The Love That Sparked My Passion - By Brittany Lemons

Now being an adult woman that has worked in the Early Childhood Education and Care field for years, I often reflect and tell the story about the path that brought me to having such a passion for children and their families, ages birth to five. Every time I do this, I speak about a wonderful preschool teacher I had between the ages of 3-5 years old.  If I'm talking with someone from my hometown of Mt. Vernon, I usually watch their eyes light up whenever I mention her name as well. 

When I was a little girl, Mrs. Carolyn Lash had a huge impact on me. So much so that I still give her credit for my career aspirations today. It was almost 30 years ago that I had the privilege of being in Mrs. Lash's classroom. So as you can imagine, I cannot remember many details, but here is what I do recall: I remember Mrs. Lash being someone I loved. Her smile still shines brightly in my mind, and I remember her playing on the classroom floor with us. Once we sang, "The Ants Go Marching" and I got to be the lead ant, crawling around the classroom with my friends behind me and Mrs. Lash remarking on what a good idea it was for me to crawl underneath the table like an ant would do. And when I think about that memory, I instantly feel happy and proud of myself, like I was three years old again.  I know that couldn't have been the only time Mrs. Lash was proud of me.

I recall feeling loved and safe in that preschool room because of Mrs. Lash and didn't even remember until I started researching that there was another teacher there at that time with Mrs. Lash, because I couldn't recall her name. During that age, for me I had a lot of traumatizing things happening in my life and needed that stability and care that Mrs. Lash provided. And even through the years as I got older, and her children attended the same grade school as I did, I saw the relationships she had with them and the love that was reciprocated from her children, and I think three-year-old me took that as the best first example of love and care that I had witnessed.

Mrs. Carolyn Lash was the first and only Black educator I encountered until I was a junior in high school. She is now a grandmother with lots of grandbabies. I still see her smiling face in pictures and wonder about all the many lives she's touched with her kindness.