Former elementary school teacher Kara Laricks has enjoyed acclaim as a fashion designer. Photo credit: Kara Laricks

Many talented educators have earned acclaim in fields other than education. One outstanding example of this is Kara Laricks, a former fourth grade elementary schoolteacher who is also an acclaimed fashion designer.

Kara hails originally from Overland Park, Kansas. She earned her Bachelor’s degree Elementary Education and Teaching from the University of Kansas in 1995. In 2000, she completed the requirements for her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the same institution.

Once she completed her education, Kara taught fourth grade for ten years. “I love teaching,” she once expressed in an interview for Curve Magazine. “I love that career.” The talented teacher says she always told her students to be true to themselves. Finally, she decided to take own advice and pursue her dream of a career in fashion.

But teaching is not her only passion. Kara once said that she has loved design ever since she was a child. To further that interest, she enrolled at the Academy of Art University on a scholarship from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). She earned her Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design there in 2008. That year, the artistic academic was selected as one of nine MFA students to present their senior collection at New York Fashion Week in Fall, 2008.

In 2012, at the age of 38, Kara became a contestant on the first season of the reality show Fashion Star, where her designs garnered her the first place trophy. Rolling Stone Magazine credited the show with embracing the avant garde designer and commended the buyers, especially Macy’s, for thinking outside the box and selecting Kara. The former teacher was awarded a grand prize of $6 million of purchases by Macy’s, H&M, and Saks Fifth Avenue.

We are sad to report that elementary school teacher Kelly Peterson of Winter Haven, Florida, succumbed to Covid-19 on August 23, 2021. She was unable to get vaccinated because she had leukemia, which caused a compromised immune system. Photo credit: World Socialist Web Site.

We are greatly saddened to report that yet another beloved educator has succumbed to Covid-19. Kelly Peterson, an elementary school teacher in Winter Haven, Florida, passed away on August 23, 2021. She was only 41 years old.

Because she had leukemia which caused a compromised immune system, Kelly was not able to be vaccinated. Nevertheless, the teacher had been diligent in taking precautions against COVID by wearing a mask, even though Florida Governor Ronald DeSantis issued a statewide order to ban mask mandates. She also washed her hands frequently and wiped down devices and equipment when her students left each day. “She did everything she could to try to stay away from COVID,” recalled colleague Lorinda Utter.

Kelly taught fifth grade math and science at Lake Shipp Elementary School in the Polk County Public School System. According to her sister, Christin Peterson, Kelly’s career as an educator spanned more than two decades, and during that time, she had been named Teacher of the Year more than once.

“She always had former students who would come visit and tell her how much she influenced them,” remembered Christin. “If there were problem children, typically they’d end up in her classroom because she was the one who was able to break through and get through to them in a way the kids would trust her,” Christin continued. “She had a natural teaching ability that so many of her peers were in awe of. She just had the ability to connect with the kids. They knew she really did care,” Christin concluded.

To read more about Kelly Peterson, see this article about her published in The Ledger.

Elementary school teacher Tammy Exum of West Hartford, Connecticut, now serves in her state’s House of Representatives. Photo credit: Tammy Exum.

Many excellent classroom teachers go on to successful careers in politics. One of these is Connecticut elementary school teacher Tammy Exum, who now serves in her state’s House of Representatives.

After graduating from Fuquay-Varina High School in North Carolina, Tammy earned her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. In 1999, she earned her Master’s in Business Administration from Atlanta University. After college, Tammy inaugurated her career as an elementary school teacher in West Hartford, Connecticut.

A lifelong champion of education, Tammy is a former elementary school teacher. She is also the former President and Executive Board Member of West Hartford Parent Teacher Association. In addition, she formerly served as Vice Chair of The West Hartford Board of Education.

In 2019, Tammy was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Connecticut House of Representatives. There she represents District 19, which includes West Hartford, Avon, and Farmington. She was chosen in a special election to fill the seat vacated by incumbent Derek Slap when he won election to the state Senate.

Since she has taken office, Tammy has been a member of the Committees for Commerce; Higher Education and Employment Advancement; Education; Administration and Elections; Environment; and Banking. As a member of the House, Tammy has introduced two bills that protect the rights of Connecticut residents who suffer from Autism Spectrum Disorder. These bills have already passed Connecticut’s General Assembly House of Representatives.

Learn more about Tammy Exum by clicking on this link to Votesmart.com.

Arizona’s Ruth Woolf Jordan was a rural schoolteacher and a successful businesswoman.

There are many examples of  school teachers who became pioneers in the American Southwest. One of these was Ruth Woolf Jordan, a young teacher who taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Beaver Creek, Arizona.

Ruth Woolf was born in Crittendon County, Kentucky, on November 7, 1902. When she was ten years old, her family settled in Tempe, Arizona. As a young woman, Ruth attended Tempe Normal School, now known as Arizona State University, where she graduated in 1922.

Following her graduation, Ruth accepted a teaching position in a one-room schoolhouse in the Beaver Creek School, about 25 miles south of Sedona. As a rural school teacher, Ruth was responsible for firing up the wood stove on cold days, cutting her students’ hair, checking in on them when they were absent, ridding trails of rattlesnakes, and playing field games such as softball. To get back and forth to school every day, the young teacher rode her horse.

While teaching at Beaver Creek, Ruth was introduced to a young rancher named Walter Jordan. The pair fell in love, and were married in 1930. After their marriage, the couple settled into a one-room cabin on his land in nearby Sedona. Because local policy did not allow married women to teach school, Ruth gave up teaching and became a farmer’s wife. Eventually Ruth and Walter had three children.

During the 1930s and early 1940s, the Jordans expanded their farm to a total of 65 acres. There they planted an orchard of nearly 1,500 apple and peach trees. At the height of their orchard business, during the 1950s and 1960s, the couple was the largest private employers in Sedona. Ruth worked on the farm and marketed the produce in Phoenix, and in later years she returned to teaching school in Sedona and Red Rock when teachers were desperately needed.

By the 1970s, Ruth and Walter were ready for retirement. They sold their last commercial crop in 1973. After Walter’s passing in 1987, Ruth negotiated with the City of Sedona and the Sedona Historical Society (SHS) to reach an agreement to donate a portion of her remaining property to the city, and to sell the remaining four acres and her home to the city. The agreement granted her a life estate and SHS access to operate a museum in the Jordan farm buildings. After Ruth passed away on January 7, 1996, the city developed the land into a public park, and in 1998 the SHS opened the Sedona Heritage Museum. The museum offers exhibits on local history, cowboys, movie-making, orcharding, and local pioneers, including early women settlers, and their contributions to the community of Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon. The historic Jordan buildings were the first in Sedona to be named to the National Register of Historic Places.

You can learn more about the Jordan Historic Park at the website for the Sedona Historical Society at Sedona Museum. Read more about chalkboard pioneer Ruth Woolf Jordan at the Arizona Memory Project.