It is my pleasure to introduce my sister, Barbara Exner Downing, on behalf of Dr. Ked Cottrell, a 2002 graduate of the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Cottrell's wife works at the same facility as my sister in Wilmington, NC and Dr. Cottrell worked with my sister to get a North Carolina License Plate available with a Boilermaker emblem. Dr. Cottrell also practices veterinary medicine in Wilmington with another Purdue vet, Dr. Bob Weedon.

My sister and I are both teachers, but she is the oldest so she has been teaching longer – over 40 years! Barbara left Purdue in January, 1967 with a double major in Elementary and special education. She immediately started teaching at Miami Elementary school in Lafayette.

In 1968 she moved to Pittsfield, Mass. where her first child, also a Purdue graduate, was born. Next she moved to Hickory, NC where she started her 2nd teaching job in 1970. She was hired as the first primary EMR resource teacher for the Hickory City Schools. Under a federal title VI-B grant she helped publish the first Hickory City Schools special education curriculum guide. In Hickory she also participated in the initial field testing of the use of Alpha One, a phonics program, for special education classrooms.

In 1972, Barbara & her family moved to Shreveport, LA. She and another GE wife opened a neighborhood preschool for 3 and 4 year olds. As trailing spouses, the 2 neighbors combined their nursing and teaching skills to form Christ United Methodist Preschool.

While in Shreveport, my sister entered graduate school at Louisiana State University where she finished her Master of Education. She became the sole proprietor of Christ United Methodist Preschool which she sold in 1979.

Also in 1979 GE relocated her family to Wilmington, NC. Again as a trailing spouse and the mother of a 2 year old and a 12 year old, Barbara put her "mommy-preneur" concept to work again. She and a neighbor contracted with the local YWCA to run a drop-in nursery for women taking classes at the facility.The drop-in nursery evolved into a full-range preschool and kindergarten operating 5 days a week from 9-1. Today Tot Spot, LLC rents from the YWCA space enough to serve approximately 110 children per day and has a daily staff of 15 teachers.

Over the years, my sister has worked on various projects in Wilmington. In 1984 she was instrumental in bringing a certification program for daycare workers to Cape Fear Community College. In the early 1990's she volunteered with the YWCA of the Lower Cape Fear to help open the first daycare center in a public housing facility. For the past 18 years, she has delivered a bi-weekly radio spot on a local talk radio station as the "parenting editor."

In 1987, she received the YWCA Women of Achievement Award in Education. In 2006 she was given the Children's Champion Award from the New Hanover County Partnership for Children – A North Carolina SMART START Agency. And today, she receives the 2007 Purdue Career Achievement Distinguished Education Award.