Twila
Parker Lummer
"Twila Lummer
has made a difference in generations of people—pregnant
teens, adolescent mothers, their children and the parents of these
young women.”
—Vada L. Babcock, 1987
Twila
Parker Lummer developed a model program that paved the way for
nearly 2,000 pregnant teenagers in Davenport, Iowa and countless
others nationwide to attend high school. Lummer founded the Teenage
Adolescent Pregnancy Program in the late 1960s, in which classes
in prenatal care, consumer education, and infant nurturing were
additions to the regular high school curriculum. She is a national
advocate for the education of pregnant teenagers and young parents,
becoming a charter member of the National Organization for Adolescent
Pregnancy and Parenting in 1979. She served as NOAPP treasurer
from 1982 to 1985. She added another needed educational service
in Davenport by collaborating with a local psychiatrist in developing
a hospital school for children and adolescents on the mental
health unit of Mercy Hospital. Lummer, who has a master's degree
in special education, began her career as home instruction teacher
for the physically disabled. In 1986, Western Illinois University
honored her as the first woman to receive the Arnold Salisbury
Leadership Award. She also received the Governor's Volunteer
Award for work with the Iowa Department of Health in adolescent
pregnancy and parenting. Lummer was inducted into the Iowa Women's
Hall of Fame in 1988.
UPDATE: Lummer
is a member of the Advisory Council, Department of Educational
Administration and Supervisors, College of Education, Western
Illinois University; Episcopal Trinity Cathedral’s Positive
Parenting At Trinity; the Foundation Board of Vera French Mental
Health Center; and has served on the Allocation Board of the
Scott County Regional Authority in the dispersing of funds received
from the Diamond Lady Riverboat. These funds were allocated to
the Domestic Abuse Center, Maternal Health Center, the D.A.R.E.
program of the Bettendorf Police Department, the CASI Center,
the Bettendorf Children's Museum, and many other nonprofit groups.
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