Brooke Barnett: The girl who brought the Orange Beach City Schools track home

Brooke Barnett: The girl who brought the Orange Beach City Schools track home

Brooke Barnett was thirteen years old and a seventh grader at Orange Beach Middle and High School. Her lifelong passion had always been running.
In 2023, as excitement buzzed around the potential of a new gym, field house, practice area, and stadium, there came a moment when it wasn’t clear whether a track would be part of the final project. Brooke doesn’t remember exactly how she heard the news, maybe it was a comment at track practice, but she knew one thing: action was needed.
“We have been running on grass and asphalt for years,” Brooke recalled. “We were never sure of the distance. We just ran farther than we thought we should and hoped for the best when we got to the competition.”
Not knowing what else to do, Brooke composed an email to Orange Beach City Schools Superintendent Randy Wilkes. The message was articulate, thoughtful, and passionate. Wilkes initially assumed she was an adult due to the content of the message.
“I don’t believe I had ever received an email from a student,” Wilkes said. “I’m pretty sure I replied, ‘Ms. Barnett.’ It didn’t take long before I realized she was a student, found her in the hallway during class change, and invited her to meet with me in the school conference room.”
Her maturity and poise immediately struck Wilkes.
“Her articulation and demeanor blew me away,” he said. “At that moment, I promised her I’d do all I could to get the track back in the project.”
Fast forward to today: not only is the track complete, but state-of-the-art field equipment has also been installed, including pole vault, high jump, shot put, discus, javelin, and both long and triple jump runways.
This past week, Superintendent Wilkes invited Brooke and her mother, Carey, to complete the honorary first official lap on the newly striped track. Brooke didn’t hesitate; she brought her running gear to school the very next day.
“There’s a cushion in the track,” Brooke said, smiling. “It bounces back, and that’s got to be better on our knees.”
On the aesthetics, she added, “It’s beautiful. No other school has a track this nice, and the orange and blue really stand out. It looks like it belongs here.”
Now a sophomore, Brooke holds the school record in the 1600 and 3200-meter runs. But her true legacy isn’t just measured in minutes or meters; the impact of her voice marks it. Her courage to speak up helped shape the future of athletics at Orange Beach City Schools, proving that even one student can make a difference.