Barbara Aston

Everyone has those few teachers who they will never forget...for me, most of those teachers have been my college professors (not sure how I got so lucky!).

This past month, PCA (the communication club at Fresno State) had the great idea of putting together a monthly newsletter to keep people informed about upcoming events and also have "monthly features" where we talk about anything we feel is important. For our first edition, we decided to put together a piece about our club advisor, Barbara Aston. Barbara is a retired teacher from the central valley but generously dedicates her time to teaching communication courses at Fresno State. Anyone who knows her will tell you that she is the most loving and warm hearted woman.

Meet Barbara Aston:

Barbara Aston is one of the many inspiring teachers in the Communication Department at CSU Fresno, and has been incredibly involved with PCA. She has such enthusiasm and passion for teaching, with specific regard to instructional communication. She uses hands-on activities that are not only lots of fun for her students, but are also applicable in keeping children with multiple intelligences engaged with new material as you would use teaching in your own classroom setting. You'll often find her baking things "from scratch" for her students, and spreading joy to all those who know and love her. She has also built the reputation for having great musical taste!

Barbara taught for more than 30 years and has received the Teacher of the Year award for Clovis Unified School District. She also has worked as a consultant for the Aims Foundation where she mentored teachers in the areas of math and science. She traveled throughout the US giving workshops on teaching practice.

Barbara has 2 children, Amy, who is a teacher in Compton, and Rob, who works in the music industry in Los Angeles. Her husband Bill, also local teacher, is her best friend, and keeps Barbara’s light spirit and sense of humor alive, even in spite of his affinity for cable hunting shows…

Due to budget cuts, unfortunately Barbara’s future at Fresno State is far from certain. Don’t miss your chance to meet and be inspired by her knowledge and passion for teaching! Her door is always open to any student, and she has been a mentor for many of us both academically and personally. We love you Barbara!

('PAWS FOR THOUGHT', November 2009)

Me, Jennie, Roshana, & Barbara volunteering at the Community Food Bank.