Albuquerque Public Schools in 2003. Later in 2005, LBJ named its newly built gym in her honor. In the 32 years she has been at LBJ, coworkers and those who know her best, say she helped them be better teachers and better people.
“When I first started teaching she introduced me to all the staff, the administrative staff, and made sure I was comfortable. That’s the kind of person she is, she is always there for you,” said a close friend of Anderson and fellow teacher,” Roberta Greenberg.
Anderson’s friends thanked her as she started her new chapter when she returns to campus next year to serve as the school’s athletic director. “Barb, it’s been an amazing run. You taught me a lot of ways to be a better teacher,” said friend and former teacher, Leo McTigue. “She’s retiring from teaching, but she’s not retiring from she’s not tired. She’s truly our golden girl,” said Greenberg.
Anderson says she plans to spend her summer in Alaska helping kids in the youth sports parks rec program. “You get so much back from it, you can give a ton to it, but you get tons more back,” Anderson said.
