Member Spotlight, Carmen Tucker
September 25, 2016
Carmen Tucker was born in Waco, but moved to Austin and grew up there. Her mom is from New Jersey, is an attorney and a vice president at a college, as well as running a catering business. Her father is from California and is a head hunter for executives and is semi-retired now. Her mother and father divorced when Carmen was a girl, and her mother remarried. Her stepdad is a retired police officer.
Carmen’s mom loves to say that Carmen is creatively inclined, and that she thinks outside the box. (Thanks, Mom!) Carmen’s creativity led her to earn her bachelor’s degree in art, which she uses in her hobby of finding broken antiques and restoring them into something beautiful. She is particularly proud of fixing chairs that came from her grandma, screwing them by hand since she doesn’t have a drill. She also restored a table top into a piece of art that she has hung on the wall. But her best friend has put the brakes on Carmen adding more furniture to her house, threatening to put tags on any new items and having a sale!
All that creativity, and restoration, as well as Carmen’s keen ability to show compassion plays right into Carmen’s profession and passion: teaching kids. She says it isn’t always about fixing something, but about getting it where it needs to be. Before starting in the classroom, Carmen earned her master’s degree in Human Services.
Carmen now is a special education teacher as well as a resource and inclusion teacher. This is her first year in the classroom, but she previously was engaged in college and career counseling as well as after-school programming at LBJ High School. Carmen loves her job, and she likes best to watch students’ faces light up when they come in her room. Students know her room is a safe place, and Carmen feels like she is doing God’s work with her students. She says, “Pay scales fade into the background when the students come in and we begin to work together.”
Carmen’s hidden talents are cooking, a talent she got from her mother. She loves crock pot cooking, and baking. Her specialty is strawberry cake. I sure hope she brings that to a fellowship luncheon one day!
Carmen joined Taylor FUMC in July, and she was welcomed most warmly by Mitch and Lisa Drummond. She loves the size of the congregation, and the casual and friendly approach of the church. She always dreamed of living in a small town where she can slow down and recharge. She finds the church to be her refuge.
Carmen’s favorite scripture is from Deuteronomy 31:6: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” She says she hasn’t always been strong, and it reminds her to stay strong.
Be sure to give a hearty welcome to Carmen. What a blessing to have all that talent and dedication that Carmen brings!
