Vivian Bailey, 97, never had the chance to go on a field trip as a
child, but on Tuesday, she took the “field trip” of her dreams to the
White House and was even surprised by President Obama and Vice President
Joe Biden.
“It was quite a surprise! I had no idea we were going to meet the
president and the vice president, and it was awesome,” Bailey told ABC
News. “It was a dream come true.”
Bailey was invited to tour the White House after the vice president's
office saw a story about her work fundraising for an elementary school
in Columbia, Maryland.
For the past 16 years, Bailey has led a fundraising effort to help
Running Brook Elementary School fulfill its “wish list” for students.
Part of that wish list includes funding field trips for the school
children, something Bailey finds particularly important.
“I’ve been very insistent on trying to make sure our kids get field
trips,” Bailey said. “I want our children whose parents are certainly
not wealthy to have those opportunities.”
Born in Washington, D.C., in 1918, Bailey moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a
child where she attended segregated schools and said her classes were
not taken on field trips.
Bailey served in the Women’s Army Corps in Alabama and Georgia from 1942
to 1946, eventually becoming a first lieutenant in charge of 144 women
at Fort Benning. After leaving the Army, Bailey moved to Chicago, where she met her husband and worked for the Veterans Administration and the Social Security office. She was then transferred to a Social Security office in Baltimore and retired in Columbia, Maryland, in 1975.
Source: Yahoo News
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