Mrs. A Jean Battie taught in the Sarasota County School System for thirty (30) years before retiring in 2006, from Alta Vista Elementary School, her last assignment.

 

However, those who knew her best, (including, of course, Mr. Battie) would say she never got the memo on retirement, because if she wasn't at a school as a substitute teacher, she would be there as a volunteer. It was her love for the children and her passion for teaching that constantly drove her to the classroom. 

 

Over the years, she built such a reputation as a caring, compassionate, and effective teacher that parents were requesting that their children be placed in her classrooms as early as kindergarten, something rarely heard of in early childhood education. In her obituary, Mr. Battie referred to her as not just a teacher, but as a servant to her students. She constantly spent her own money on supplies to enhance their learning abilities. If a child needed clothes, lunch money, a pat on the back or sometimes a good tongue-wagging, she provided whatever was necessary.

 

When the first Sunday school ministry was initiated at the former Abundant Life Christian Center, Mrs. Battie was one of the first to raise her hand as a volunteer to teach. Following a brief hiatus that followed the merger of Abundant Life in Bethesda Outreach Ministries under the banner of Light of the World International Church and Sunday school was resurrected, she was again one of the first to raise her hand to volunteer. And the same love and compassion for the children that became her hallmark in Sarasota's public schools, she brought to the Sunday school.

With a burning love for the history and culture of African-Americans, Mrs. Battie single-handedly raised awareness of Black History Month at whatever school she happened to be assigned at the time. She was also the leading force in raising Black History awareness in establishing Black History programs in Light of the World's Sunday school ministry.

 

The Fund serves as an extension of the legacy that Mrs. Battie established as a servant to the children of Sarasota County's schools. The  Christian life that she lived and exemplified assures that she would insist and proclaim "To God be the Glory."