California’s Chalkboard Champion Brett Benson: Exemplary educator, veteran, and community leader.
Many fine educators also happen to be leaders in their community. One of these was Brett Benson, a teacher, military veteran, and community leader from Chino Hills, California.
Brett was an exemplary teacher in the Chino Valley School District for 32 years. He retired in 2010. During his lengthy career as an educator, Brett worked with students at every grade level from kindergarten to grade 12, except for third grade. He was one of several educators who established his district’s Gifted and Talented Education program. He also inaugurated an independent study program within his district. “It’s a life-saving program,” Brett once declared. “Many kids are there for medical purposes, others are self-motivated to graduate early, and still others are a square peg when all the holes are round,” he continued.
After his retirement, Brett donated three years to working with troubled teens on his city’s Youth Accountability Board. He also served on a citizens oversight committee for school facilities bonds.
As if all that wasn’t enough, Brett served on the Chino Hills Day at the Fair Committee, the San Bernardino County Senior Affairs Commission, and the Hope for the Hills organization, a non-profit which sponsors community improvement projects, park clean-ups, and a local food bank. Brett’s most recent project was to serve as a charter member and treasurer for the 55+ Club. The Club helped fund and build a local monument to honor all US servicemen who have served or are currently serving in all branches of the military. Brett himself served in the US Army during the VietNam era.
For his exemplary work in the classroom, Brett was inducted into the Chino Valley School District Hall of Fame in 2019. He was named a Volunteer of the Month for the City of Chino Hills in 2008. This Chalkboard Champion passed way on Monday, June 22, 2020. He was 72 years old.
To read more about Brett, see this story published in the Chino Valley Champion.