Tuesday night’s special meeting of the Carmel Democratic Committee included guest speaker Terry Goodin, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer McCormick’s pick for Lieutenant Governor. Carmel Democrats met at Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Mortuary, 11411 N. Michigan Road, Zionsville at 6 p.m. for a short presentation and a Q&A session with Goodin.
Approximately 60 Hamilton County Democrats, as well as State Senator JD Ford and State Representative Victoria Garcia Wilburn were in attendance.
Goodin began by telling the audience he was appointed by President Joe Biden to head the United States Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the state of Indiana for the last two and a half years.
“Before that, I spent 24 years as a public school superintendent, and several of those years worked with Dr. McCormick trying to make things better in the great state of Indiana on the education side,” Goodin said. “I also spent 20 years in the statehouse representing Scott, Clark, and Jefferson counties.”
With former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction McCormick and former Superintendent Goodin, is it clear the Democrats are basing their platform on education reform. Goodin’s remarks and his answers during the Q&A bear that out.
Goodin spoke about the necessity for world-class technology in the classroom, and he called teachers the “most important tool in that classroom.”
“What I found out as an educator over 20-some years is the fact that without human interaction, our schools simply produce students who are robots, and then basically they depend on the network to make decisions for themselves,” Goodin said.
Goodin went on to talk about establishing educational opportunities for kids in school.
“You create hope by creating a pathway to college for first-generation college students,” Goodin said. “And you create hope with vocational opportunities for kids that when they graduate from high school, they can find a great union job.”
There were multiple rounds of applause when Goodin spoke about education reform, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ issues.
Thanks to Carmel Democrats, Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Mortuary in Zionsville was packed Tuesday night. (Reporter photo)
The Q&A was moderated by Sarah Draper, who ran for Carmel City Council in 2023. People in attendance told The Reporter they believed Goodin did a fine job answering audience questions and providing more clarity when there were follow up inquiries.
At one point, Goodin said, “Twenty-five percent of the seniors that graduated from a school corporation where I was a superintendent earned their college degree before they earned their high school diploma.”
Graduating from college before high school is not unprecedented. Earlier this year two northern Indiana students did in fact graduate from college before high school by participating in programs offered through GEO Academies. Another Indiana student is confirmed to have done so in 2017.
The Indiana Democratic Party State Convention will be held Saturday, July 13. There are four candidates for Lt. Governor. Goodin will face off against Clif Marsiglio, Bob Kern, and Tamie Dixon-Tatum on Saturday.