Carmen Doane-Barkan is a star on the stage, as a mom, and in the classroom.
She acted as an extra in the Leonardo DiCaprio film J. Edgar, recorded with Brazilian radio artist Sergio Martinez, has four tattoos, and volunteered to help those in need after Hurricane Katrina. She is a strong believer in permaculture, even weaving it into her master’s thesis, and plans to get her PhD. On top of all of this, she is Ojai Valley School’s new AP psychology teacher, weeknd coordinator, and dorm parent.
From the moment she came to the Ojai Valley School as a student in 1997, she knew that this was the school for her. Even when she graduated in 1999, she knew that, one day, she would be led back to the school she loved.
“I’m going to go back to Ojai, raise my family, and I’m going to work at Ojai Valley School,” she thought right after graduating. “That’s what’s going to happen.”
She was born in Santa Monica in 1981 and moved to Ojai five years later. She went to Saint Bonaventure High School until sophomore year, when she transferred to OVS.
She found out about OVS through science teacher Lisa Boyd, who was the director of a choir she was involved in. Mrs. Boyd had invited her to see the OVS musical and, after attending, Mrs. Barkan fell in love with energy and the sense of community she saw. After the play, she convinced her parents to let her apply and the rest was history.
After finishing high school, she graduated from her undergraduate studies at UCLA in 2003, majoring in art. She returned to OVS 13 years later as the weekend coordinator.
In the years between graduating from college and returning to work at OVS, she spent time discovering herself as an artist and person. She acted in short films and on stage, auditioned for various roles, and built upon her passion for dancing.
“I found that I had a very natural ability to dance and to pick up choreography really quickly and easily,” Mrs. Barkan said. “It was just like it had been living in my body this whole time and I didn’t realize that until like my late twenties”
In 2004, she did a vision quest, a Native American expedition that marks a right of passage, with the Condor Clan. At the age of 22, Mrs. Barkan prepared for six months for her quest. She completed a four-day fast on a mountain where she received her vision.
“I prepared the native way to go out onto Mother Earth, to seek my vision, to ceremonially die to the life I had before, to walk in the footsteps of my anointed Self, to receive a new name, and accept my inheritance and purpose” Mrs. Barkan said.
Four years after her vision quest, she married her husband, Jared, and had her first child, Luna. She later gave birth to her second daughter, Rua, in 2012. In the summer of 2017, Mrs. Barkan completed her masters degree, five days before giving birth to her third child, Nova, and started working at OVS three weeks after. Ms. Barkan, Jared, Luna, Rua, and Nova all live in the Ojai Valley School Hermes dormitory.
Now, a year later, she works as the weekend coordinator, AP psychology teacher, and helps out Mrs. Boyd in the musical. She is not only an influence on her children, Mrs. Barkan influences the lives of her students and dorm children. Senior Lilli Trompke, a student in her AP psychology class and the weekend representative in student council, has experienced this influence first hand.
“Her position as a mother transfers to her performance as a dorm parent,” Lilli said. “She is much more than a woman doing her job; she treats us as one of her own [children].”
In class, she stands out as well. Although it is her first year teaching, she’s already made a big impact on her AP Psychology students. Student Caroline Morrow explains how amazing it feels to learn from a teacher who cares about the subject.
“Throughout my whole life, I’ve always had an interest in psychology,” Caroline said. “Mrs. Barkan has the same level of interest in the subject as I do, so learning from her is really special.”