Never believe you are just a teacher…
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Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, founder of Hawaii’s Kamehameha Schools
Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop established Kamehamea Schools to teach Native Hawaiian students how to preserve their culture, history, and language. Photo credit: Public Domain
While conducting research for my book Chalkboard Champions, I learned a great deal about numerous types of schools that I had never heard about in my thirty-odd years as an educator. Industrial schools, emancipation schools, farm schools, normal schools, specialist schools. Where were all these terms when I went through student teaching? One type of school I learned about that I found particularly intriguing is the Kamehameha School located in the beautiful state of Hawaii.
Kamehameha Schools were first established in 1887 at the bequest of Bernice Bishop, also known as Princess Pauahi, a member of the Hawaiian royal family when the state was still a territory. Princess Pauahi and her beloved husband, an American named Charles Reed Bishop, had no children of their own, and so when she passed away in 1882 at the age of 52, she directed that her vast estate should be used to benefit and educate underprivileged Native Hawaiian children. Two schools were built: one for boys and one for girls. Eventually the two schools were merged to form a coed school, now located on a six-hundred-acre campus on the main island of Oahu overlooking Honolulu Harbor.
Kamehameha Schools serve the important function of preserving Native Hawaiian culture, history, and language. One of the ways this is done is through the annual choral competition known as the Kamehameha Song Contest, where traditional Hawaiian songs and dances as well as new compositions in the genre are performed by the students. This is a wonderful tradition that goes back 45 years.
When I think of Chalkboard Champions, my first thought is of teachers, of course, but individuals such as Princess Pauahi who support schools financially and with their volunteer hours are also heroes to our students!
Read more about Kamehameha Schools in my book Chalkboard Champions, available on amazon.
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Ruth Q. DePrida worked tirelessly for retired California educators
Retired teacher and principal Ruth Q. DePrida worked tirelessly for the benefit of retired educators and others in the state of California. Photo credit: Find A Grave.
There are many Chalkboard Champions who work tirelessly for the benefit of their colleagues. One of these was Ruth Q. DePrida, a retired teacher and principal who threw her considerable energy into improving retirement benefits for her fellow California educators.
Ruth DePrida was born and raised in Southern California. As a young woman, she attended UCLA, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in education. She earned her Master’s degree in Education from USC.
Once she earned her degrees, Ruth accepted a position as a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She taught for 13 years, and then was promoted to the position of elementary principal, where she served another 23 years as the head of both the Rosewood Ave. Schools and third Street Schools..
After Ruth retired from the teaching profession, she became dedicated towards improving the lives of retired teachers. She became active in California Retired Teachers Association. In 1981, she was appointed to Chair the State Legislation Committee, a position she held until 1996. While serving on this body, she worked toward guaranteed purchasing power protection for retirees, and she advocated for the Elder Full Funding Act and the Desert Protection Act. During her term, the Elk Hills Petroleum Reserve agreement was developed. The state wanted to put the funds gained from this agreement into the general fund, but Ruth worked to see that those profits were designated for retired teachers in the Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account instead. In 1984, Governor George Deukmajian appointed Ruth was appointed to the State Teachers’ Retirement Board, where she served until 1996. She brought to the Board the perspective a system retiree.
All throughout her life, Ruth was a tireless worker for the welfare of all, including children and seniors. She spent 50 years lobbying for children’s hospitals, schools, teachers, and retried teachers. She also became interested in the cause of nursing home reform based on her own difficulties in finding adequate care for her own family members and friends.
To learn more about Ruth Q. DePrida, see this obituary published by the Los Angeles Times.
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Blind teacher of the blind, Chalkboard Champion Genevieve Caulfield
American teacher Genevieve Caulfield pioneered Special Education for the blind in Asian countries. What’s most amazing about her was that she was nearly blind herself! Photo credit: 5000’s Magazine
Our nation’s special education students are truly fortunate to have talented and dedicated teachers working tirelessly on their behalf. One such teacher was Genevieve Caulfield, a teacher for the blind who was, herself, visually challenged.
Genevieve was born on May 8, 1888, in Suffolk, Virginia. When she was only two months of age, she lost her sight when a doctor accidentally spilled a bottle of corrosive medicine over her eyes. A later operation restored some sight to her right eye, but for the rest of her life she saw only shades of gray. Despite her handicap, she taught herself to live like a sighted person, and to be independent and useful.
Genevieve was seventeen years old when an incident involving prejudice and a lack of cultural understanding prompted her to choose a career in teaching. She determined to learn about Japanese culture while helping the blind in their country. It took the persevering young lady fifteen years to achieve her goal. By then she qualified as a teacher of English, practiced teaching to the blind, and proved she could survive on her own and earn a living.
In 1923, Genevieve traveled to Japan, where she taught English and Braille to blind students. In 1938, after learning that in Thailand, blind children were considered throw-away children, she mastered the difficult Thai language, traveled to that country, and founded the Bangkok School for the Blind, an institution partially financed by her own savings. When World War II ended, the hardworking educator opted to remain in Bangkok and continue her work with her school. From 1956 to 1960, at the invitation of the government of VietNam, Genevieve organized a school for the blind in Saigon. This institution also served as a rehabilitation center for boys.
This Chalkboard Champion received several honors for her many dedicated years of service. In 1961, Genevieve was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding. On December 6, 1963, seventy-three-year-old Genevieve received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work for the blind in Asia. The award was authorized by President John F. Kennedy, but due to the young president’s assassination, the honor was bestowed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1960, Genevieve published an autobiography about her achievements entitled The Kingdom Within.
This remarkable educator passed away on December 12, 1972.
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Florida teacher Lizbet Martinez immigrated to US as a 12-year-old
Florida teacher Lizbet Martinez fled the repressive Castro regime and came to the United States on a raft when she was just a child. Photo credit: The Buffalo News
Many dedicated educators can share a personal history of overcoming great adversity. One of these is Lizbet Martinez, an elementary school teacher who, when she was just a child, fled the repressive Castro regime on a raft to immigrate to the United States.
Lizbet was only 12 years old when she braved the dangers of the sea on nothing more than a raft to flee to this country from her home island of Cuba. She was one of more than 30,000 Cubans who made this treacherous journey during what is known as the “balsero crisis” of 1994. Lizbet and her family were plucked from the waters by the US Coast Guard on Aug. 21, 1994. At the time, the child was clutching a violin case, which the Americans discussed confiscating because they believed the case might contain a weapon. To prove them wrong, Lizbet opened the case, pulled out her violin, and began to play The Star Spangled Banner. Before the family fled the Castro regime in Cuba, she was studying violin at Alejandro Garcia Caturla Conservatory in Havana. After their rescue, the Martinez family and other refugees spent five months at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base before being relocated to Miami.
When she grew up, Lizbet enrolled at Florida International University in Miami. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education in 2003. Cuban-American singer Willy Chirino offered her with a $3,000 scholarship to help pay for her college expenses. At her college graduation, she was asked to perform the National Anthem to open the school’s commencement ceremonies. Later, Lizbet performed with music stars Gloria Estefan and Jon Secada. She also performed for presidents Bill Clinton and George H. Bush.
Once she earned her degree, the aspiring teacher completed her student teaching assignment at Emerson Elementary School in Westchester, Florida, and at Coral Reef High School in Miami. At the grade school, she taught basic music skills. At the high school, a magnet school for teenagers interested in music, she conducted the string orchestra.
Lizbet currently teaches at M.A. Milam K-8 Center, where she taught music until budget cuts cancelled the school’s music program. She now instructs courses in English.
To read more about this remarkable educator, see this story published about her by The Buffalo News.
