The McCarter family has extremely deep roots in the community of Springfield. My father, Larry McCarter, taught math in the SPS school system for 30 years. His career started at Hickory Hills in 1963 where he taught for 5 years. Then he went to Jarrett Middle School and taught 10 years. He ended his SPS career after teaching algebra for another 15 years at Cherokee Middle School. He also taught math at OTC for an additional 11 years. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2015 from Dementia and Alzheimers. Before he passed away, word got out to his previous students that he was not doing very well and we had many of his previous students come visit him in his final months. This had a profound impact on me. The stories that his students told him were incredible. The common theme was that the subject of math was very difficult for these students, but my father had a way of making algebra simple for his students. Student after student thanked my dad for those pivotal times in middle school. Many of them went on to be engineers and other professions that heavily relied on math.
My mother, Connie McCarter was an instructional assistant for 14 years in SPS. She worked at Barry and Boyd, Westport, Robberson, and Cherokee. She always volunteered at one of her children’s schools for over 30 years as well. My mom was most known for teaching the south Springfield youth swimming lessons for several decades. Adults still come up to her and say, “you taught me to swim!”
Springfield Public Schools has a very special place in my family’s heart. I have never felt called to be a teacher, but I do feel called to run for school board. I believe it is my duty to try to carry on the McCarter legacy in pouring into the youth of our community by giving them the best shot possible to pursue whatever they are called to pursue. It is our job as community leaders to fight for them and set them up for the best possible outcome by giving them the best education we can.
My family absolutely loves Springfield. This is our home. The school system is an extremely important piece of our community. It is only fitting that I invest my time to give back to the community that has given my family so much.
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