“I had come to understand you can make a gift to things that are meaningful to you — whether that be your church, the cancer society or education — and you won’t miss that money because you’re going to be gone,” Carolyn explains. “It’s easier to do it in your will than while you’re still living and need the money. It’s a way to make a statement that says, ‘This was important to me.’”

Carolyn started her career in education at the age of 20. As a Head Start teacher, she developed a passion for early education and its impact on children. She later spent time doing community-based work and fundraising before getting a call in 1998 to lead Early Learning Indiana, at the time called Day Nursery Association. Carolyn was at the helm of Day Nursery for 15 years, before passing on the torch in 2013.

After a few years away, Carolyn became involved with Day Nursery Auxiliary. Day Nursery Auxiliary is a group of more than 150 members who support Early Learning Indiana’s programs by raising money, providing volunteer services and serving as community ambassadors for high-quality early learning. In recent years, the primary Auxiliary fundraiser has been the annual Style Show in late fall, an elegant luncheon, silent auction, pop-up shop and fashion show.

“The Auxiliary is a group of some of the dearest ladies there are,” Carolyn says. “They asked me if I would chair the annual Style Show event, and I agreed. I wanted to work hard to raise more money to make all our work worthwhile. We grew it from $30,000 to now $50,000 in income. I’m very proud of that.”

Now Carolyn is passionate about encouraging her fellow early childhood education supporters to join the Early Learning Indiana Next Century Society through a legacy gift.

“I could have given to the United Way or other large organizations I’ve been affiliated with, but Early Learning Indiana is local. Not having a million dollars to give away, I know that a gift of my size is a meaningful gift to an organization ELI’s size — it’s small enough that my gift will have an impact, and not so small that it cannot stand on its own two feet. It has capacity.”

Carolyn explained that giving through a legacy gift is often beneficial to the donor’s family as well, especially if giving from an individual retirement account (IRA) or other investments.

“I’m not a wealthy person, so I depend on my IRA and investments to provide income for me in my retirement, but when I’m done with them, I’ll be done with them. If I leave all of what’s left to my heirs, they will have to pay taxes on it. But if the benefactor is a nonprofit organization, then that money is tax exempt. I would rather give some to the causes I care about than have my family pay taxes on it.”

Carolyn understands many of her peers may be reluctant to sign the paperwork that commits them to a legacy gift, often unsure of what they will have left to give and knowing they won’t see the results. But she believes it’s all part of making a lasting impact.

“There will always be small children, and the early years are so important for learning. Even if early childhood education finally becomes publicly funded, which it really needs to do, there will always be a role for advocating for the importance of the early years in young children. That’s advocating for our future.

I like to think of it as investing, paying it forward. I believe in children, I believe in families, and I don’t think we should take them for granted.”

If you are interested in learning more about Early Learning Indiana’s Next Century Society and making a legacy gift, contact Early Learning Indiana Director of Development Kirsten Yeager at kirsteny@earlylearningindiana.org.

1. A Path for Career Growth – We reorganized our classroom-based teams and added career pathways through a new “Excel at DEL” program to help more educators advance their careers in the early learning sector.

2. Come Back Stronger Fund – With support from Lilly Endowment Inc., we launched Round 2 of the Come Back Stronger Fund, distributing an additional $10M to early care and education programs across the state to support their increased costs due to the pandemic and help sustain their operations.

3. Build, Learn, Grow Scholarships – On behalf of the state of Indiana, we carried out the Build, Learn, Grow Scholarship Program, awarding $30,978,517 in scholarships to help Indiana families that work in essential businesses with the cost of early care and education for their children.

4. Closing the Gap Report – We published “Closing the Gap: An Assessment of Indiana’s Early Learning Opportunities” to articulate the true state of child care access across Indiana and empower communities to explore solutions to their child care gaps.

5. Closing the Gap Grants – In conjunction with the release of the Closing the Gap report, we opened the Closing the Gap Fund and issued 17 Closing the Gap grants with the support of Lilly Endowment Inc. to create more than 900 early learning seats in high-need communities in Indiana.

6. Day of Impact – At our 3rd annual Day of Impact — sponsored byQBM, Resultant and many others — over 100 volunteers completed projects across all eight Indy Day Early Learning centers, including refreshing two staff break rooms, landscaping a butterfly garden, building a music wall, painting sensory paths onto playground areas and restocking lending libraries.

7. Modernizing the Industry – We drafted an Early Childhood Education Modernization brief, articulating a vision, framework and recommendations for the future of the early learning industry, which is sparking public policy discussions with invested stakeholders all across Indiana.

8. Reimagining Early Learning – We hosted providers and community partners at an event to “Reimagine” our state’s early childhood education system following the influx of federal stimulus funding.

9. Early Head Start Grant Recipient – We won a major grant for the expansion of our Early Head Start programming, enabling us to serve an additional 75 children.

10. Two New Day Early Learning Centers – We transitioned operations of the Purdue University Early Care and Education Center and Patty Jischke Early Care and Education Center, welcoming 30+ new team members and 162 children to the Day Early Learning family.

11. Indianapolis’ South Side Expansion – In partnership with Christel House Academy, we raised $1 million in grant funds to support the opening of the new Day Early Learning at Manual on the city’s south side and received a $1 million matching grant from United Way of Central Indiana.

12. Early Learning Educator Solutions – Through the support of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, we launched the Classroom Support Work-Based Learning Program in our Day Early Learning centers, training 19 team members with credentials to advance their careers and improve their classroom practice.

13. Arago Honor Recipient – We received the Meridian Foundation’s inagural Arago honor in recognition of innovation through our Classroom Support Work-Based Learning Program. The award comes with a $10,000 cash prize.

14. Assessing Learning Success – Through the use of TS Gold assessments, we supported children in meeting or exceeding widely held expectations in literacy, mathematics and social emotional development. This initiative helps quantify the success of our mission: to ensure children throughout Indiana are empowered with essential skills to be successful in kindergarten and beyond.

15. Kindergarten Readiness Leadership – We trained 381 educators to serve as Kindergarten Readiness Indicator (KRI) assessors for the state of Indiana, empowering them to administer the new KRI assessment to their pre-K students. With the support of the Richard M. Fairbanks foundation, we also launched Getting on Track, an initiative to help children in our Day Early Learning centers build early math and literacy skills in preparation for the kindergarten readiness assessment.

16. Accredited by National Association for the Education of Young Children – Three of our Day Early Learning Centers renewed their NAEYC accreditation. We also achieved NAEYC accreditation for Day Early Learning at Eastern Star Church, officially making all Day Early Learning centers nationally accredited. 

17. Strong Finances – Despite the impact of the pandemic on reduced enrollment and increased expenses, we were able to sustain our operations while keeping our workforce intact. We are well-positioned to continue our innovative, mission-related activities in 2022.

18. Enrichment Programs – Our Spirit of Philanthropy teams supported quarterly activities for each center, including providing family and child enrichments through the Summer Gardening Program and Week of the Young Child activities, as well as Fall-in-a-Bag and Holiday week gifts for teachers.

19. Stronger Together Grants — With generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc., we selected seven organizations to receive $100,000 grants to launch regional shared service hubs around the state. These hubs will allow local child care providers to streamline their operational services, saving money and allowing them to focus their time and energy on providing high-quality child care.

20. Tanner Teacher of the Year – Day Early Learning at Fort Harrison pre-K teacher Angie Laureano was named our 2021 Tanner Teacher of the Year in recognition of her consistent dedication to her center and students over the last year, especially, and her commitment to intentional learning through play.

21. State of Early Learning — Early Learning Indiana President and CEO Maureen Weber hosted her inaugural State of Early Learning in January 2021, outlining the impact of the pandemic on early childhood education and steps to improve early learning access, affordability and quality for Hoosier families and children. Mark your calendar for the 2022 State of Early Learning on Jan. 27 at 11:30 a.m. EST. Register here.  

The Day Nursery Auxiliary has been supporting Early Learning Indiana and its Day Early Learning centers for over 80 years. Even amid the challenges of COVID-19, the group has not stopped their volunteer work. In the spring of 2020, several Auxiliary members sewed over 100 child-sized masks to be used in Day Early Learning centers, and the group hosted its Style Show virtually for the first time in the fall, raising over $20,000.

Most recently, the Auxiliary has focused its efforts specifically on supporting Day Early Learning educators. Groups of Auxiliary members have adopted Day Early Learning centers and regularly bring small gifts to the staff as a way to remind them they are appreciated.

Mona Stephens, Mary Catherine Lotti and Susan Oxfurth have adopted the Day Early Learning Lilly Family center’s teaching staff. Each month, they bring a themed goody bag to the center with treats such as a fabric masks, hot chocolate, candy and office supplies, with encouraging notes.

“This has been a challenging year for many, and at times our essential workers may feel that they are ‘invisible’,” Mona said. “We decided to remember the Lilly center staff with a fun gift each month as a way to let them know that they are valued and appreciated for their care of the children and families.”

Early Learning Indiana is grateful for the Auxiliary and their steadfast support of our mission.

Become an Auxiliary member

Join active women who are leading the way to ensure that all children in Indiana receive the highest level of early care and education. For more information, please contact Membership Chair Sherry Tucker at sltucker20@aol.com or 317.345.7761.

Kay was determined from a young age to forge her own path. She was the first person in her family to go to college and she knew that she wanted to be a teacher. One professor especially influential in Kay’s decision to pursue a career in early childhood education espoused the belief that teaching the youngest children was more than a babysitting job – It was the most important job in educating a young mind. This resonated with Kay, leading her to receive her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in early childhood education from Southern Illinois University.

“My first job as a kindergarten teacher landed me in a makeshift classroom in a gym with 35 students,” said Kay. “The school was under construction, and the room was not finished. The administration gave me $50 and told me to go buy supplies.”

With determination, innovation and a lot of imagination, she survived her first year of teaching kindergarten and thrived in her role in early education. She went on to “educate the educators” by teaching at Southern Illinois University.

Kay moved to Indiana in part to be closer to family here. One afternoon, she took her niece to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, an experience that proved to be life-changing. “As soon as I walked in, I knew it was a place I wanted to work,” said Kay. “I immediately called them to see if I could get a meeting, and the timing was perfect – they were looking for someone with a background in early childhood education.”

Kay began her career at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis in 1979 and retired in 2006 as the Vice President for Education and Experience Development. She created the museum’s first Playscape in 1982 and then shepherded its growth as it doubled in size in 1993. Kay was instrumental in creating the Dinosphere and Power to the Children exhibit. She says her experience at the museum was a period of personal growth. “I had the opportunity to meet and work with people who had a much broader view of life.”

“I love working with individual children but working at the museum, I had the sense of providing an experience for the entire family. We were helping parents and children learn together.”

Her nearly 30 years at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis cemented her belief that children need a lot of opportunities to play and use their imagination, which can be successfully mixed with science and math.

“I worry that children are being robbed of play and imagination is stifled,” says Kay. “Some kids do not like school because they do not have the opportunity to use their imagination.” 

Her background in education and her role in creating learning experiences gives her a unique perspective in early education. Kay is a proponent of Day Early Learning centers and the importance of high-quality early childhood education. For more than 25 years, she has supported Early Learning Indiana qualifying her to be in our newly launched Loyalty Society, which honors those individuals who have made consecutive gifts to our organization for more than 20 years.

Early childhood education, young children and families continue to motivate Kay. Although she retired from The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis more than a decade ago, Kay commits her time to making a difference in our community. She recently joined the Day Nursery Auxiliary to help support early learning at our centers. She also invests her time as a CASA volunteer, serving as a voice for children in dire situations, and works with for Dress for Success, where she has served as a board member and a personal shopper.

As she reflects on an amazing career, Kay says, “I had a lot of opportunities that a classroom teacher doesn’t get to experience.” Kay has made the world her classroom and continues to teach families that determination, innovation and imagination serve one well.

Katherine L. “Betsy” Scheuring passed away on April 19, 2011. Betsy was a life member of the Day Nursery Auxiliary and was our most senior member. Betsy joined the Auxiliary in 1938.
She was born in Indianapolis on June 29, 1918 to William D. and Mary K. Hamerstadt. She was a graduate of Shortridge High School and attended the Semple School in New York, where she studied dance under Michael Fokine, one of the greatest Russian expatriates of that time, from the communist regime. She opened a dance studio, “Les Petites Artistes de Ballet”, in her home where she taught children and adults for over 30 years, finally retiring in 1985.
Betsy was a long-time patron of the fine arts in Indianapolis with particular emphasis on ballet. She had been an avid supporter of Ballet Internationale and The Butler Ballet, and was a long-time associate and friend of faculty and students alike. During dance related trips abroad, Betsy became interested in Russian art, and over a period spanning more than thirty years, she amassed a significant collection of Russian icons which she gifted to Purdue University in 2005.
She and her late husband Paul had been long time members of the Columbia Club and Atheneum Turners and Trinity Episcopal Church. She also was a life member of the Indianapolis Day Nursery.
In addition to her late husband, Betsy was preceded in death by her brothers Bill and John Hamerstadt, and her sister Mary Jane Demarest. Survivors include a daughter Margo Scheuring, sons Paul (Melody) and John (Jeanne) Scheuring, several nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Indianapolis Humane Society, 7929 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268, or to the donor’s favorite charity.
Calling will be held at Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Center-Broad Ripple on Monday, April 25, 2011 from 4:00 to 8:00 PM with services 11:30 AM Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 33rd and Meridian St., Indianapolis. Private interment will be at Crown Hill Cemetery.
The family would like to extend their sincere thanks to the staff at Marquette Manor and St. Vincent’s Hospice, for their care and compassion during Betsy’s final days.