Katherine Sanders has a unique connection to Benjamin Franklin High School as the granddaughter of pioneering NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, whose legacy is honored through the school’s Katherine Johnson Campus. A New Orleans educator herself, Sanders shares her grandmother’s passion for learning and her belief in the power of education. We sat down with her to talk about her grandmother’s legacy, her family’s relationship with Franklin, and her hopes for the school’s future.
Q: How did your family’s relationship with Benjamin Franklin High School begin?
A: I received a message from the City of New Orleans several years ago saying that they were going to be renaming some of the schools and that they had chosen Katherine Johnson as the name for a school. At the time, I don’t believe they specified Ben Franklin.
Later, I learned it was going to be Ben Franklin, and I was incredibly excited for more than one reason. It’s very close to my home, and I already knew Franklin was renowned as a very good high school in the city.
I was a little taken aback when it was announced as the Ben Franklin School at the Katherine Johnson Campus because, generally, high schools aren’t known by the name of their campus. I wondered what was going to happen with that recognition.
Eventually, I connected with the school, and they shared their plans for the Katherine Johnson name and brand. What they wanted to do fell in line with what I felt was appropriate. When I saw the STEAM Center, I thought it was beautiful.
Q: What about Benjamin Franklin High School feels particularly fitting for Katherine Johnson’s legacy?
A: I can’t answer that without giving you a little background on who my grandmother was.
My grandmother once told me, “We don’t meet strangers.” I had asked her about someone we used to see regularly and wondered what had happened to them. She told me, “Why don’t you go see about them? Because we don’t meet strangers.”
When I think about Ben Franklin, I think about diversity. I think about the smiles I see on the students whenever I visit the school. It feels comfortable. It feels like home.
My grandmother traveled the world long before Hidden Figures came along. You could go to her house and find someone from India sitting in the living room having a conversation with her, or someone she knew through her NASA connections from another part of the world. There were always people around her who came from different places and different backgrounds.
Q: Education was also an important part of your grandmother’s life. What was she like as a teacher?
A: My grandmother was a teacher early in her career, but she was also a teacher through her experiences. She talked about what she had done, but she also wanted to know what you had done. She was a great listener.
Her house felt like a museum to me. If I wanted to experience one part of the world, I could go to one corner of her house. If I wanted to think about outer space, there was another place for that. I was the child who was always under her, getting lost in her house and reading.
She created the kind of environment that made you want to learn and explore.
Q: What lessons from Katherine Johnson have stayed with you?
A: My grandmother knew her worth, but she didn’t have to talk about it or argue about it.
She would say that if you find something wrong, you correct it and move on. That was what she loved about math. You’re either right or wrong, and when you’re wrong, you erase it, fix it and keep going.
But the grandmother part of her really showed in how much children loved her. When I see her face and image hanging in the school, I hope students find comfort in it. I hope they can look at Katherine Johnson and think, “If she could do it, I can do it too.”
She came from humble means and was able to follow her dream. I hope that inspires them to follow theirs.
Q: When you look at Franklin today, what do you hope to see in the school’s future?
A: When I went into the courtyard and looked behind the school, I thought, “Wow, there’s so much room for growth here.”
Then I toured the school and saw how tight the hallways are while thinking about the number of students Franklin serves. I hope that one day we can be instrumental in helping the school grow.
Ben Franklin has a brand of its own, and I don’t see why it can’t be expanded. I hope in my lifetime that I can see that growth.
Q: Why is expanding access to a school like Franklin important to you?
A: How do you serve more and more students who are in line with Franklin academically, who have the drive and know they can excel? How do you turn students away when the facility simply can’t support the numbers?
Even if you want to maintain smaller classrooms, you need more space. You need more teachers, more resources and, of course, more money.
Q: Your grandmother began her career as a teacher. Has education also played a role in your own life?
A: Yes. I’m currently a teacher at Lake Forest Charter, and a lot of my students matriculate to Ben Franklin. It has worked out quite well.
Q: Did Katherine Johnson have a personal connection to New Orleans?
A: She didn’t live in New Orleans, but she had property here. I’ve been here for 30 years, and she spent many holidays with me here. She would especially come during the wintertime. Both of my grandparents spent time here, so New Orleans was like a second home for her.
Q: What would you most like the Franklin community to know about your family’s relationship with the school?
A: I speak for our family when I say that we are really grateful and excited about what Ben Franklin is doing with the Katherine Johnson name.
I hope we can be instrumental in helping with future endeavors, whether that means growing the school, growing the brand or growing the Katherine Johnson Campus.
Most importantly, we want you to know that we are here. We are here to support you.
