Ohio parent advocate Traci Woodard was presented with the 2024 Lori Cooney Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Parent Leadership Conference. Watch the award presentation or read the transcript below! Congrats Traci!

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Letrisha Weber: It is with great pleasure that we honor an individual whose tireless dedication and unwavering commitment to our community have left an indelible mark on the landscape of education advocacy. On behalf of the PSO National Board, I am pleased to present Traci Woodard with the prestigious Lori Cooney Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award for her exceptional leadership and mentorship in championing school choice.

Throughout her illustrious career, Traci has exemplified the true spirit of advocacy, embodying the qualities of the award's namesake. And PSO's first president, Lori Cooney, by demonstrating a steadfast determination to empower parents and communities in their pursuit of quality education options as a beacon of hope and catalyst for change.

Traci has not only advocated for school choice, but has also served as a guiding light and mentor to countless parent advocates imparting wisdom, sharing experiences and nurturing a sense of unity and purpose. Traci's passion and dedication has inspired countless others to stand up, speak out, and make a difference in the lives of not only their students, but families across our nation.

While Traci may refer to herself as a professional cheerleader by encouraging others, it's her leadership and mentorship that has fostered a community of empowered advocates, united in their belief that every child deserves access to a high quality education tailored to their individual needs and aspirations.

Traci, as we honor you with the Lori Cooney Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award, we not only celebrate your remarkable accomplishments, but also express our deepest gratitude for your unwavering commitment to educational equity and excellence.  Please accept this well deserved honor as an appreciation of all that you do for not only Ohio families, but parents everywhere.

Traci Woodard: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It is such an honor to receive this award, or to be the recipient of the 2024 Lori, Lori Cooney Lifetime Achievement Award. First, I would like to thank the PSO Board of Directors for seeing something in me that I didn't even see in myself. I also wanted to thank my family for their endless support in their allowing me to, you know, push me to do this.

This is my passion to be an advocate for students and and for families. I want to also thank my fellow advocates, their partnership, their tireless efforts have been instrumental in driving meaningful change. I also want to thank God for uplifting me in those times when I felt defeated and really wanted to quit.

When I found out that I was receiving this award, I think I cried for three or four days, my kids kind of laughed at me, too. I was, simply to me, I was just being a parent, being a present parent who wanted to see her children receive a quality education.

I'm a wife and mother of six. We have two that have graduated from private school.We have two that have graduated from career tech schools, and we will have two graduate from online learning institutions of their choice, not necessarily ours, but of their choice. So navigating their education has not been easy.  I had to learn early how to find out what made my children tick. What was their individual learning style?

And I needed an education system or education model. That would, would, depict their learning styles. Our education system was originally designed to only educate a certain class of individuals, and we haven't steered from that model. We've just added or piled on different systems to kind of, make the times modern, not necessarily efficient.  

I asked those closest to me, what did they see in me? Describe me in a few words. A few of those people were legislators that I work closely with here in Ohio. The feedback that I got was kind of overwhelming. I was told that I am a warrior, a cheerleader, a coach, and my favorite, just simply a good friend.

When I looked at all of those characteristics, I found out those characteristics are embodied by Lori Cooney. I didn't get to meet her personally, but I did ask those around her. Tell me a little bit about her. Tell me what made her tick. Tell me what drove her. What was her passions?  All of those combined, that's how we were similar.

And I take great honor and pleasure in knowing that I was a champion alongside of her, even not knowing her. Lori's passion led her to be student-focused and enhance parent empowerment. Her advocacy created a footprint for me to follow. Working with organizations like PSO, I gained confidence in my ability to affect change and help families learn the value of what it's like to have an adequate education, no matter where you come from as a parent leader, you must understand our children are not litter. They're not waste. They shouldn't be forced to learn in an environment that is unsuitable for their learning styles.  

15 years ago, I've been doing this for 15 years. Just realized that after I received this award,  my son gave his first speech,  his subject, his very first statement in this speech, he stated to legislators and people in the room. "I want to thank you for fighting for me before you even knew me.  I take those words to heart because that's what we're doing as parent leaders. We're fighting for children who don't even know us, who we don't even know, but need and need to know that they're valued and their education matters.  Today, I charge you to absorb and ponder on the information that you're receiving from this leadership conference.

Our children need to see that you're fighting for them and that they're worth it. They need to know that they're worth it. Although I did not get the pleasure of meeting Miss Lori,  I am committed to making sure that her name and her cause is well known in the state of Ohio.

Once again, I'd like to thank the PSO Board of Directors for honoring me with such an award.  Like I tell my children each and every day, go be great.  Thank you.  

Letrisha Weber: Such nice words to memorialize Lori. I think that definitely sums up why we chose Traci for this award.

And on behalf of the Parents for School Options, Board of Directors, and the entire PSO, and all the parent advocates and families that you've affected over the years. Thank you again, Traci, for your extraordinary dedication and leadership. I am confident that you will continue to inspire generations of advocates to come, and congratulations once again on receiving this award.

Traci Woodard: Thank you.