Fred Paul Carter is a 1968 graduate of Todd County Central High School.
Carter says he values most from his time in school the quality education he received that prepared him well for his future educational endeavors. He also treasures the memories of his friendships – he had some great times with Gary Palmer, Franklin Boyd, Carlisle Cornyle, Doris Jo Gorrell, Sue Templeman, Cricket Humphrey and many others.
Carter adds he fondly remembers when his physics teacher Billy Phillips told the class he would wear whatever neckties they brought for him. Carter says everyone went home and found their fathers’ weirdest, oldest, out-of-style tie to bring to school. Carter says Phillips was a man of his word and wore some odd ties throughout the year.
He also remembers playing basketball barefoot in the gym — since Coach Ross did not want hard-soled shoes on the gym floor — and playing chess during study hall in the library, which resulted in his title as Todd Central’s Chess Champion.
After graduating, Carter earned his associate’s degree from Lindsey Wilson Junior College and was named Mr. LWC. He then went on to earn a bachelor’s in English from Western Kentucky University, graduating from both institutions with honors, before serving in the US Army from 1972-1974.
In the Army, Carter was trained to assemble, program and fire Pershing missiles. He was also selected for the unit basketball team and spent two years playing for the Army’s 3rd Battalion, 9th Field Artillery. He received the Army Commendation Medal upon his completion of service at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. After serving, he received a master’s degree in education from WKU and a doctorate in educational leadership from Vanderbilt University.
Carter went on to teach English at Warren East High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky for seven years, where he was twice named Bowling Green/Warren County Outstanding Young Educator. At Warren East, Carter was also the assistant football coach and head girls’ basketball coach. He was inducted into both the Warren East Athletic Hall of Fame and the Kentucky High School Coaches Hall of Fame as a basketball coach and eventually retired from coaching with the fifth most wins in Kentucky basketball history.
Carter stayed at Warren East as an assistant principal for seven years before being named Secondary Instructional Supervisor for Warren County Schools. In 1992, he was named principal of Bowling Green High School, where he remained for 10 years. During that time, he was twice named Kentucky Principal of the Year and served as president of the Kentucky Association of Secondary School Principals.
Carter left Bowling Green High in 2002 to become the superintendent of Glasgow Independent Schools. He was also elected president of the Kentucky Association of School Administrators. When he retired as superintendent, he was selected by the Governor to serve as Kentucky’s Deputy Secretary of the Education Cabinet. He served one year before returning to Bowling Green to become Director of Teacher Services at WKU, where he was responsible for teacher education and training.
Carter was also a faculty member in the WKU Doctoral Program and chaired several committees for degree-seeking candidates. He initiated the International Student Teaching Program, which took him to Ecuador, Belize, Sweden, China, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Argentina, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Norway and around 10 more countries.
In 2010, a grant from the Kentucky Department of Education allowed him to become an Executive Coach and train every new Kentucky superintendent. Carter retired from WKU in 2015 and decided to go full-time with his Executive Coach position. Over the past 13 years, he has trained 160 new Kentucky superintendents in Todd County.
Carter is also very active in his hobbies, such as cars, specifically Corvettes, and horses. Carter says he has always liked cars and has driven a Corvette since he bought his first one in 1977. Throughout the years, he has owned around 20 different Corvettes.
He is a lifelong lover of horses and even had one of his own in high school. He showed her in Claymour and Sharon Grove horse shows and rode a horse every year in the annual Russellville Tobacco Festival Parade. He and his wife currently own a horse farm in Oakland, Kentucky where they breed, raise and sell registered Tennessee Walking Horses.
Carter says education is truly the key to success in life and current students should set high goals for themselves. They should not accept any excuses or make excuses for themselves because they determine their own success. He adds to show up, pay attention and work hard in class. Carter says he grew up in a very poor family but has enjoyed some wonderful life experiences, the opportunity to travel all over the world and the ability to enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle. He has also been able to achieve more milestones in life than he ever dreamed possible and this is largely due to the foundation he received at Todd Central.
Carter advises current educators to set high goals for students because they are all capable of achieving at extremely high levels. Also, relationships matter so it’s important to connect with students in some way. Carter says he felt a strong connection to Phillips and wanted to become a great teacher like he was. If teachers take the time to build those powerful connections, students will respond the same way.
Carter married Diana Webster Carter in 1970 and had one son together, Paul. Following 28 years of marriage, his wife developed cancer and passed away in 1998. Carter later married Lucretia Lawrence Carter- the two have been married for 24 years and have two sons, Benjamin and Luke.
Carter was born in Burkesville, Kentucky and now lives in Bowling Green.
Spotlights on Todd Central alumni are part of a partnership between WEKT and the TCCHS Alumni Foundation, Inc. To be featured, please visit the Alumni Foundation’s website to fill out the application.
