October’s guest speaker will be Barbara Cargill, State Board of Education Member, District 8! The topic will be “Fighting the Battle for our School Children.”
Social will begin at 11 a.m., followed by the meeting at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be $19.00, payable at the door. As always, please RSVP to barw.rsvp@gmail.com if you plan to have lunch.
Barbara Cargill earned her undergraduate degree in education from Baylor University and a Masters of Science in Science Education degree from Texas Woman’s University. Barbara has taught and shared
science with children in the Dallas and Houston areas for over thirty years. She has received teaching awards such as the “Thanks to Teachers” National Excellence Award, the A. J. Sales Educational Award, and a National Audubon Society Award. Barbara was also nominated for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics teaching and was a Science Teacher’s Association of Texas Outstanding Teacher nominee.
As director of “Wonders of the Woodlands Science Camp”, an outreach ministry of The Woodlands United Methodist Church, Barbara authors or co-authors every curriculum for which the program is so well known. She has presented teacher workshops for Conroe ISD, Region XI, and for many Science Teachers’ Association of Texas Conferences and Houston Area Early Childhood conferences. She
participated in the National Alliance of Business Education Symposium in Washington, D.C., as an honoree to study business and educational partnerships. Barbara also traveled to the International
Science Fair as a teacher-sponsor for one of her students.
Barbara’s interest in creative, hands-on learning for children and a love for science motivated her to found the Wonders of the Woodlands Science Camp program in 1995. With a team of 32 dynamic
certified teachers and staff and a fantastic curriculum, the program attracts over 1,200 children each summer. Barbara is often asked about the secret to the program’s success. The secret is really no secret at all! Put God’s blessing and hands-on science together and you get a winning combination! Barbara also works closely with science teachers through in-services and consulting work. She loans the Science Camp discovery boxes and animals to local teachers. In area schools she leads Science Outreach Programs, usually with the Science Camp critters. Teacher trainings, birthday parties, and other science programs keep Barbara busy year-round.
In addition to her work in science education, Barbara is a sustainer with the Junior League of The Woodlands and was recently awarded their “Vision” Award. In summer 2014 she was inducted as a
member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is especially proud of her patriot forefather, Micah Sill, and his sacrifice in our country’s fight for freedom. Barbara also serves annually as a judge at the Science and Technology Science Fair in Conroe ISD. She is a PTA lifetime member honoree, having served on the PTA board every year that her boys were in school. Her “WOW! From the Heart” program arranges for animals to visit sick or hurting children. In 2013, Barbara was selected as the Exxonmobil Idita-rider in the Iditarod Ceremonial Start. Her main goal was to promote the benefits of science education throughout our state. The Iditarod Education website contains exciting, free lessons in math and science using the Iditarod Race as the theme. Of course a highlight was riding with an Iditarod musher for 14 miles behind a team of sled dogs! In 2015 Barbara received the Education Award from Interfaith of The Woodlands as well as recognition from Montgomery County Eagle Forum as a “Protector of truth in public education.”
In addition to her work in science education, Barbara is honored to serve on the State Board of Education for over 1.6 million people in nine counties. On January 1st of 2005, Barbara was sworn in as a member of the Texas State Board of Education for a 4-year term. She has been re-elected twice and is now in the middle of her third term. She served as Governor Perry’s appointee as Chair of the Board for the maximum 2-term limit from 2011-2015. Barbara was the first Chairman to be confirmed by the Senate since 2005. Recently she created the Student Hero Award which will honor students across Texas based on their character and selfless acts of kindness for other students. It is a great privilege to serve as a conservative voice in Austin for the children, parents, and teachers of Texas.
Barbara has been married to Terry Cargill for over 31 years. Barbara and her husband Terry have been married for 31 years and have three wonderful sons. Their twins are Blake (an investment banker in Houston) and Chase (an aspiring actor in Los Angeles), age 24, and Connor who is 22 (a UT Austin Longhorn majoring in International Business/Spanish). All three boys attended public schools in Conroe ISD.