TN Math teacher Dr. Brandi De La Cruz named her state’s 2026 Teacher of the Year

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Dr. Brandi De La Cruz, a mathematics teacher from Collierville, Tennessee, has been named her state’s 2026 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Dr. Brandi De La Cruz

There are many excellent educators who work with America’s young people in our pubic schools. One of these is Dr. Brandi De La Cruz, a high school mathematics teacher from Tennessee. She has been named her state’s 2026 Teacher of the Year.

Brandi teaches students in grades10 through 12 at Collierville High School in Collierville, near metropolitan Memphis. There she instructs courses in Algebra, Trigonometry, and Dual Enrollment Calculus.
In addition to her classroom teaching, Brandi has served as an instructional coach, a lead in the professional learning community, and a morale committee organizer. She contributes to both the Teacher Advisory and District Strategic Planning committees. She also sponsors student groups such as The Collierville Crazies.
What is Brandi’s secret to success? “Some of the hardest parts of teaching are making sure you are not going at it alone,” advises Brandi. “”Find your people and go out and do things together outside of school. Rely on them when you can. Teaching is a team sport,” she continues.
Brandi practices what she preaches. The honored teacher is the founder of Mutt Mafia, a nonprofit dog rescue in her community that has saved more than 1,100 dogs since 2018. And, she says, she enjoys watching sports and officiating volleyball games at the club, high school, and collegiate levels.
Brandi earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Mississippi Valley State University in 2006. She earned a Master’s degree in Teaching from the University of Arkansas in 2008 and a second Master’s degree in Educational Theory and Practice from Arkansas State University in 2011. She also earned a PhD in Secondary Mathematics Education from the University of Mississippi. Her career as an educator spans 17 years, six of them at Collierville High.

 

Florida Coach Lin-J Shell prevented potential tragedy on campus

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Florida Football Coach and PE teacher Lin-J Shell became a Chalkboard Hero when he prevented a potential tragedy on his school campus. 

Many talented educators have also had successful careers as athletes. One of these is Wagner Lindsell Shell, Jr., also known as Lin-J Shell. He is a former professional football player who later taught high school physical education. But he’s probably best known for foiling an incident of potential violence at his Florida school.

Lin-J was born Oct. 22, 1981. As a young man, He played college football at Jacksonville University. Later he became a professional football player, occupying the position of defensive back. He played in both the American and the Canadian Football League from 2004 to 2015. Teams he played for include the Philadelphia Eagles, the New Orleans VooDoo, the Calgary Stampeders, the Toronto Argonauts, the BC Lions, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. For his athletic prowess, Lin-J was named an East All-Star for the Canadian Football League in 2010 and 2011. He also garnered a Grey Cup in 2014.

After he concluded his career as a pro-ball player, Lin-J accepted a position as a physical education teacher and Assistant Football Coach at Jean Ribault High School in Jacksonville, Florida. He was promoted to interim Head Football Coach at the school just days before the start of the 2019 season, he coached the team to a 4-5 record that year.

On May 9, 2018, while Lin-J was working at Ribault High as the Assistant Football Coach, that he became a hero there. He helped to prevent a woman from using a handgun in the school gymnasium when a brawl broke out. The fight was triggered when the woman became angry about a social media post involving her nephew, who happened to be one of Lin-J’s students. The woman went to the gym with four men. “She got out of the car, she was irate, basically saying she wasn’t going to let anyone jump on her family,” recalled Lin-J. When the teacher noticed that she was holding a gun, he went straight for the firearm. “I came from behind her, I saw she had a gun, I grabbed her hand, put her hand down and hit her elbow,” he continued. Then Lin-J walked the woman backwards out of the gym, holding her arm so that the gun was pointed toward the floor. All the while, he pleaded with her, “Please don’t shoot our kids.” Once he had forced the woman outside, he shouted for help from an armed officer at the school. The officer forced the woman to drop the gun and arrested her. (To read more about the incident, see this onlline article from Bell Media.)

Sadly, this Chalkboard Hero passed away from a stroke in Florida on July 29, 2021. He was only 39 years old. He also tested positive for Covid during the pandemic.

Former teacher Eileen R. Donovan served as US Ambassador

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Massachusetts history teacher Eileen Donovan once served as the American ambassador to Barbados. Photo credit: US Department of State

Many fine classroom teachers also establish excellent careers as diplomats. One of these was Eileen Donovan, a history teacher from Massachusetts..

Eileen earned her Bachelor’s degree from Boston Teachers College in 1936. She earned her Master’s degree in Education in 1937. In addition, Eileen attended Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration, an institution now known as the John F. Kennedy School of Government. There she became a foreign Service Institute Fellow, while simultaneously earning a Master’s degree of Public Administration.

From 1938 to 1943, Eileen worked as a history teacher in the Boston Public Schools. During World War II, the intrepid educator joined the Women’s Air Corps. “I went down to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and trained and was lucky enough to be sent to the Officer Candidate School in Des Moines, came out as a 2nd Lieutenant,” Eileen once remembered. “Then I did various things in this country, like teaching at Oglethorpe such fascinating subjects as Military Customs and Courtesies and Articles of War and things like that.” She also served as the primary assistant to General Douglas MacArthur at the Tokyo headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.

The former educator began her career in the Foreign Service in 1948, serving in the Philippines, Italy, and Japan, where she was a political liaison officer. In the late 1950’s she became chief of the Southern Europe branch of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research within the State Department.

From 1965 to 1969, Eileen served as Assistant Director of the State Department’s Office of Caribbean Affairs before her assignment to Barbados as Ambassador. With that assignment, she became the highest ranking woman in the Foreign Service. She served as the American Ambassador to Barbados from 1969 to 1974.

This remarkable educator and diplomat passed away from cardio-respiratory arrest on Dec. 19, 1996, in Spring Hill, Florida. She was 81 years old. To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this interview published by The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, Women Ambassadors Series.

Dr. Maggie George: Teacher and expert on Native American education

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Native American educator Dr. Maggie George worked as a K-12 teacher and counselor for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and contract schools in New Mexico. Photo credit: Achieving the Dream.org

There are many talented educators who serve as superb role models for Native American students. One of these is Maggie George from Arizona, a member of the Navajo Nation.

Maggie was born into the Tachii’nii clan, born for the Naakaii Dine clan in Red Valley, Arizona. Her father was a traditional practitioner and her mother was a homemaker. Maggie was raised in the traditional pastoral Navajo ways, raising livestock and living off the land.

As a youngster, Maggie attended a public school and a boarding school on the Navajo Reservation. “I grew up in an era when it was a challenge to be an Indian, and only one of my teachers was Navajo,” Maggie once confided. “I decided in junior high that I wanted to change that and teach Navajo children. Knowing who I was as a Navajo person — and being grounded in my identity, language and culture — helped me have confidence, competence and persistence,” she declared.

To achieve this goal, Maggie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 1980 and her Master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling in 1989, both from the New Mexico Highlands University School of Education. Later she earned a PhD in Higher Education Policy and Leadership from the University of Kansas.

Once Maggie earned her degrees, she worked as a K-12 educator and counselor for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and contract schools in New Mexico. After her skill as an educator became well-known, Maggie was selected to serve as the Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities. She also served as the Deputy Director of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. In addition, she was a member of the faculty and then the Dean of the School of Education at Haskell Indian Nations University. The former classroom teacher also served as the Dean and Academic Vice President of Dine College in Tsaile, Arizona, from 2000 to 2005. From 2011 to 2016 Maggie served as the college’s President. There she inaugurated a program of academic affairs and Indian education for the New Mexico Higher Education Department. For her work in the field of education, Maggie garnered a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship.

Since 2016, Maggie has been the owner and operator of the education consulting firm, Indigenous Research Associates, and a leadership coach for Achieving the Dream.

To learn more about Maggie’s consulting firm, click on Achieving the Dream. For her work in the field of education, Maggie garnered a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship. To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this article about her work at Dine College.