Our board member spotlight for the month features board secretary, Laura Hogue:
“I was born and raised in a rural agricultural community in Western Kentucky. My father worked for the railroad and my mother was a full-time homemaker until returning to work as a purchasing agent for a paper company when I started school. Some of my earliest memories are of spending time at my grandparents’ home. My grandfather was known for planting a large garden each year along with maintaining a thriving orchard. During the summer, they operated a small fruit & vegetable stand at the front of their property. When I first heard Robin’s plan to incorporate a teaching environment for special needs adults with a farm-based day program, I immediately wanted to become involved.
I attended the University of Tennessee at Martin pursuing an elementary education degree until I moved to the Huntsville area in 1999 when I married my husband, Tommy. We have two children; a daughter Mackenzie, who is a student at UAB and a son, Samuel, who is a student at Wallace State. Both of my children were blessed to serve as peer helpers in Robin’s special education classes while they were at Monrovia Middle School. Robin’s infectious joy and passion for serving others is what drew me to step up and volunteer. I have had the pleasure of a front row seat to see just how God continues to work through those involved in this amazing endeavor. It has truly been a blessing to get to know her clients and hear what the day program means in each of their lives.
Since we moved to Huntsville, I have held several jobs: billing for a local attorney’s office, serving as a preschool teacher for a local church’s Mother’s Morning Out program, and most recently filling the role of church secretary and bookkeeper for Providence Baptist Church. I stepped down from this last role in early 2022. Today, I am serving in a voluntary capacity as bookkeeper for Next Step Farms and have served on the board of directors in the role of treasurer since 2021. The new year promises lots of excitement for the farm as we anticipate the opening of our new education building. I look forward to serving our community alongside Robin for years to come.” – Laura
