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| Since being crowned “Miss FBLA” at Stillwater’s C.E. Donart High School in 1970, Janabeth Fleming Taylor has traveled a variety of paths leading to her current destination.
Taylor attributes much of her success in business - and in life - to her high school CareerTech programs and student organizations. But her CareerTech experience began at a much younger age than high school. “My mother taught home economics at Stillwater’s high school and daddy was the industry adviser for the Stillwater FFA Chapter,” Taylor said. “He was the director of Experimental Farms in the Department of Horticulture at Oklahoma State University.” In high school her education included CareerTech’s Business and Office, now called Business and Information Technology Education and Home Economics, now called Family and Consumer Sciences Education.
CareerTech educator Fern Green Bowling was also an influence in Taylor’s young life. “Mrs. Green (Bowling) was my Business and Office teacher and FBLA chapter adviser,” Taylor said. “She taught students the importance of business ethics. It was the little things that she did for students that made me want to succeed in life.” That is why Taylor is being recognized as a CareerTech champion, according to Phil Berkenbile, CareerTech state director. “Champions are alumni of the system’s high school or adult programs and student organizations who attribute much of their success to their CareerTech experience,” Berkenbile said.
While teaching at Autry Tech, Taylor attended University of Oklahoma’s Law School where she received her Litigation Paralegal Certificate and worked at a law office. In 1993, Taylor moved to Marshall, Texas, and worked as an in-house paralegal for a law firm. Now, with her own firm in Corpus Christi, Taylor performs research for lawyers, where she keeps current in nursing standards, industrial technical standards, as well as changes in litigation rules while working with lawyers across the US and Canada in a variety legal issues.
“All forms of education that I have received including high school, nursing school and as a paralegal are relevant today in my business,” Taylor said. “I use skills everyday that I learned in high school business classes: making data entries, word processing and running an orderly office. And, I still use the dictation skills learned during my high school work study program at Stillwater National Bank when working with clients.” Taylor’s CareerTech education has played a vital role in her professional life. “At one point in my life, I was a single mother,” Taylor said. “Because of my education, I have been able to provide for my children's needs and support myself. I would never be doing what I do today without each element of my education.” CareerTech is also important factor in her personal life.
Skills learned through her parents and CareerTech education have now become a tradition passed on to her children. “I have passed on to a third generation the home ec foundation that started with my mother,” Taylor said. “My son loves to cook favorite family recipes and takes pride in making them just like his grandmother made them. And, my daughter knows the first curtains she recently made would have made her grandmother proud.” Taylor believes an important role for CareerTech is to help students develop skills for both a career and for life that they might otherwise miss. “CareerTech students are encouraged to identify their interests and abilities and expand them in an encouraging environment,” Taylor said. “And, you just never know when the skills learned in a high school classroom will be the skills you need most.” Related Links |
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| Story: Erin Portman Communications and Marketing posted 4/24/2006 |
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Today, as the founder and CEO of Attorney’s Medical Services Inc. in Corpus Christi, Texas, Taylor provides litigation support and consultation to attorneys across the country, Canada and Puerto Rico. She is recognized nationally as the expert to have “in your court.” 
She was also active in two CareerTech student organizations: Future Homemakers of America, now called Family Career and Community Leaders of America, and Future Business Leaders of America, now called Business Professionals of America. 
In college, Taylor combined her high school business training with a nursing degree at Oklahoma State University - Oklahoma City. She also worked at Integris Bass Baptist Health Center in obstetrics. There she met a teacher from Autry Technology Center, also in Enid. Autry Tech was looking for a nursing instructor and Taylor was hired. Taylor taught at Autry Tech for 10 years and received the Health Occupations Education Tenure Award.
In 2002, she received the Paralegal of the Year Award from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. She has been published in various legal publications and is invited as a frequent speaker for legal educational programs 
“The foundation in home ec provided me with home management skills which I needed desperately as a single mom with two kids,” Taylor said. “And, especially since I was starting my business and raising two teenagers alone, the financial budgeting, meal preparation and time management skills were critical.”