Three Great Samford University Moments for GranFran

     Recently, GranFran had the opportunity to spend three special days with her beloved School of Education at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. This is the school where she taught Elementary and Early Childhood Education for 28 years, and where my dad, Dr. John Carter, taught Secondary Education for 31 years, retiring as Dean of the School.

GranFran with students from Samford University and Miles College,
teaming up to host the John and Frances Carter
Young Authors Day for third-grade students

Book activities for Esperanza Rising

So it's not surprising that several years ago Mother and Dad set up the John and Frances Carter Young Authors Day -- a day in which SU Education majors in their Junior year team up with students from Miles College, also in Birmingham, to host third-graders from Trace Crossings Elementary School for a day of book-related activities, reading, and authors.
     What fun!
   

GranFran with three recipients of the
John and Frances Carter
Award Scholarship

     Then it was time for the School of Education Awards Night, and GranFran got to be present for the awarding of the John and Frances Carter Award Scholarships. These honor the top student in each of the Education majors. And what an impressive bunch of teachers is headed to the field!
   

The John and Fran Endowed Scholarship
for Teacher Education is now
a reality!

    And this year, another special day: GranFran was able to complete and sign into effect the John and Fran Carter Endowed Scholarship for Teacher Education. This brand new scholarship was started with generous gifts that friends gave in memory of my dad, and now Mother has completed the endowment to provide scholarships for years to come. My brother, Wayne, was in town for the signing, and it was a precious day.
     We're so proud of you, GranFran!

Feeling At Home at Samford University

   

Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama
is a Christian school that is consistently ranked among
the top universities in the nation by folks like
U. S. News and World Report and Kiplinger's.

       In case you have wondered, you CAN go home again! GranFran and I did just that this week when we spoke at the Samford University Retired Faculty Association's monthly meeting. GranFran of course, taught Elementary and Early Childhood Education at Samford for 28 years, and my late father, Dr. John Carter, was on faculty for 31 years, retiring as Dean of the School of Education. I graduated from Samford, as did my brother, my husband, two of my children, and a daughter-in-law.
     So it was pure pleasure when Dr. Ellen McLaughlin, this year's President of the Retired Faculty Association, asked us to do our Rosie  the Riveter program for this special group of people  -- those who have shaped and influenced so many great kids as they have gone through this remarkable university.
       My dad was the driving force in getting the Retired Faculty Association started many years ago, and he and Mother have been active in it all along. But it was especially fun for me to greet some of these folks that I knew from my childhood, growing up as an FK (Faculty Kid), and reveal that I am now a grandmother of eight!
     Go Bulldogs!!!

Honoring Our Veterans By Telling Their Stories

Did you thank a veteran on Veterans Day?

To all who are serving and have served in our country's military, we thank you and honor you. As the song says, we can "sleep in peace tonight" because you do what you do. We can't thank you enough.

GranFran and I had the privilege of sharing several times during the week surrounding Veterans Day.  We were invited to Corner School, where Librarian Jennifer Harris led the way to provide an AWESOME program and breakfast honoring veterans, then we spoke to their fifth and sixth grades.

That night, we attended the National Veterans Day dinner in Birmingham (which is the birthplace of Veterans Day, BTW), where Mother sat at the head table as the founder of the American Rosie the Riveter Association.

On Veterans Day itself, GranFran was on the program for the Senior Adult Veterans Day Lunch at Dawson Baptist Church in Birmingham. Her part was presented as an onstage interview with Channel 13's news anchor, Mike Royer.

And the next day, we had a different kind of treat - she was asked to speak to second graders from Trace Crossings Elementary at Samford University School of Education's Centennial Day, a day of learning and special activities about education in the last 100 years. She told them her experiences as a first-year teacher in rural Mississippi in 1942 - she was 20 years old with two years of college, teaching on a World War II "defense certificate," with 52 students in Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades.

It was a busy but happy week, honoring our veterans and telling the Rosie story! (Did I mention that GranFran is 92?)