Here is a story about Maura Lewis, an exceptional teacher from Woodlawn Middle School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She teaches Algebra, computer science, and STEM to seventh and eighth graders. Maura was recently named exceptional educator by her local television news station, WVLA NBC Local 33, and BRProud. She was featured on a recent segment on the television network.
Congratulations, Maura!
Former secondary level Social Studies and English teacher Regina Weiss of Detroit now serves in her state’s House of Representatives. Photo Credit: Michigan State House of Representatives
Many fine educators have also served their community in public office. One of these is Regina Weiss, a secondary level school teacher from Detroit, Michigan.
Regina was born in Chicago, Illinois. In 2009 she earned her Bachelor’s degree in History and Secondary Education from Valparaiso University, a private institution of higher learning located in Valparaiso, Indiana. She relocated to Detroit, where she accepted a position teaching Social Studies and English. She taught there for five years. She taught two and a half years at Pershing High School, and two and a half years she taught at Carstens Elementary-Middle School at Remus Robinson.
Reina inaugurated her career in public service when she was elected to be a member of the Oak Park City Council in 2017. In November, 2020, she was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Michigan State House of Representatives, where she has represented the 27th House District since Jan. 1, 2021. In November, 2022, following redistricting, Regina was re-elected to the House, this time representing the 6th District. There she serves as a member of the Jewish Democratic Caucus, and as the Chairperson of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid and Education. As Chairperson, Regina has declared that her committee will prioritize developing a system to fund school infrastructure improvements. “As a former educator, I’ve seen first-hand the impact decades of inadequate funding has had on our classrooms,” Regina says. “And that was even before the COVID-19 placed challenge after challenge before our students and teachers,” she continued.
To read more about Regina Weiss, click on this link to her Michigan State House webpage.
Oregon science educator Connie Robbins has been named Harney County’s 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Linked In
There are many exceptional educators working with our nation’s young people in American schools. and out is always a pleasure to share the story of one of them. Today I’d like to share the story of Connie Robbins, a high school science teacher from Oregon. She was named Harney County’s 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year.
Connie teaches science and art at Crane High School in Crane, where she has been since 2010. There she instructs courses in biology, chemistry, physical science, forensics, health, and art. She has also served her school as the Head Coach for the clay target team.
This exceptional educator has a reputation for creating innovative and stimulating curriculum in her classroom. “I engage my students in real-life problems in their own environment and through worldly events,” says Connie. “This helps students see outside themselves and fosters problem-solving skills for later in life.”
In addition to her work at Crane High, Connie also taught biology at the college level through Eastern Oregon University, and she has participated in the Oregon Science Project as a Learning Facilitator. She served as the President of the Oregon Science Teachers Association from 2018 to 2020. She also served as an archeology technician for the US Forest Service in Hines, Oregon, for 11 summers, from 2009 through 2021. In this position, she worked as a wildlife technician, monitoring goshawks and various woodpeckers. And as if all that were not enough, this multi-talented educator has been a freelance artist for the past 37 years.
Connie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies, Science, and Health in 2008, and her Master’s degree in Education in 2009, both from the Eastern Oregon University.
Public school teacher Willa Brown Chappell also taught Tuskegee Airmen to fly airplanes. Photo Credit: Aviation Heritage Park
Many exceptional teachers can boast achievements outside of their classroom. One of these is Willa Brown Chappell, the first African American woman licensed to fly in the United States.
Willa was born on Jan. 22, 1906, in Glasgow, Kentucky. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Indiana State Teachers College in 1927. She also completed the requirements for an MBA from Northwestern University in 1937. Following her college graduation, Willa was employed first as a high school teacher at Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana, and later as a social worker in Chicago.
Willa was always seeking challenges and adventures in her life, especially if they could be found outside the limited career fields normally open to African American women at that time. She decided to learn to fly airplanes. She studied with Cornelius R. Coffey, a certified flight instructor and expert aviation mechanic at a racially segregated airport in Chicago. Willa earned her private pilot’s license in 1938. Later, Willa and Cornelius married and founded the Coffey School of Aeronautics at Harlem Airport in Chicago, where together they trained Black pilots and aviation mechanics. Willa conducted the classroom instruction and Cornelius conducted the in-flight practice.
In 1939, Willa, Cornelius, and their friend Enoch P. Waters founded the National Airmen’s Association of America. Their goal was to secure admission for Black aviation cadets into the US military. As the organization’s national secretary and the president of the Chicago branch, Willa became an activist for racial equality. She persistently lobbied the US Government for integration of Black pilots into the segregated Army Air Corps and the federal Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), a system established by the Civil Aeronautics Authority just before the outbreak of World War II. The CPTP’s purpose was to provide civilian pilots for service during national emergencies. Willa was given the rank of an officer in this first integrated unit.
In 1948, when Congress finally voted to allow African Americans to participate in civilian flight training programs, the Coffey School of Aeronautics was one of the few private aviation schools selected to provide training. Later, her flight school was selected by the US Army to provide Black trainees for the Air Corps pilot training program at the Tuskegee Institute. Willa was instrumental in training more than 200 students who went on to become Tuskegee pilots. Eventually, Willa Brown became the coordinator of war-training service for the Civil Aeronautics Authority and a member of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Women’s Advisory Board. She was the first Black female officer in the Civil Air Patrol and the first Black woman to hold a commercial pilot’s license in the United States.
This remarkable educator and pioneer aviatrix passed away on July 18, 1992. In 2010, Willa was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the Indiana State University Alumni Association. She was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in her native Kentucky in 2003.
To find out more about this remarkable Chalkboard Champion, you can read a chapter about her in my book, Chalkboard Heroes, which is available on amazon.com and the website for Barnes and Noble.
