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worked at a Naval office in Orlando. She asked me to participate on their Black History Month program. I incorporated the students
from Midway and the students from Tajiri in the program. I got permission from the principals and parents from each school to

release their students at a certain time. They agreed that their departure would not indicate that they were absent, but on an

educational field trip. Every principal gave consent, except my own principal. In fact, she reported to her supervisor at the School
Board that my field trip was exclusively for a Tajiri Arts program, and I was denied the performance opportunity.

I called my friend Carolyn to say we couldn’t do the Black History Program. When she reported this to the Colonel of the Navy on
her job, he said, “That is unacceptable.” He called the principal himself and told her that preparations had been made for our

appearance. He informed her that the Navy was providing transportation (and the school would not pay a fee), lunches had been

prepared, and the programs had been printed. Needless to say, we made the trip and performed. We received a plaque for our school
because of our outstanding performance, and the school administration gladly hung the plaque in the Main Office. So, how about

that?

When we returned from the Navy performance, I was asked to report to the principal’s office, “BUT GOD” continued to reign. I was

thinking, “Oh, Lord, what did I do now?” To my surprise, I was called into her office along with the Assistant Principal and my
Special Education Supervisor to announce that I was among the top ten candidates selected for Teacher of the Year. Only God could

have performed this miracle. And here’s the cherry on top … much to my surprise, I won Teacher of the Year for the entire county in

January 1992!