Jeannette Barlow is a P.E. teacher here at Jacksonville High School.  She has been teaching here since 2003 making this her 13^th year.  Though Barlow has always had a love for physical education, it wasn’t what she originally wanted to do.

At first, Barlow attended Lincoln College for two years to get her associate’s degree in criminal justice.  She wanted to go into law enforcement.  Even though she enjoyed it, she knew that criminal justice was not her forte.  So she attended MacMurray College for another two years and got her bachelor’s degree in physical education.  This is when Barlow realized what she wanted to do.  She wanted to be a P.E. teacher.

When asked what she loved most about her job, Mrs. Barlow said, “I love the opportunity to work with kids in a kinesthetic setting.  As a whole, most students want to participate in physical education.  My hope is to impact their lives not only during high school but instill a desire to want to stay healthy after high school.”  This shows that Barlow actually does care about her students and wants to impact their lives permanently and for the better.  She is here to help students develop a healthy lifestyle and healthy habits.

Not only is she known as Mrs. Barlow but also as Coach Barlow.  Her drive to improve the lives of students shows in her coaching.  She is the girls’ basketball coach at JHS.  Many players say she is tough when making them run, but deep down they all know that she just wants to make them better players.  In reality, they all appreciate what Coach Barlow does to make sure they are in good shape and ready to go.

Barlow has always had a desire to help students and it truly shows in her teaching and her coaching.