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Before she could read or write, Frances Brock Starms (1915-2012) knew the power of a good story.<\/p>\n
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Raised to love words in Depression-era Alabama and California, Starms was only a teenager but already an award-winning storyteller when she delivered a life-changing performance. A woman in the audience was so impressed by Starms that she offered, that day, to fund her education. The benefactress, Mrs. Merrifield, asked for two things in return: \u201cI want you to help others who want to teach, and always help children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starms delivered. A gifted scholar at Atlanta University Laboratory High School and Spelman College, Starms then earned a master\u2019s degree in early childhood education at Atlanta University.<\/p>\n
By 1950, Frances Brock Starms was an experienced kindergarten teacher living and working in Milwaukee alongside her husband, Robert W. Starms. A brief stint as a supervisor for student teachers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee fulfilled the first half of her promise to Mrs. Merrifield. But the classroom was calling her, and Starms returned to elementary teaching a few years later.<\/p>\n
\nIn 1969, Frances Brock Starms became the first director of the MPS Head Start program. She truly believed in Head Start\u2019s mission to supply underserved families with a broad network of programs to give their children the best start in life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Dedicated to their shared profession, Frances and Robert impacted generations of Milwaukee youth. Their educational programs imagined a world in which income level, zip code, and family structure posed no limitation to a child\u2019s dignity, ability, or achievements in the classroom and in the community.<\/p>\n
Even after she retired, Starms advocated tirelessly for children and families, for equity in education and employment, for the power of a kind or creative word to change lives. Because of that, she is one of just three people to have an MPS school \u2014 a trio of them, in her case \u2014 named for her during her lifetime.<\/p>\n
When she passed in 2012, Starms\u2019 former staff, students, and their families shared dozens of memories, including those of a song that once rang out in the halls of Starms Early Childhood Center and Starms Discovery Learning Center: \u201cFrances Starms is a wonderful woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb title=”Frances Brock Starms in 1988″ image=”https:\/\/mpsschoolsites.wpenginepowered.com\/starms-discovery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/09\/FrancesBrockStarms.jpg” alt=”Frances Brock Starms” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” header_text_align=”center” body_text_align=”center” body_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n