Larue Evans

It was in the West Texas town of San Angelo that Larue spent the majority of her childhood years. As an adult she now looks back and sees how wonderful and unique those years were. She and her siblings grew up with an incredibly positive parenting experience. That parenting has given her the strength and authentic presence to carry her belief in herself into the career she continues to develop in education.

Born the second of four children, Larue was encouraged to explore all interests and to have a strong belief in herself as a learner and risk taker. It was the same for all her siblings. The very powerful basis for this strength came from the unconditional love of their parents. This love was rooted in clear statements of actions, consequences and explanations that guided everyone’s decision making. This structure was built upon the expectation that actions, consequences and explanations would often be jointly constructed between parent and child. The respect of the parent for the child’s point of view and the child’s respect for the parent as a fair and supportive guide points to the empowerment children can be given over their lives when a family structure holds to these values.

As a child, Larue was a strong individual and - from a very young age -  only respected authority if, in her eyes, it was earned by those professing to have it. This often got her into a lot of trouble. She does recall a time when her mother sighed and told her how hard it was to protect her individuality while trying to encourage her individuality!

Larue began her teaching career in elementary education in a K-12 Quaker school where, for twenty-three years, she had the good fortune to build her teaching philosophy on developmentally supportive approaches. She also could flavor her classroom offerings with the same freedom to explore and take risks that she experienced as a child. Every child was encouraged to appreciate and value each person as a part of the learning community.

After serving six years as the elementary school principal in that Quaker School, Larue expanded her teaching career with almost twelve years in public education. She taught basic skills students and talented and gifted students -   without making any distinction regarding the classification of the students. Her commitment to differentiated education allowed each student to work toward his or her potential, and to build upon individual strengths and interests. Her career included being a teacher mentor for the twelve elementary public schools (k-5) in the district as well as teaching undergraduates in education at the Rutgers Camden Campus.

This career was paralleled by a wonderful marriage – soon to be 50 years- and two wonderful children (a son and a daughter). They have become thoughtful, caring and productive adult members of society and continue to be a total joy to their parents.

 Larue believes deeply in the tenets of cooperation and collaboration. Therefore, she welcomes the Quaker Parenting Initiative as an opportunity to join with other parents who are continuously searching for and/or developing their own best practices for healthy parenting.  All parents know that parenting is not easy and mistakes will be made. But Larue believes the way will be more likely to open for the parent who can give a child unconditional love while respecting and guiding that child on her/his personal journey.  She also believes the tenets of respect, patience, accountability and luck - with a healthy dose of humor - frame the portals we choose to step through on our way to building those healthy and joyful parenting practices.