Baker Proud Summer 2019 - 10

BAKER PROUD | Summer 2019

Children's author taps into
her faith, Baker education to
bring stories to life
When Becky (Holloway) Johns,
'91, combined her love for teaching
preschool with a devotion to her
faith, something magical happened.
In 2018, Johns published her first
book, God Made Me Washable. The
story follows young Caleb as he runs
into all sorts of messes, some of
which get him dirty on the outside,
and some on the inside. Fortunately,
Caleb learns that God makes everyone washable, both inside and out.
The children's book author and
Lenexa, Kansas, resident is enjoying
a new career in the world of literature, but she has never forgotten
her time at Baker studying elementary education, with an emphasis in
special education and a minor in psychology. What's nice, is that the Baker experience is a Johns family affair.
Husband, Steve, '91, and daughter,
Ryenn, '17, are Baker grads, as well.
Her son, Jace, is a member of the
Baker baseball team and expects to

graduate in 2021 with a degree in
business. The Johns family was the
Baker Alumni Family of the Year in
2017 along with Steve's brother Dave,
'89, and his wife Kelly (Nawroth),
'91, and their son Cooper, '18. Ken
Johns, Becky's father-in-law, served
as an assistant football coach at Baker
in the late '80s and early '90s.
Johns credits Baker with allowing
and engaging her to step out and try
new things and giving her the courage to be creative. "I loved my time
on campus. I was a Zeta Tau Alpha, a
cheerleader, on the dance team, and
the homecoming queen. I started
dating Steve my freshman year,"
said Johns, who grew up in Bonner
Springs, Kansas.
Eventually marrying, Becky and
Steve moved to Ohio for four years,
where Becky first stepped outside
her comfort zone and worked for a
bank. After that short stint, the family returned to the Kansas City area
and Becky returned to her love of
teaching. Known as Miss Becky, she
taught at the Overland Park Church
of Christ Sonshine School from 1999
until she retired in 2010.
Over the years, Johns has written
several children's stories she had

hoped to turn into books. She drew
from her experiences with preschool
children and always injected important elements of her faith.
"I taught preschool for a long
time, and I noticed that some kids
liked to get dirty, but a lot didn't," she
said. "I want kids and adults to see
that we all mess up in life. Life gets
messy. It's not always our own fault.
It's important to know that we are all
loved and cherished."
That loved and cherished feeling is one Johns experienced when
choosing to study at Baker. She first
became acquainted with Baker while
attending summer cheerleading
camps during her junior high and
high school years.
"It was close to home and beautiful. I knew that one of my very best
friends, Danielle (Costanza) Dingey, '91, was going there, so when I
finally came down to take a campus
visit it was easy to fall in love with
its charm," Johns said. "It was like
home from the very beginning. In
fact, when we moved our daughter
into Irwin her freshman year, all
those excited feelings came back, and
I wanted to stay and do it all over
again."

"If it wasn't for Dr. Peggy Harris, Dr. Merrie Skaggs, and
Dr. Lowell Gish, I may not have had the confidence to
step out of my comfort zone and write a children's book.
I knew they cared and were in my corner."
-Becky Johns
Continued on page 19.

Baker Proud Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baker Proud Summer 2019