Karen Garrity, coordinator of student teaching in the IUPUC Division of Education, received the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation Education Hall of Fame Award on Monday, February 12. The award honors educators who have made a noteworthy and extraordinary contribution to the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation.

Garrity is recognized as a dedicated, pioneer in education serving BCSC for over 40 years. During that time,

she succeeded in multiple roles including classroom teacher, building principal, and Director of Elementary Education.

As principal at Mt. Healthy Elementary School, Garrity introduced full-day kindergarten in the 1980’s. To advance access and equity, she secured funding to provide every student in grades three through six with
a computer and internet service in their home. Service learning projects she initiated at Mt. Healthy were nationally recognized as teams of students presented at conferences across the country.

Garrity is responsible for bringing millions of grant dollars to the school corporation and surrounding community. These grants helped to start and sustain such initiatives as Minds on Math and Book Buddies, programs that pair struggling students with community volunteers.

She started the Bartholomew County Literacy Task Force, the Busy Bees Academy, Bright Beginnings early childhood education program, and Home School Partners. Karen was instrumental in helping to convert three elementary schools into Columbus Signature Academy schools to complement CSA New Tech High School, thus creating the first K-12 project-based learning pathway outside of California.

Garrity has served the Columbus community as an active member of many boards including the Bartholomew County Fair Board, Volunteers in Medicine, United Way, and the Bartholomew County Public Library. 

Today, Garrity continues to shape a future generation of educators at IUPUC, where she serves as the Director of Student Teaching in the Division of Education. In this role, she introduced job fairs to give pre-service teachers career development opportunities, and she provides invaluable insights to emerging educators.