The Huffington Post – Patricia Roberts
“As I shared in a post at this time last year, the topic of education always seems to surface when I speak with adult children of all ages about the admiration they have for their mothers. I am reminded of all that we learn from our very first teachers and am inspired by the critical role women play in both the education and the educational pursuits of those they love. As an example among so very many that have warmed my heart, I will always remember the incredibly moving manner in which Paula Sammons, program officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, spoke of her mother in the opening plenary at last year’s CFED Children’s Savings Conference in Washington, D.C., just prior to Mother’s Day. An immigrant from Japan finding herself divorced with three small children, Paula’s mom was determined to provide the best life she could for her family. Paula shared her discovery as a teen that her mother had been making weekly bank deposits of $1-2 a week for each of her children and thereby creating a small but valuable nest egg for college. She remarked, “I am so grateful to my mother for the incredible sacrifices and commitment she had to our future and our dreams all those years, and to all the other parents who are doing the same for their children, even when they have so little.” The nods of affirmation and the roaring applause Paula received from the hundreds of attendees was clearly not just for her, but for her mother as well, and the countless others like her around the globe and the children they teach and inspire.”(more)