I AM WOMAN

Biography 0f the Performer

Debra Todd

INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION

I was born in the hills of Northern Georgia and remained in Georgia until I graduated from college. I married a young Army Lieutenant while I was still in college, and we are married still-but no longer so young! My husband and I raised a wonderful son, Shane, who has gone on ahead of us into heaven. I taught school for twenty-four years. This year I'm taking a year off from a "real" job to spend more time studying and doing volunteer work. My husband has retired from the Army now, but works as a civilian in the Pentagon. Our life of moving around the world has given me some unusual stories to share!

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

M.S. Candidate School of Library and Information Science
Candidate Graduate Academic Certificate in Youth Services in Libraries
Candidate Graduate Academic Certificate in Storytelling
University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences

Hampton University, Hampton, VA
Graduate School of Education

University of Texas El Paso, El Paso, TX
Graduate School of Education

B.S. Elementary Education
North Georgia College, Dahlonega, GA

STORYTELLING INTERESTS

I come from a family of storytellers! Every family event finds all of the cousins swapping stories that sometimes grow larger in the telling. One of my earliest memories is of sitting at the feet of my grandmother begging, "Mamaw, tell me a tale!" I spent my early years preparing "dramatic readings" for our local talent shows. I loved telling stories to our son, and carried my storytelling into the classroom when I was teaching. I found that children enjoy learning when the lesson is turned into a story. I now tell stories in our church's Sunday school and Children's Church, and in the Dale City Neighborhood Library.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

I am a person that cannot sit still without something to do. I've tried my hand at counted cross stitch, crochet, and even tried watercolor. Recently I've started knitting. I have a large collection of books-both adult and children's. I collect Hummel figurines and plates, and now have over seventy. Most of the figurines are of little boys!

My husband and I think that we must be part gypsy, because we can never stand to stay in one place for too long. We have now lived in nineteen different houses and apartments! We spent six years living in Germany, and our son and I joined my husband in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for thirteen months in the 1980's.