Cooper High School Athletic Director John Oelfke  and retired District 281 teacher Barbara Lehman, were all smiles as they stood at a podium in the center of the Cooper High School football field Friday, Sept. 4, and applauded the unveiling of a sign dedicating the Barbara A. Lehman Stadium. The ceremony took place prior to the start of the Hawks’ football home opener.

Lehman, a resident of Brooklyn Park, spent her entire 42-year career in education in Robbinsdale District 281, first as a teacher at Sandburg Junior High, then at Plymouth Junior High, as a coach for alpine skiing, basketball, speed swimming and women’s golf at Cooper High School, and finally as the athletic director at Cooper High School.

During her tenure as the first female athletic director in the school’s history, Lehman developed high speed swimming programs and intramural programs for volleyball and basketball, spearheaded initiatives for improved facilities and devoted much of her energy and time working for gender equity in high school athletics.

Since her retirement in 2001, Lehman has waged a battle with ovarian cancer that metastasized to her brain. But she has continued to work as Robbinsdale Area Schools’ wellness coordinator and consultant and coached boys’ golf at Cooper until 2008. She remains involved in the Minnesota State High School League and received a Special Merit Award from the Classic Lake Conference in 2007.

(Sue Webber - Sun Newspapers - Wednesday, September 16, 2009)