Meet Barbara Cheney

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Barbara Cheney. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Barbara, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience:

I think my time as a student in the classroom laid my resilience foundation.

Even in my early school years, I loved to read and learn. While in the first few weeks of 3rd grade, I was suddenly promoted into the 4th grade. One moment I was in my seat in 3rd, and suddenly I was zipped off to Mr Lawson’s 4th grade classroom. I had determined to learn to write in cursive, which was taught in the 3rd grade. In 2nd grade, I had tried to write my name in cursive, and my teacher would take a red pencil and ruler and draw a dark line through my name. Then she would boldly print my name in red pen and hand me back my paper. I was determined to show her I could learn how to write my name. I didn’t get the cursive writing lessons I’d hoped for.

I struggled in 8th grade Algebra class, but didn’t want my teacher to know how hard it was for me. My mother spent time helping me work the problems, and I learned to love Algebra because she taught me it is a “language” and way of thinking, I feared my Algebra teacher, but in later years I realized she was helping me more to develop my character than developing my Algebraic skills. Her motto was, “First we make our habits, and then our habits make us.”

I went off to college thinking college would be the place where I would learn knowledge and wisdom. I envisioned it as a place where I could immerse myself in books and reading. Instead, I found myself in my freshman year with a roommate who hated me. One day she moved all my bedding and all my “stuff” into the room across the hall, swapping me out for another girl she liked there. I was thankful the girl who stayed in that room liked me, and we got along well all freshman year. It was a deep grief to me to learn she and her dear husband died together a few years ago in a car crash.

But I learned early that I had to deal with unexpected events, with people who did not like me, and with the struggles that are needed to get where you “want to be.”

In my adult years many medical issues have shaped me. I have had meniscus tears removed from both knees, two knee replacements (2014 and 2018), along with a Monteggia fracture from a tumble onto concrete leading an outside bootcamp, requiring 2 surgeries along with a bone graft from my hip into my arm. This required 1.5 years of therapy to restore as much movement as possible.

My involvement with sports has grown my resilience as well. My husband was involved in observed trials motorcycles when we married in 1973. I joined him in that and became the first woman in the trials association to compete in the Men’s Junior class. Because of his encouragement, I also learned how to snow ski, water ski, earn a firearms certification and compete in firearms competition. As he was a flight instructor, I learned to fly and earned my private pilot’s license. My scariest moment was getting buzzed by an F-16 just out of Davis-Monthan AFB as I was trying to fly into Tucson International!

I also had a difficult time with the birth of our second child in 1991 when I hemorrhaged after the birth and needed a blood transfusion along with two surgeries. While I’d felt fine through the difficult situation, the reality was I was dying. Doctors told me my hematocrit was so low they could not believe I was actually talking to them. They told me my years of physical activity in sports and weightlifting were what had kept me in good physical condition to handle the situation!

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

When I was in my junior year of college, I developed a bad case of the flu. It sent me to the school infirmary. My health was so bad that after I recovered, I was behind in my studies. I elected to drop out of the School of Liberal Arts as I knew I could not keep up in my Spanish class. I transferred into the School of Education. I graduated with a degree in English and a BA in Secondary Education (and never finished the Spanish class!)

When our children were young, we decided we want to homeschool them. When they were in 7th and 9th grades, we joined a homeschool tutorial group. It was there I began to teach other students and enjoyed teaching 4th grade math and high school Biology. As years went by, I taught at 3 private Christian schools in English, Logic, Latin Roots, and PE. Later, I taught in homeschool tutorials, teaching American History, Logic, and English in grades 6-12. I also wrote and edited articles for the Middle Tennessee Home School Education newsletter for 6 years. I am now a mentor to teachers in a growing homeschool tutorial. Working with students and alongside classroom teachers excites me because I can contribute my life experiences and knowledge gleaned from them into their lives too.

In 2020, I helped coach women ages 18-72 in a 16-week Transformation Fitness program. As a competitive powerlifter, I know strength training and cardio work are crucial to health and wellness. It was a delight to see 32 ladies of all ages work together to become “champions” in the gym!

I also enjoy helping students learn how to study and be able to express themselves in writing and in speaking. Sometimes people ask me why I would want to be with students in grades 6-12 at my age of 75. I love being with the students because they are still developing their thoughts about themselves and about the world. I love seeing them learn to stand before a group and share a memorized poem or present their position with evidence in a discussion. They bring life to my life, and it is my goal to bring life into theirs!

This year I’m mentoring teachers with inservice programs and 1/1 times discussing classroom management skills and various ways to help students interact with the material and with each other.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Being involved in sports along with the medical issues I’ve faced has developed my spirit of tenacity and determination.

When I shattered my left elbow with the Monteggia fracture, my first thought was, “Well, how are you going to come back from THIS?” I decided I would, and it would be one day at. time doing whatever it took. I only broke down after a therapy session one time, flinging my face into a towel and crying for 15 minutes. Then I asked God to continue my healing. My arm therapist told me the day we officially completed my therapy that he never dreamed I would come back from the Monteggia fracture. He said my arm was a mess, and the day he saw my x-rays he shook his head. I asked him what kept him going working with me? He told me it was my resolve to go “all the way back or as far as I could” to a regular arm, and so he had committed to that too!

I read Unleash the Warrior Within by Navy seal Richard Machowicz; I watched his videos and adopted the motto, “Not dead, can’t quit!” In addition to his book, my mental toughness has further developed from reading, Winning State Strength Sports: Advanced Mental Toughness Tactics by Steve Knight. His book helped me craft my thoughts toward seeing every obstacle as an opportunity!

Another book that impacted me as a teacher and trainer is Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov. Early in my classroom teaching years, I discerned I did not maintain control of my classroom because I did not have a solid classroom management plan. I realized that my classroom was to represent a space where I’d be a representative of care, wise boundaries, and useful knowledge and discussions. My first powerlifting coach used to call me “Champion” and I began to see myself as a “champion” in the classroom, but also a champion and “shepherd” for all my students in that room. That changed how I viewed the classroom and any teaching afterwards.

The third area that has been the most impactful in my journey is a knowledge of the Bible, God’s Word. When struggling with a situation in the classroom, in a powerlifting arena, and even in a brain MRI without drugs to help relax me, I reminded myself that “God will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” God’s Word steadies me, and it reminds me that I am never alone.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

When we moved to Florida at the end of 2020, my health was good. Then I developed Sjogrens Syndrome and had two teeth develop dark patches. Along with that I lost a good part of my hearing; one day I realized I couldn’t hear the “tick-tock” of our grandfather clock, and while I could see birds chirping, I could not hear them. These two sudden “challenges” required medical help and we elected to move back to Tennessee where I had a previous team of doctors who could help me.

My current issues: In November 2024, I had a cardiac ct test (main artery clear but not all good results), followed shortly after by a meeting with a cardiologist to discuss the results. As my family has a history of heart disease, that led to an EKG (good), along with a treadmill test (good). After that came an aortic aneurysm test as my mother had died suddenly from this. My results were good. Most recently I have had an echocardiogram, which came out good as well.

While all this testing was going on, my challenge was to refrain from becoming anxious that I might drop dead any time. Due to the stress, I bypassed a national powerlifting meet but did attend it and enjoyed helping work the event! The goal now is to lower my test scores and I am now on a new nutrition plan to help that happen. I am feeling strong again and ready to train in the gym!

Contact Info:

• Facebook: Barbara Cheney

Image Credits

Image credits:

Terry Cheney
Tim Cordova
Kay Carver
Robert McKenzie