The Young Professional Award at the Carmi Chamber of Commerce itself is in its infancy. In 2022, Cody Gottman took the initial honor. Cole Carter took the top prize in 2023, and last year Tracy Orr was awarded. The 2025 winner is making a positive impact on the future by instilling an appreciation of the past. Chamber President Luke Sailer had the distinction of awarding Carlin Smock Monday night.
Now entering her 16th year as an educator, it’s hard to believe she still qualifies as a young professional. This lady has known what she wanted to do for a long time and continues to do so and somehow is growing and reaching higher year after year. It takes a special kind of educator to instill a love of history in students, especially in the age of social media and the latest technological advances. She’s done this mainly by incorporating technology and modernizing the ways others including her students can consume and keep relevant history, especially our own locally. By launching the CWC Historians, she’s taken interest in history beyond the classroom from the living wax museum in which her club and students assist to working with the White County Historical Society. From field trips to working with the youth to make sure they understand the significance of Carmi’s historical buildings and museums to the creation of the video this past spring: A Personal Perspective, The Tri State Tornado which accounts the personal story of Louise Warthen and her experience as a 12-year-old in the 1925 tornado here in White County, this lady is keeping history alive and well in Carmi.
Smock was caught off guard and expressed her thanks for not only recognizing her love of history, but also for the community at large for welcoming her home.
I am very humbled to receive this. I consider myself very lucky because I love my job and I get to play in museums. I just enjoy it. Some days its work, but I really, really like what I do. I worked 10 years away from Carmi and like so many of you have said. You think you want to move away. I didn’t necessarily want to move away but that’s where life took me and then it brought me back and I’m so thankful for our community. It means so much to me to teach so many students who I know their parents. We love our kids more than we love ourselves and it means so much to me that I can be there for people that I grew up with and their kids and share what I love with them.
The Carmi museums will be open for Corn Day on Saturday. There will be corn tasting at the Ratcliffe Inn from 11am – 1pm and Historical Society Tours available from 11am – 2pm.