Staff Photo
Olympics legend and former Rogers High School teacher Barbara Jones Slater (center) cuts a ribbon at a ceremony dedicating the Michigan City High School track and field in her name on April 26, 2022.
MCHS names track and field after former Rogers High teacher Barbara Jones Slater
By Iyanna Adkins
Staff Writer
MICHIGAN CITY – Michigan City had a legend in its presence last month.
The Michigan City High School track and field was named after former Rogers High School teacher and Olympian Barbara Jones Slater on April 26 at Michigan City High School.
Jones Slater was honored to have the track and field dedicated to her.
“When the education system says, ‘I approve, you did a job well done,’ that’s the greatest honor you can ever receive from anyone, especially from your peers,” Jones Slater said.
Jones Slater was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1937. She is the youngest female of all time to win a gold medal in the Olympics. At 15 years, 123 days old, she was a member of the U.S. 4×100-meter relay team that won the gold in Helsinki, Finland, in 1952.
She later won another Olympic gold medal as a member of the 4×100 relay team in 1960 in Rome, Italy.
In total, she won 335 medals and 56 trophies throughout her career.
She taught health and physical education at Barker Junior High (now Barker Middle School) for two years before teaching at Rogers from 1978-1984. While there, she unofficially coached student-athletes on the school’s track and field team, and mentored over 300 girls on the Rogers Raiderettes dance team.
Shalonda Morrow, a Michigan City Area Schools discipline secretary, had Jones Slater as a mentor. She recalls being proud when she was younger to be in the presence of Jones Slater.
“She taught me how to carry myself and how to walk upright regardless of the situation I might have been in,” Morrow said. “And all the girls that she has coached have gone on to do wonderful things in life.”
The dedication is far from the first honor Jones Slater has received.
In 2007, she was awarded the Presidential Champions Medal on Fitness by President George W. Bush. In 2010, she was awarded President Barack Obama’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council on Health & Fitness, Sports & Nutrition.
Awards like these are the result of Jones Slater dedicating herself to what she believes in.
“Whenever you are persistent and determined, you expect and accept failure,” Jones Slater said. “Because you have to fail in order to succeed.”