July 28, 2026
Nicolle Hutchinson – 2026 CMI Tribute Honoree
A Letter from Carroll Smith, Founder of CMI
Each year now the Institute aims to recognize someone who has made a substantial contribution to the Charlotte Mason Educational Movement. It isn't really an award. It is a way of saying thank you for hard work and dedication to the education of our children. So I want to tell you a story about this year's contributor to the Charlotte Mason Educational Movement…
I think it was around 2008 or 2009. I was sitting in my office at Gardner-Webb University, probably grading papers or reading for a class discussion. The phone rang and I answered as usual. There was a young female voice on the other end, and she introduced herself as Nicolle Hutchinson.
Now, before I continue with this story, I must remind you of why I started this Institute. It goes back to verses in Luke 4:16–19 that I was reading at the time.
"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.'"
Those words have been swimming in my head ever since I had any conception of starting the Institute. Words like "the poor," "release to the captives," "recovering of sight to the blind," and "liberty [to] those who are oppressed." They continue to ring in my head even today.
The poor. What about those children who have no access to Mason? Life circumstances don't allow such a rich, beautiful, and necessary education to reach them. How is it that we are to be witnesses to the ends of the earth and go to mission fields far away, when right under our noses are children who are starving both physically and spiritually — and I include education in the spiritual as well as the physical realm of life?
So on the other end of the phone I heard these words: "Do you think Mason's work can be used in government charter schools?" I almost jumped up and did a dance. I think I said something like, "Absolutely!"
She said, "Well, I want to start a Charlotte Mason charter school here in Pottsville, PA."
It wasn't until later that I realized the significance of starting one there. Pottsville is a coal-mining town that has diminished significantly over the years, leaving a great deal of poverty and hopelessness. Now, that was only the beginning. The journey of starting a charter school has involved much pain and suffering: bullying from the local government schools, refusal to renew the charter, intimidation. She has had the police called on her. Finding teachers and other staff has in itself created untold stress. It has not been an easy journey, and the price has been high.
But today there exists in Pottsville, PA, a fabulous Charlotte Mason charter school where children can get a Mason education without cost. Those poor children whom the world can so easily forget have the opportunity of a rich, delightful, relational education. All because Nicolle Hutchinson has been willing to pay the price that the local community dishes out. She has been a fearless Mason advocate and even more – she has been a fearless advocate for children!
"She has been a fearless Mason advocate and even more – she has been a fearless advocate for children!"
