About Us

Our mom, Carolyn “Sue” Morgan, was a wife, proud mother of 4, and grandmother to 10.  She was an educator, passionate community supporter, and mayor of her hometown of Salem.

Sue began her teaching career in Crossville, Illinois, where she taught first grade for three years.  Sue then moved back home to Salem with her husband Bill, where she was employed as the new 1st grade teacher at Hawthorn Elementary School.  Sue taught for a total of 42 years.  For 27 of those years, Sue taught 1st grade, K+, and Reading Recovery at Hawthorn Elementary.  The other 16 years were spent owning her own preschool, Calico Carousel, and partnering with her 1st cousin, Linda Elwood, to own and operate Teddy Bear Daycare.  She began a life of entrepreneurship to be able to stay home with her four children while simultaneously educating Salem’s youth. 

During her years at Hawthorn, Sue was the Teachers Union President for 15 years.  She raised a significant amount of money to create a state-of-the-art playground for the students and community at Hawthorn Grade School.  Sue also spearheaded the S.A.V.E. Organization (Sports and Activities are Vital to Education) to reinstate all non-revenue sports and activities at Salem Community High School when they were abruptly cut from the budget during the 1992-1993 school year.  Sue and a team of volunteers raised over 50,000 dollars and gained Board acceptance to reinstate everything.   In addition, Sue never let a student go without clothes, shoes, coats, haircuts, and even a bed to sleep in or a place to stay. If you needed it, she always found a way to get things done for her students and families.  

When Sue suddenly passed away in February 2021, we (her four kids) decided to continue her legacy by creating a new non-profit organization.  This was our mom's dream.  It was created in her name called, Sue’s Kids.  The mission of Sue’s Kids will be to help students and their families get the extra help needed to allow an equal education opportunity.  This was Sue’s passion.  

Sue wanted every child to have the opportunity for a proper education and loved helping others who were down on their luck or needed extra love.  She especially loved seeing others Pay It Forward, complete Acts of Kindness, and overcome Adversity. She would be so proud to know that her organization is helping students who have accomplished one or all of the above.  She believed in everyone and believed that everyone could be anything they wanted to be when given the support and love needed.  The Sue's Kids Scholarship is doing just that for students at Salem Community High School.  The High School that was in Sue's hometown.  We hope to expand our scholarship recipients in the future to additional high schools as we grow the organization.