Carisa Carr has accepted the invitation of the Mid-America Union Executive Committee to serve as associate director of education for the union, effective Jan. 1, 2024. Carr is filling the position previously held by Gerard Ban, who is retiring on Dec. 31, 2023.
“We are thrilled to have Carisa join the education team,” said MAUC Office of Education director LouAnn Howard. “She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our union. We thank God that she has accepted this invitation to minister in Mid-America.”
EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Carr brings experience as a preschool teacher, elementary school teacher and principal. In addition, she most recently served as associate director of Early Childhood Education for the North Pacific Union Conference since 2020.
Carisa (Retzer) Carr graduated from Union College with a BS in psychology. She then earned a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education from East Tennessee State University. Carr is also a certified Academic Language Therapist and a Literacy Intervention specialist. She holds a Professional Teaching Certificate from the North American Division with multiple endorsements.
Carr holds professional affiliations with the Academic Language Therapy Association, the Colorado Council of International Reading Association, and is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. She has presented at both virtual and in-person conferences multiple times during the past few years, including the NAD Educators Convention in Phoenix in August 2023.
Committees Carr has served on include the Georgia-Cumberland Conference Curriculum Instruction and Assessment Committee, the North Pacific Union Curriculum Committee, and the North American Division Early Childhood Education Summer Committee.
“I am excited to be back home in MAUC where I have had the privilege to spend the majority of my own education experience from kindergarten through college,” said Carr. “God has placed the call on my heart to serve and collaborate with our conference education leadership as they develop educators with a passion for excellence in education and share the love of Jesus each day with students.”
Carisa and her husband, Craig, have two adult children. Their son, Christian, is in the Air Force and their daughter, Cassie, is married to Blake Unsell.
In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family, music, reading and baking.
