Q& with Janie Garrett and Missi A How did you find Fort Worth Country Day 21 years ago?
In 1995, my husband, Bob, and I came back to the U.S. with our three daughters, after nearly 14 years serving as missionaries in Argentina. Bob was teaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and I got a job as a bilingual teacher in Fort Worth ISD. Someone recommended FWCD to us as a school for our two school-age daughters [Rebecca Garrett Finn ’99 and Elisabeth ’01], so we looked into it. It was a great fit for our girls. In Rebecca’s senior year, my oldest daughter, Janelle, taught Upper School French and Spanish, and my youngest, Elisabeth, was a sophomore. It was the only time I had my three girls in the same school. I began teaching Lower School and fifth-grade Spanish at FWCD the next fall. After nine years, I moved permanently to Middle School to teach fifth- and sixthgraders.
What led you to be a teacher? Ministry and teaching were part of my DNA. I thought I would do medical technology when I went to Baylor, but I kept being drawn back to education. When Bob and I moved to Kentucky so that he could go to graduate school, I took my first job teaching seventh-grade math. During those years, I taught grades 4-7, but I took time off when Janelle was born. We were appointed missionaries in Argentina in 1979. I was 30 years old and knew nothing about Spanish because I studied Latin at Baylor. In 1980, I went to language school in Costa Rica for five hours a day, five days a week to learn Spanish before we moved to Buenos Aires in 1981. Our work in Argentina was so fulfilling. I worked with families going into ministry, serving as a mentor to married students, while also taking care of my family. I did a little bit of everything from teaching, to offering parenting advice, teaching cooking classes, and serving as hospitality chairman. Spanish was our language each day.
You have always had a focus on inclusivity and other cultures. What are some of the programs of which you are most proud? Early in my career, I sponsored a Culture Club that presented MLK Day assemblies, visited a mosque and a synagogue, and hosted a Culture Fair and a Hunger Dinner in the old cafeteria. Students and their families bought tickets and then pulled a bean out of a bag to determine their wealth, which determined where they sat at the table. Those seated in the middle were served a wealthy dinner (Cordon bleu). Those seated on the outside had rice and beans. The money raised was donated to world hunger. The discussions and lessons learned were profound. To hear more from Janie, visit fwcd.org/janiegarrett.
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