Carol as an infant. She was born 20 days after Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Carol in Twinfalls, Idaho with parents.
"I was their first child and they were thrilled I was born in 1941, 20 days after Pearl Harbor. My uncle, an air force pilot, was there but not injured. It was very hard for my mom."

Brother, Sister, Carol. Cowhands at brother's 4th birthday.

Receiving Torch Bearer in Social Leadership.

My high school graduation picture from Olympia, Wa. I was president of the senior class and active in the band and orchestra.

I taught first grade for two years then switched to teaching music at the elementary level. I had 1200 students in two schools.

I began teaching music education at Seattle Pacific University. I taught there for 20 years then completed my career at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. After four years there I decided to leave higher education at age 56 and return to Seattle to walk with my mother as she declined with dementia. It was a life-changing but important decision.

In 1976, with one day's notice, my husband and I adopted a baby girl we named Courtnay. She has always loved music and works in the music industry as an adult. She remains one of the most remarkable gifts of my life.

In 1977 I completed a Ph.D. at the University of Washington in Psychology of Music. I won several awards for my dissertation.

Here are the covers of the two college texts I've co-written with my colleague and friend, Dr. Patricia Shehan Campbell with help from my husband, Dr. Kirk Kassner. Music in Childhood was first published in 1995 and has subsequently been through 4 editions. It remains the leading text in the world to train music education students to teach music to children in the schools. It has just been translated into Mandarin. Music for Elementary Classroom Teachers came out in 2017 and helps classroom teachers integrate music into their classes.

In these later years of life, my husband and I love to travel. Here we are in Lucca, Italy enjoying a light lunch and a glass of wine. We have traveled throughout Europe, parts of Africa and the Middle East, China, Brazil, and Argentina as well as the U.S. We've been very involved in the International Society of Music Education. It is fun to visit friends from throughout the world.

I'm doing less and less work as I approach 80 but am still involved as a spiritual director, occasional spiritual teacher, on a committee for Sage-ing International and as president of our condominium association. That is enough.