2018 Inductees
Geraldine Green Miracle
BS Home Economics 1963
MS Home Economics Education 1968
ED.S. Vocational Education 1990
Gerri Green Miracle earned her Bachelor of Science in Home Economics at the University of Kentucky and started her career teaching junior high science. After two years, she secured a position as a home economics teacher and found her happy place in the home economics classroom. During the first eight years of her career, she held teaching positions in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. She earned a master’s degree in home economics education and later completed an Ed.S. in Vocational Education, with both degrees earned at UK. For 18 years, she taught family and consumer sciences at Beechwood High in Ft. Mitchell, KY.
Throughout her tenure at Beechwood High, she was a leader in the Beechwood Educational Foundation, the Beechwood Education Association and the Northern Kentucky Association of Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences. She earned teacher of the year honors from three professional associations, received the Beechwood Principal’s Award two years, was named Beechwood Parent-Teacher Association Teacher of the Year, and was one of the top ten teachers of the year in the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Gerri wrote a curriculum guide entitled MIRACLE: Making Ideas Reality Allowing Creative Learning in Entrepreneurship that was used across Kentucky and beyond, from Alaska to Florida. She spoke at numerous conferences and trained educators in several states. One highlight of Gerri’s career was her selection as one of thirty-six home economists who served as citizen ambassadors to Russia and Hungary. For twenty-one days, she traveled in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia and Budapest, Hungary, meeting with education officials, visiting schools and working with teachers.
Gerri served as president of the College of Human Environmental Sciences (CHES) Alumni Association and received the association’s Outstanding Alumnus Award. She and her husband, John, are members of the UK Fellow Society. She is steadfast in her support of the University of Kentucky, and takes great pride in the fact that their family of eleven now holds twelve UK degrees.
Marilyn L. Edwards-Barrick
BS Home Economics Education 1984
MA Home Economics Education 1990
Marilyn Edwards-Barrick completed a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics Education at the University of Kentucky. After two years as the Casey County Extension Agent for Home Economics, she returned to native Barren County to begin her teaching career. For thirty years, Marilyn taught family and consumer sciences at Barren County High and served as an advisor to the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Chapter (FCCLA). She earned a Master of Arts in Home Economics Education and completed the required training to be credentialed as an early childhood trainer in Kentucky. For much of her career, she taught courses in the early childhood education pathway.
As an advisor to the Barren County High FCCLA Chapter, Marilyn provided leadership opportunities that influenced each student. The chapter service projects extended that impact into the community. She was an advisor to six state officers, a regional advisor to fifty-two students, and coordinated the state FCCLA Star Events two years. She was named a Master Advisor in 1996 and an Advisor Mentor in 2007.
Marilyn was a member of Kentucky’s curriculum steering committee and the national standards implementation committee. She served as a curriculum developer and as a state skills standards writer and scorer. At Barren County High, she served as the department head for career and technical education and held positions on school committees, including two terms on the Site-Based Decision Making Council. She rose through the leadership ranks in professional associations, ultimately serving as president in both the Kentucky Association of Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences (KATFACS) and the National Association of Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences (NATFACS).
Marilyn’s list of honors is lengthy. She earned teacher of the year honors from both KATFACS and the Kentucky Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. She received the National Award of Merit and the Distinguished Service Award from NATFACS. The Kentucky Association of Career and Technical Education presented her with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and she received the “Our Own Award” from KATFACS.
Amy Miller VanMeter
BS Home Economics 1989
Amy Miller VanMeter earned a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics at the University of Kentucky. Her degree emphasis in merchandising, apparel and textiles led her to a highly successful ten-year career as a department manager and senior buyer with Mercantile Store’s Company.
In 2000, Amy began her second career as the Director of Development and Alumni Relations for UK’s College of Human Environmental Sciences (HES). She worked with the HES Alumni Association, volunteers and donors to raise funds to create four endowed professorships as well as multiple scholarships and bequests. In addition, $1 million was secured for a state of the art nutritional lab. Amy led the annual HES Hall of Fame, Evening of Excellence, Thank-a-thon and other alumni and development events.
When the College of HES transitioned to be a school in the College of Agriculture, Amy became Assistant Director of Development for the College of Agriculture. As the lead fundraiser for the School of HES, she worked with many alumni, donors and families to implement over 52 endowments, with 45 scholarship endowments, multiple annual non-endowed scholarships, and numerous annuities and bequests. In 2006-2007, she was a key leader in the celebration of the HES Centennial, and worked with donors to establish the Centennial Scholarship Endowment. In 2014, she assisted Family and Consumer Sciences Extension in the establishment of their first endowment as a part of their centennial celebration. She was an outstanding contributor to the annual alumni Roundup, Winter Event and area chapter meetings.
In 2003, Amy became the lead fundraiser for The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky. She worked with the Arboretum director, the Friends of The Arboretum and The Arboretum Advisory Board to launch the Gala in The Garden fundraising event, conduct the fundraising campaign to establish the Kentucky Children’s Garden, initiate a donor annual giving campaign and complete a $1.2 million campaign to fund the expansion of the Dorotha Smith Oatts Visitors Center. As a tribute to her contributions, Amy received the Friends of The Arboretum Burr Oak Society Award in 2017.