One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
For Jimmy Carter's 100th birthday, his special connection to San Fernando Valley schools is celebrated
President Jimmy Carter gets a standing ovation from Saint Genevieve High School in Panorama City on Oct. 25, 2010.
(
Anne Cusack
/
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
)
St. Genevieve Parish Schools in Panorama City sent former President Jimmy Carter warm and personal wishes for his 100th birthday on Tuesday.
Daniel Horn, president and principal, organized for the celebratory video, featuring both students and staff, to be shown to the former president before he has dinner Tuesday night.
Horn told LAist that their relationship with Carter and the late Rosalynn Carter, which dates back to at least 2005, is historical and special for the schools’ more than 1,000 students.
“There's no doubt in my mind that not only is our school, our country, but our entire world is better because Jimmy Carter lived on this earth,” he said.
Some of the students wishing Jimmy Carter a happy 100th birthday.
(
Courtesy of St. Genevieve Parish Schools
)
About the celebration
St. Genevieve has its own version of the “happy birthday” song, which the students sang for the video.
Sponsored message
They also recorded group and individual messages for Carter, including from Horn.
-
LAUSD special education teachers negotiated a historic limit on class sizes to meet student needs and address burnout. -
Proposed court decision says Marilyn “Mari” Barke will have to pay nearly $82,000 in penalty fees, as well as attorneys’ costs. -
L.A. County education officials say the district is at risk of financial insolvency — and the loss of local control — without more spending cuts.
“I’m just so thrilled that we’re able to celebrate, or be part of the celebration, for your 100th birthday,” he said in the recorded message. “I love you.”
Happy 100th Birthday President Carter!! #JC100 #100Photosfor100Years pic.twitter.com/3E7BsQUDky
— Jimmy Carter Presidential Library (@CarterLibrary) October 1, 2024
How the Carters’ became connected to the L.A. school
When Horn was in college, he wrote a letter to Rosalynn Carter to compliment her on her autobiography.
She invited him to lunch, so he drove a few hundred miles to Georgia, expecting to be one of hundreds attending a formal event. But it was just Horn, Rosalynn Carter, and another family member.
Sponsored message
“We just forged a bond and kept in touch over the years,” he said.
Some of the students singing the schools' special birthday song for Jimmy Carter.
(
Courtesy of St. Genevieve Parish Schools
)
In 2005, he brought a group of four kids to Plains, Georgia, the Carter couple’s beloved hometown. That sparked a series of dozens of visits over the years with faculty, staff, and students.
The couple visited St. Genevieve several times, including for a documentary premiere and for the unveiling of the schools’ “Carter wall,” which features a signed softball, personal letters, and a shot glass from a drink of Jimmy Carter’s favorite whiskey, Old Crow Bourbon.
Continuing the legacy
St. Genevieve is building a performing arts center, which the Carters helped raise money for.
Horn said that the new courtyard outside the theater will be named after the couple.
Sponsored message
They’re also going to include a butterfly garden, as Rosalynn Carter worked to bring awareness to the dwindling monarch butterfly population.
“The Carters are still very much a presence at our school,” Horn said. “I mean, not only is he the first president ever to reach 100, but the fact that we are able to have that kind of relationship with him — the relationship itself is historical.”
Some of the students wishing Jimmy Carter a happy 100th birthday.
(
Courtesy of St. Genevieve Parish Schools
)
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
