Linda Edwards, MRSH consultant extraordinaire, is a busy woman, but she tries to find time for one of her favorite hobbies: quilting. “I am a quilter,” she acknowledges, “and hand quilting is what I love doing most.” Quilting happens to provide the perfect analogy for Linda’s life. Just as a patchwork quilt is composed of many lovely pieces of fabric, Linda’s life consists of numerous interesting components – all stitched together with her energetic commitment to coaching, leading, and teaching others.

Her involvement with MRSH began during her work as principal at Katherine B. White Elementary School, part of Detroit Public Schools. She credits Modern Red with providing much needed stability, and her school went on to achieve full implementation of the design. She loves to share her experiences with present schools during her training sessions, saying things like, “The beauty is in the model…it is a good model. The principal coaching, organization of Task Forces, and curriculum work gave us what we needed…a systematic way to pull it all together. My teachers were totally empowered.” Today’s schools place great value on her experiences with the MRSH model, and Ms. Edwards sees this as “an opportunity to connect with people…to help them see the bigger picture…to tell them ways to get through the tough times.”

MRSH is not the only fabric piece in her life. She takes advantage of other consulting opportunities. She does support work mentoring principals, working as a troubleshooter to help others figure out their direction. She participated in the Annenberg Project, working with nineteen other Detroit schools involved in reform. She is also strongly committed to her family, particularly her mother and her two children, Camille, recently married, and Sherrod, who has just been accepted to law school in Wisconsin.

Volunteer work is another piece of Linda’s life quilt. She donates her time and energy to Arts and Scraps, a nonprofit organization in the Detroit Metro area that provides art activities for the YWCA, after-school programs, and other similar places. “I go to manufacturing companies and get left-over materials, scrap fabric, etc. I help pull the kits together.” She serves as the receptionist at her church on Sundays and is on the Board of Directors for Black Family Development, Inc. As a member of the Detroit Executive Service Corps, she goes into schools to lead round-table discussion groups with high school students. “I like to keep giving,” she says. “If it benefits kids, I’m right there.”

Linda is delighted to use her experiences in education to assist the many MRSH schools at which she trains. “I have met so many wonderful people,” she shares with a huge smile. “Modern Red has been good for me. And I know it’s been good for the schools.”

And don’t bother to ask her to slow down. “Busy is good,” she states. “I’m one of those people…I’ve always got to be doing something. But there is calmness about me. A balance.” All the pieces of Linda Edwards’s life fit together neatly, creating a pattern worthy of admiration and respect. Her character, her experience, and her expertise are the threads that stitch these pieces into place. Linda Edwards, quilter and educator, well deserves to bask in the glow of the MRSH Consultant Spotlight.

September 2004