Education is often a family business, with generations of great educators following a parent's footsteps into the profession. For Columbus Education Association member Tara Johnson, education was certainly in her blood, but it wasn't her first career choice. For this final installment in the A Legacy of Education series, Tara Johnson, and her mom Terry Johnson, a retired Columbus teacher, sat down to share their thoughts on how the profession has changed, the need to create better pipelines to get educators of color into the profession, and why they would recommend this career to others.

HEAR MORE 'A LEGACY OF EDUCATION' EPISODES | To listen to previous Education Matters interviews featuring parents and their children who have followed them into careers in education, check out these episodes: 

• A Legacy of Education: Jillian Majzan & Stephanie Hall
• A Legacy of Education: Sandra Dowdy & Calista Altenburger 
• A Legacy of Education: The Jessens 

Featured Education Matters guests: 

• Terry Wiggs Johnson, retired educator
  • Terry graduated from Central State University College of Education in 1967. She received her Masters of Education from Xavier University in Cincinnati in 1972. She taught for Dayton Public Schools, Buffalo Public Schools and then moved to Columbus in 1969. She taught for 32 years as an elementary school teacher and a reading teacher. Terry Johnson always enjoyed working with elementary students, especially in Language Arts.
• Tara Johnson, Columbus Education Association member
  • Tara is a product of Columbus City Schools. She graduated from Mifflin High School. She is the daughter of Terry Wiggs Johnson and Theodore W. Johnson who both graduated from Central State University in the late 60’s. Both are also retired Columbus City School teachers. Coming from a household of educators, who graduated from Central State University, she followed in their footsteps and graduated from Central State University, but refused to go into education. She pursued a degree in Finance, instead. While at Central State she was very active. She was a member of the Finance and Investment Society, College of Business Student Advisory Council, Tour Guide, Resident Assistant, and a Student Ambassador. She worked for the Vice President for Finance as a student worker. She also continued to volunteer at Main Street Elementary School in Columbus when she came home during breaks.  
  • After graduation, Tara began to work at Central State in the finance department. She volunteered with the Student Affairs area and worked very closely with the Alumni Affairs office. After leaving Central State University, she went on to two other universities, Kent State University and Virginia Union University, to work. 
  • She decided it was time to get a master’s degree, so she enrolled in Eastern Michigan, where she completed a Master’s Program in Individualized Studies in Higher Education Administration and Finance. Upon graduating from Eastern Michigan, she decided to continue to pursue her career in Higher Education and worked at Virginia Community College Systems and Wright State University. While at Wright State University, she began to look for something different. Tara had done some volunteer work in her aunt’s classroom and some substitute teaching for Columbus City Schools while getting her master’s degree, so she decided to teach at the K-12 level. 
    Tara went back to Central State University to get her licensure to teach in Social Studies at the high school level, saying she felt like high school students were closer to the college students she was used to working with for the past 20 years. Due to Covid, it took her longer than I had expected, but she completed my licensure program in Spring of 2021. 
  • Tara began teaching at Eastmoor Academy High School in the Fall of 2021. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and a life member of Central State University Alumni Association. 

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• TheOhio Education Association represents about 120,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals who work in Ohio’s schools, colleges, and universities to help improve public education and the lives of Ohio’s children. OEA members provide professional services to benefit students, schools, and the public in virtually every position needed to run Ohio’s schools.
• Education Matters host Katie Olmsted serves as Media Relations Consultant for the Ohio Education Association. She joined OEA in May 2020, after a ten-year career as an Emmy Award winning television reporter, anchor, and producer. Katie comes from a family of educators and is passionate about telling educators' stories and advocating for Ohio's students. She lives in Central Ohio with her husband and two young children.

This episode was recorded on May 21, 2023.