PASCAGOULA—“Oh, cool. We have a sub today.”
Those words ring out in the hallway when students realize the regular teacher has been replaced with a substitute, usually because that means there will be no work and lots of chaos for the day. But not when Mr. B is in charge.
Students and teachers alike request Mr. Don Barron as the substitute in the classroom because he will follow the teacher’s plans for the day, and the students show him respect, and consistency in the classroom is so important.
Don Barron, AKA Mr. B., has been a staple in classrooms across the Pascagoula-Gautier School District for the past 20 years. Unlike some substitute teachers who just maintain order, he brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experiences and finds a way to connect with students.
“Mr. B”
Being a substitute teacher has its highs and lows, but Mr. B. said the highs far outweigh the lows.
“I love when I hear my current or former students say to me that I’m the very best sub they’ve ever had,” he said. “Teachers tell me their students ask for me to be their sub, and that they agree!
He said he has been in classrooms at every grade level but spends his time now in high school classrooms. After a lifetime of careers in various leadership roles, he said he was bored in retirement and needed something to do.
“In 2004, I was bored, and between my fiancé and a church friend who was a school teacher, Freda Stephenson, I started subbing in the Moss Point School System,” he recalls. “After Hurricane Katrina, Tara Garriga, asked me to sub at Cornerstone Christian Academy and PGSD. In 2009, sub jobs were exclusively at PGSD.”
The experiences he brings to the classroom range from Vietnam to owning a fast-food restaurant. He is a 1964 graduate of Pascagoula High School where he was a baseball standout. He attended the University of Mississippi on a baseball scholarship before an injury cut short his playing career. He was able to play at the junior college level leading Perkinston Junior College to its first ever Mississippi Junior College State Baseball Championship.
While working toward his degree in finance and marketing at the University of Southern Mississippi, his education was cut short due to the Vietnam War when he enlisted with the United States Air Force. This was his first teaching experience where he taught the art of survival in any climate or environment. He was honorably discharged in June 1973.
Since his military discharge, he has held multiple leadership positions in coastal Alabama and Florida, including Commercial Lending Officer at First National Bank of Mobile, Vice President at Mobile Infirmary Medical Center, Gulf Coast Regional Manager for Baxter Health Care, Regional Marketing Manager for Coca Cola Bottling Company, and President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of South Alabama.
But wait, there is more! He has held numerous positions on local, state, and national boards and organizations, and his expertise lies in start-ups and reorganizations, lobbying, public affairs, strategic planning, and marketing and was the owner and operator of several Quizno’s restaurants in Baldwin County, Alabama.
He is also the founder and first president of the Sigma Nu fraternity chapter at the University of Southern Mississippi and recently rotated off the Board of Trustees for Singing River Health System where he served for 10 years.
Photo credit: Don Barron
He is a resident of Pascagoula with his wife, Debbie, and together they have three sons, one daughter and eleven grandchildren. He is active with the First Baptist Church of Pascagoula, where he has served as a deacon, usher, Sunday school teacher, choir member, and interpreter for the deaf. He also enjoys building furniture and working in the yard.
“Our children are scattered all over the country: Colorado, Texas, Alabama and here in Pascagoula; and our grandchildren range in age from 28 to 5, 6 boys and 5 girls,” Barron said.
While his family and community life are rich, he said the benefits of being a long-time substitute are fulfilling.
“When shopping or out at events, I hear someone calling my name, “Mr B”, and I look around, and it’s one of my current or former students rushing over to hug me and talk. Sometimes they are with their parents and we talk,” he said.
“I enjoy the satisfaction and fullness as a person seeing students succeed in class and a successful career. Even the ‘troublesome students’ that I’ve sent to the office or written up say they understand why I had to do what I did, and I’m still their favorite sub!”
So, Mr. B. doesn’t have to carry a big stick…his actions and experience do the work for him.
