Teachers, this year, April Fools’ Day does not fall on a school day! No joke! You can relax a little bit, but you still need to be wary of your family and friends!
Author Archives: Terry Lee Marzell
Women’s History Month: Honoring pioneer schoolteachers
In honor of Women’s History Month, we’d like to pay homage today to our country’s pioneer schoolteachers. America’s Wild West was tamed in part due to the talented and dedicated women who served as frontier schoolteachers.
The pioneering women who became teachers during this period of our nation’s history were indeed a special breed. At the turn of the century, females were expected to be dependent upon their husbands, fathers, or other male relatives. It was extremely unusual, and not at all encouraged, for a woman to support herself and function independently. Nevertheless, many intelligent and self-reliant women in search of personal freedom and adventure joined the Westward movement as schoolmarms.
The stereotype of a frontier schoolteacher was that of an unattractive spinster or a prim and proper young miss. In reality, she was often neither of those. Many of these ladies came from influential and affluent Eastern families. A few were filled with burning ambition, and others were seeking a better life, and perhaps some were seeking a husband of like mind. In general, though, they were dedicated practitioners of their profession. Despite primitive working conditions, uninviting classrooms, low wages, and overwork, these stalwart women introduced literacy, culture, and morality to the roughneck communities they served. A few of these teachers became missionaries, others became suffragettes, and one of them—Jeannette Rankin of Montana—even went on to become the first woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives!
Our society owes these frontier schoolmarms a great debt. Read more about pioneering teachers in my book, Chalkboard Champions, available through amazon.com or Amazon. Enjoy!
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The National Memorial to Fallen Educators honors those who sacrificed their lives to protect students
The National Memorial to Fallen Educators located in Emporia, Kansas, recognizes the sacrifices of Chalkboard Champions and other school personnel who gave their lives while protecting their students. Photo Credit: Emporia Convention & Visitors Bureau
Throughout American history, many educators and others who work in schools have perished in the line of duty. All too often, the news is filled with stories about these Chalkboard Champions who have suffered from accidents, acts of violence, or from the global coronavirus pandemic. Some lost their lives while protecting students. All of them are heroes. To recognize their sacrifices, the National Teachers Hall of Fame has constructed a permanent memorial to honor their memory.
The memorial, named the Memorial to Fallen Educators, is located on the campus of Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas. The monument, originally inspired by the 2012 mass shooting at Sandyhook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was officially dedicated on June 12, 2014. On April 30, 2018, a bill sponsored by United States Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas and Kansas Representative Roger Marshall was signed into law that designated the memorial a national monument.
The structure measures 10′ by 10′, and is composed of black granite. Surrounding the monument is a walkway, benches, illumination, and landscaping. To date, approximately 180 teachers, administrators, and other school personnel are honored on the monument. “Their lives were cut short through accidents or intentional violence simply because they chose the profession of education,” remarked Carol Strickland, former Executive Director of the National Teachers Hall of Fame, which oversees the memorial. “They lost their lives doing what they love—working with America’s schoolchildren.”
The earliest educator honored on the memorial is Pennsylvania teacher Enoch Brown, and is dated 1763. The teacher and nine of his students were murdered during hostilities between Native Americans led by Chief Pontiac who attacked settlers for a bounty promised by then Pennsylvania Governor John Penn.
You can visit the monument in person at 12 West 18th Ave, Emporia, Kansas 66801. You can also check out the online version of the memorial, click on this link: National Memorial to Fallen Educators.
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AVID teacher Rosa Dockal mentors at-risk students
Rosa Dockal, an AVID teacher in San Antonio, Texas, was just a child and couldn’t speak English when she came to this country as an immigrant. Now she teaches at-risk, first-generation students. Photo Credit: Open Sky Media Publications
I always enjoy sharing stories about inspirational educators from around the country. One of these is Rosa Dockal, a teacher from San Antonio, Texas. She was named one of her District’s Teachers of the Year in 2021.
Rosa currently teaches AVID courses at Travis Early College High School in the San Antonio Independent School District. Her career as an educator spans 25 years. The AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program provides extra support for low-income, minority students. The curriculum involves instruction in note-taking and study skills, tutoring, and mentoring. Most of the students who graduate from the program have earned a high school diploma plus an Associate’s degree and up to 60 college credits from San Antonio College.
Rosa’s family immigrated to San Antonio from Mexico when she was a pre-schooler. “When I came from Mexico, I didn’t know English, so I knew the struggle of learning a different language. It’s not easy,” Rosa declares. But by the time she was in the fifth grade, she was at the top of her class, and she was placed in a magnet program.
Even though she was the first in her family to graduate from high school, Rosa declared her intent to go to college to become a teacher. “I didn’t know what a FAFSA was,” she admits. “My parents didn’t speak the language, so I had to do it by myself—but I didn’t do it by myself, because I had so many teachers and counselors who helped me,” she says. “If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know if I would have gone,” she confesses.
Rosa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Texas, San Antonio. Once she landed her teaching position at Travis, she began to work with at-risk, first-generation students like herself. In addition to her AVID courses, she also teaches Spanish language classes.
For her exemplary work with young people, Rosa was named one of several teachers in her district as a Teacher of the Year in 2021.
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Golda Meir: Wisconsin schoolteacher and Israeli Prime Minister
Wisconsin schoolteacher Golda Meir emigrated to Israel and eventually became the country’s Prime Minister. Photo Credit: History.com
Many people have heard of Golda Meir, the “Iron Lady of Israeli Politics” who served from 1969 to 1974 as the Prime Minister of Israel. But did you know that Golda was also a Wisconsin schoolteacher?
Golda was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 3, 1898. Her parents were Moshe and Blume Mabovitch, and Golda was one of eight children born to the couple. Five of her siblings died in infancy; Golda was the middle child of three surviving daughters. When she was a young child, her father immigrated to the United States; the rest of the family followed him three years later. The Mabovitches settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
As a youngster, Golda attended the Fourth Street Grade School where she graduated as the valedictorian of her class. She then enrolled in North Division High School, against the wishes of her parents, who believed that girls should get married, not pursue an education or a profession. In her freshman year, Golda moved to Denver, Colorado, to live with her older sister, Sheyna, and at that time she transferred to North High School. In Denver, Golda met Morris Myerson, and she fell in love. Despite this romance, in 1915, Golda returned to her parents’ home in Milwaukee, and the following year she graduated from North Division High School.
After her high school graduation, Golda enrolled at Wisconsin State Normal School to pursue a three-year degree in education. During her training, the neophyte educator taught young children reading, writing, and history three days a week at a folkshule, a Yiddish school at the Jewish Center of Milwaukee. She also gave numerous lectures on Zionism, a movement to establish a homeland for the Jewish people.
In 1917, Golda married her long-time boyfriend Morris Myerson. Later, she modified her surname to Meir. In 1921, the fourth year of their marriage, Golda and Morris emigrated to Palestine, where the couple quickly joined a kibbutz. Over the next five years, Golda and Morris had two children: a boy named Menachem in 1924, and daughter named Sarah in 1926.
Unfortunately, Morris contracted malaria, so the family left the kibbutz and moved to Jerusalem, where Golda accepted employment in a government job. She worked as the secretary of the Working Women’s Council, and represented the council at a number of international labor meetings. In 1929 Golda was named a delegate to the World Zionist Organization. In the next decade, Golda organized illegal immigration of Jews to Palestine when it became obvious that they faced persecution by the Nazis. In 1946, at the end of WWII, Golda was appointed the acting head of the Jewish Agency’s political department, a position she held until Israel was founded on May 14, 1948. The former teacher was among the signers of Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
Golda began her political career in Israel as that country’s representative to the Soviet Union. When she was elected to the first Israeli Parliament, she returned to Israel, where she was appointed minister of labor and social insurance. While serving in this capacity, she endeavored to solve the most important problems Israel faced at the time: housing and employment for 700,000 new immigrants. In 1947, David Ben Gurion, then Prime Minister of the fledgling country, appointed Golda his Foreign Minister, Israel’s second most powerful position. The only female foreign minister then serving in the world, Golda nevertheless conducted herself in a very informal way. She flew tourist class, hand-washed her own underwear, shined her own shoes, and entertained foreign dignitaries in her kitchen wearing an apron and serving them her homemade pastries.
In 1966, sixty-year old Golda decided to retire from public service, but her political party persuaded her to become their secretary general and the secretary of the Unified Labor Party. When Prime Minister Levi Eshkol died suddenly in 1969, her party prevailed upon her to become Israel’s next Prime Minister. She guided her country through the difficult period of the Yom Kippur War. However, the former teacher was suffering from lymphatic cancer, and because of her declining health and political pressures, she decided to resign in 1974.
Golda Meir passed away on December 8, 1978, at the age of 80. At the time of her passing, Golda was recognized as one of the first women to lead a nation in the modern era.
