Her Story
About KAREN
I've dedicated 40 years to early childhood education, and I actually just retired, though you never really retire from your profession. I started in 1975 as an elementary school teacher, but when my husband went into the military in the 70s, I had to shift paths because back then you had to be certified in every single state we moved to - there was no national certification. So I moved into military childcare services, which allowed me to continue my career despite frequent relocations. I began as a preschool teacher for 4-year-olds, even though I was a cum laude graduate and certified, because I didn't speak Spanish in Arizona where we first moved. I worked my way up through various roles - child development center director, family child care coordinator, and eventually became one of the first training and curriculum specialists in the military system back in the 90s. I earned my bachelor's in elementary education, then got my master's degree in child care administration through Nova Southeastern University while stationed in Germany, and later pursued my doctorate in education with an emphasis on curriculum because I realized my true passion was staying in training and curriculum rather than pure administration. I loved being in the classrooms with teachers and children, focusing on professional development. Throughout my career, I worked with three branches of service - Army, Air Force, and what I believe was Navy - and was stationed across the United States and overseas in places like Germany, Virginia (Fort Belvoir and Fort Meyer when my husband was with the Pentagon), and England. In my most recent role before retiring, I was a supervisory lead training and curriculum specialist responsible for training trainers who trained teachers and support staff at military child development centers serving children from 6 weeks through 18 years. I also taught at Central Texas College as an adjunct while in England, helping military childcare employees earn their associate's degrees. I helped write the first memorandum of understanding for off-base family child care programs and worked extensively on military childcare accreditation through the National Association for Education of Young Children. My master's thesis focused on caregiver turnover in military childcare, and I discovered that what really matters isn't just pay - it's acknowledgement of the difference we make when we help children grow and develop, because they are our future. Now in retirement, I'm still a Toastmaster and love public speaking. I'm exploring my next chapter, whether that's teaching college classes again, leading workshops, or starting my own consulting business to help adults who are passionate about working with youth and young children do so in developmentally appropriate ways while taking care of themselves to avoid caregiver burnout.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with KAREN
01What do you attribute your success to?
I believe that there were people in my career that recognized that I had the talents and skills and were good mentors for me, and coaches. Having a positive attitude was also important. Even though there were multiple positions I held throughout the United States and overseas, I needed to give myself time to learn a new job, even if it's a job I did elsewhere - to learn the system and the people. I had to trust that I could achieve success, but anytime I started a new job, which I did every 3 to 4 years when we moved, I had to give myself time, 6 months or more, to learn the ins and outs. I think giving myself that grace was important.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I would say is to never forget your roots when you're trying to get up the career ladder. For me, that means I never forget the importance of children in the role I played as a direct teacher to help them grow socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically - their whole body. For new people to the career, don't ever say 'I'm just a teacher' or 'I'm just this, or that.' Value yourself. Acknowledge what you contribute. Yes, you can aspire to grow and develop, just like the children that you're helping grow and develop, and try out different roles. Hopefully this is the field that you are passionate about, and you can be in the field for 30, 40 years, or however many, and still enjoy it.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to understand that teaching is a worthy profession. Work with whatever age you feel most comfortable with, and maybe keep your mind open to try new things - you might find that what you thought you didn't like, you really like. It's important to have a mentor, someone who you trust that you can ask questions. That's why I believe the military decided it was important to have on-site training and curriculum specialists. My advice is to try it out, see if it's the right fit. Know what your passions are, know - just do some self-reflection. I knew I wanted to be a teacher ever since I was young and read books and had a chalkboard and played school with my stuffed animals and dolls, but not everybody knows that from the start.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One thing I've noticed a lot is that we have more and more children, I don't know if they're rightfully diagnosed, but with special needs. Thank goodness there are special needs services now. When I was growing up, my brother was in a classroom with children with disabilities back in the 60s, and he had an IQ of over 140, but he wasn't what we would call gifted, so he just got lumped with children that had cognitive disabilities. There was a lot of advocacy to get the public laws in place for children with disabilities to be recognized and services to be provided. My brother grew up and got his master's degree in vocational rehab counseling and helped other people with disabilities get back in the workforce. That wouldn't happen if my parents and others didn't fight for the rights of children and others that had special needs to be serviced, not lumped together, but to be serviced properly. Another challenge is keeping the base of teachers in early childhood education quality and there for the right reasons. Our kiddos need more support.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty, definitely. And kindness.
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