Young Man Upward Bound!

After graduating magna cum laude with a degree in Philosophy from the Honors College at Texas State University Jackson Barr ('16) is working for the University and their Upward Bound program. He works with activities that help underprivileged high school students prepare for college. Congrats Jackson, well done!

And then, as it turns out, here is Mrs. Christine Barr, Jackson’s mother, who teaches at St. Pius X High School, with Ethan Salmons (‘23) and Gabe Graham (‘22), all proud members of SHELL! There are no coincidences in life, of course! The Barr family is a founding family of Western back in 2010 to boot!

One of Jackson’s teachers at Western, Mr. Mitch Thomas, had good things to say about Jackson…

"I first met Jackson ten years ago when I began my time teaching at WA as an 8th grade history teacher.  Even then, I knew Jackson was sui generis, as far as student go. Always engaged in class but he was gregarious and witty to boot. To say he was a bit of an "old soul" would certainly not stretch credulity. When he learned that I taught philosophy classes at a local community college, he was enthralled. How many 8th graders would want to spend some of their break time talking about Socrates or Kierkegaard?”