Mr. Jon Barber teaches Technology Exploratory Classes at J.T. Henley Middle School in Albemarle County Public Schools in Virginia to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. 

​​ Born in Crozet, Virginia, a few days after SkyLab 2 was launched, Mr. Barber has a strong connection to video games, Star Wars, and exploration. He rode bikes and played Nerf football, Lacrosse, or Wiffle Ball as many days​ as possible until Mama Barber made him come home for family dinner. His dad worked for the phone company, following a lot of engineering background, both in the Air Force and out, and frequently took his son Jon out to the garage to fix all manner of things.  The Herculoids, Thundarr the Barbarian, and Spiderman & his Amazing Friends kept Mr. Barber’s attention on Saturday mornings, while the original Nintendo (Legend of Zelda!) and MTV kept him busy ​when he wasn’t outside running/riding bikes around the neighborhood. Lifeguarding and owning a 1980 Jeep CJ-5 are perhaps the biggest influences that have led him to a life of flip-flops, swimming, and spending as much time as possible in the sunshine.

After switching majors a few times at the University of Virginia (proud ‘Hoo for life!), Mr. Barber finally found his way to the School of Education and the History department, eventually earning a Master of Teaching and a Bachelor of Arts in 1996 (double 'Hoo!). He worked for sixteen years in Fluvanna County, teaching US History, English, and even Hawaii “Academic Enrichment” to Middle Schoolers. During this time, Mr. Barber bought a house in Charlottesville and attended 2 World Series. He moved to Walton Middle School in 2012 to teach English, Advanced English, and Scratch programming. In 2013, Walton’s administration tapped him to branch out to teaching coding, technology, including woodworking and Mechatronics, and even Media Technology to exploratory students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. In 2017, "Mr. B" made the move over to Henley Middle to take over their Mechatronics Lab and reintroduce woodworking to the shop. If you follow @hoosjon on BlueSky, hopefully, you agree it's been a success! 

During his downtime, Mr. Barber enjoys reading, spending time with his family/friends, grilling, swimming/kayaking in the Atlantic Ocean, lakes, and pools, and 4-wheeling in his Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. He is a UVa fan (especially basketball, football, and baseball), and a lover of Beaches 🏝️, Baseball ⚾️(Braves), (Jimmy) Buffett 🏖️🎶, Barbeque 🍖, and probably a whole bunch of other things that start with B.​