Mr. Barry Thomas was born and raised in St. Louis, Michigan where he lived until moving to El Paso, Texas to become an administrator in 2008. His wife, Amy is really smart and a wonderful problem solver and her career led their family from Texas to Oklahoma. There they enjoyed horses and tornadoes until returning to Michigan three years ago to be closer to family and friends. Now they are residents of Merrill, where they have a small farm with what he considers to be way too many animals.
Mr. Thomas started his educational career as a coach and substitute in Gratiot County while pursuing his educational degrees at Central Michigan University. Before becoming an administrator he was a middle school Language Arts and Social Studies teacher and a coach at Breckenridge jr/sr /high school for ten years. He has over 25 years of experience in education, in Michigan, Texas, and Oklahoma. These last 15 of those years he has served as an assistant principal and principal in both middle and high schools across those three states. He has met amazing people from all over the country and loves that education has brought him such amazing experiences.
A graduate of Central Michigan University, he holds a Master of Education in School Principalship and a Bachelors of Science and Arts degrees in both English and History. He has held both teaching and administrative certifications in three different states and currently holds Michigan certifications in Secondary Education 6-12 English, and 6-12 History, as well as his K-12 School Administrator Certification.
Mr. Thomas is a firm believer that if you do what you love you will love what you do. When we are engaging and having fun everyone wins. He is looking forward to working with the staff, students and families of Herig Elementary. He intends to provide the opportunity for everyone to have a safe, successful, and fun school year.