Barry Keith
Proctoring Director, Tutor
Barry Keith has taught students in French and Spanish at Monticello High School since its opening in 1998. He has served with the College Board as a reader for the AP French exam yearly since 2005 and taught at the Governor’s French Academy from 2010-2020. He has also arranged an ongoing homestay exchange with a high school in Besançon, France, Charlottesville’s sister city.
Barry was fortunate to study French under Madame Lederman and Madame Ferree at Albemarle High School and Professeur Welch at the College of William & Mary. Each of them inspired him to deepen his proficiency and cultural understanding and to want to give back to new generations of students.
Barry admires a good number of his students at Monticello. Students who are willing to take risks, such as being willing to speak in a language without knowing they have it just right, are brave. Students who say hello to kids outside their friend group or sit with the fellow student who is alone are brave, too.
Barry believes he should serve as an instrument to help make the lives of others richer and more agreeable during his passage on earth. Helping to facilitate Clayborne’s mission, often behind the scenes, is one way to do that. Folks who contribute to our common good, through listening, working for social justice, helping others learn, or just being kind are inspiring.
Barry enjoys learning new things. He agrees with a professor friend that he knows quite little and that knowing that fact is a nugget of wisdom. Of all the Claybornites, he is oddly lacking in weird skills or hidden talents; even at Scrabble, in which he holds an expert-level rating, he only holds down the third board on Clayborne’s team. Of the skills he lacks, Barry wishes he had worked to learn to sing better than he can or to play one or more instruments like his church-musician parents, since music is a universal language that brings pleasure to many people.
In the future, Barry hopes to travel more extensively in the French-speaking world, to hike on the Appalachian Trail, and to take a lengthy “Scrabbatical” playing wherever the game is enjoyed.
Barry has three grown children. He enjoys reading; favorite authors include Bill Bryson, John Irving, and Philippe Labro. He also enjoys collecting stamps and playing various board and card games.