Tupelo teacher proves hard work can bring lasting results
Thomas Street Music Teacher Lee Anne Barnes always pushes her students to do their best. She also pushes herself to do more than expected, whether in the classroom or her favorite pastime, long-distance running. Barnes recently ran the New York City Marathon, representing Team TCS, which supports teachers.
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Thomas Street Music Teacher Lee Anne Barnes always pushes her students to do their best. She also pushes herself to do more than expected, whether in the classroom or her favorite pastime, long-distance running. Barnes recently ran the New York City Marathon, representing Team TCS, which supports teachers.
“I had been doing half marathons for about the past eleven years, eleven years since I did a full and I was excited I was able to complete it standing up,” Barnes said.
For Barnes, running and lifestyle changes, such as sticking to a healthy diet, have transformed her life.
Twenty years ago, Barnes weighed nearly 300 pounds. She began making lifestyle changes, one step at a time.
“I started a walking program in 2007 after I got through walking, I decided it would be a good idea to run, my mother passed away from breast cancer, so I entered the breast cancer 5 k and after that, I was hooked on running,” Barnes said.
A setback in 2016 temporarily derailed her running.
“I went through some physical changes women go through, and as a result, I regained 100 pounds, that was a dark time in my life, I could not run anymore, and I became depressed,” Barnes said. “Underwent vertical gastric sleeve surgery and I got back on track, lost the 100 pounds, and now running again.”
Barnes completed the Chicago marathon a month before the New York marathon. She has also run 37 half marathons in 17 states. Barnes hopes her story inspires others to make healthy choices and wants to encourage and motivate her students.
“I’ve noticed some students, especially hard to reach, telling me, ‘Mrs Barnes, you did something hard, you ran a marathon, and if you can do hard things, I can do hard things too,'” Barnes said. “In the past week, I’ve had a student tell me they learned how to do something hard, tie their shoes and I had another tell me that they learned to do subtraction with borrowing.”
Barnes says she is also inspired by her students she dedicated the New York City Marathon to all of her classes at Thomas Street Elementary.
