Brendon Barrios, a fresh face at Masters, joined the History Department this year. He teaches World History and has become a vital part of the department right off the bat. From the minute you walk into a classroom with Barrios, you can tell that he is not an ordinary teacher. His compassion for students makes him stand out in the crowd.

Barrios takes his teaching outside the textbook to real life concepts and lessons that he believes all his students should know and take to heart. His best memory on campus is of his first day, seeing and meeting new and interesting characters, knowing that these would be the students he would spend the year with.

As a child, Barrios moved around the country every two to three years. Despite his constant moving, people still took the time to help him. Barrios says he feels obligated to give back because of all the people who contributed to his own growth, putting the same effort into each of his students as he felt his own teachers put into him.

“So many people put a lot of time into making who I am today,” he said. “That’s the main part of why I became a teacher.”

He had many mentors growing up but specifically recalled his senior year English teacher, who has strongly influenced his own teaching style. “She taught us life lessons, skills you need to know in the real world, besides English concepts. She taught everything from relationships to current events to life lessons.” Barrios added, “She absolutely influences my teaching now.”

Barrios is most looking forward to growing his relationships with his students. “I can’t wait to watch them grow old and finally graduate,” he said.

Besides being a teacher, Barrios is very passionate about sports and traveling. He likes watching soccer, college football and the Giants whenever he has free time.

Barrios wasn’t always the soccer player that he is today. In his freshman year of high school, he was cut from the JV soccer team and became very discouraged. After realizing how much soccer meant to him, he swore to himself he would do everything possible to make sure he made the team next year. After many hours of practice, Barrios made the team the next year and was a starter on the varsity squad his junior and senior years.

Barrios serves as assistant soccer coach for the boy’s JV 1 team and faculty advisor for Model United Nations (MUN). He devotes a large amount of his time to MUN, inspiring many students to join and go to conferences around the country.