Some people head to the beach for spring break, but Barry Walters ’85 heads for the keyboard.

As a teacher turned principal, that’s the time he has to pursue his other passion — writing.  During school breaks he managed to write his first novel — titled Fouling Out, a tale of two troubled boys, recently published by Orca Books, that explores the emotional roller coaster of early adolescence.

His day job is principal at Halfmoon Bay Elementary, a school of about 200 students in an isolated community in Canada accessible only by ferry. He shared the editing process with some older students. And when the proofs of his book arrived, “I didn’t open the package till I was with my sixth- and seventh-grade reading group. It was very exciting for them.”

He’s working on another juvenile novel, but teaching remains his first love.

“When you teach, you’re interacting on a daily basis with the students — that’s where the satisfaction is.”