Category Archives: Education

Beth Barkley named Washington DC’s 2024 Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

Beth Barkley, an English-language teacher who works with immigrant students, has been named the 2024 Teacher of the Year for Washington, DC. Photo credit: The Washington Post

Many excellent educators all over our country are deserving of accolades. Today, I share the story of one of them with you. She is Beth Barkley, a high school teacher who has been named the 2024 Teacher of the Year for Washington, DC.

Beth teaches English as a Second Language to 9th and 10th graders at the International Academy at Cardozo Education Campus. The school was established to accommodate newly arrived immigrant students. Beth has worked at the school for eight years. One of her main responsibilities there is teaching Spanish-speaking students who arrive in the capital city on migrant buses from Texas and Arizona.

Beth passionately supports the rights of immigrant students. “All of our students deserve opportunity and being treated with dignity and respect, regardless of where they come from,” Beth declares. She also indicated that we need to “Welcome our students with love. They’re a part of our community. They’re leaders and change-makers in our community, and DC is a great city because they’re a part of it,” she said. 

In addition to English language acquisition, Beth has taught a course in human rights and social action, and she has co-facilitated dialogues and social identity workshops with students. Beth works with her students to organize for justice, including a recent campaign for access to mental health services and resources for immigrant students and families. “We’ve been fighting for years for our undocumented students to have access to mental health support,” Beth comments. “Many of them have experienced a lot of trauma in their home countries.”

In addition to working with English learners at her school, Beth also serves as the teacher lead for the International Academy’s Family Engagement Leadership team. In this role she helps students and their families adapt to and succeed in their new educational environments.

Beth is very active outside of the classroom, too. She is a part of United We Dream and Teaching for Change’s DC Area Educators for Social Justice People’s History Curriculum working group.

Beth earned her Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature, with a minor in Spanish Language and Culture from the University of Maryland. She also  earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction there.  

In addition to her designation as DC’s Teacher of the Year, Beth was a 2020 DC Teacher of the Year finalist, and the recipient of the DCPS Rubenstein Award for Highly Effective Teaching.

Actor Giamatti honors teachers in Golden Globe acceptance speech

Posted on by

 

Our nation’s teachers received a nod of appreciation from Golden Globe winner Paul Giamatti at the televised awards show last night. The gesture is very much appreciated by thousands of hardworking educators all over the country who are often in need of a little recognition and some inspiration for all their hard work and dedication.

Giamatti garnered the coveted Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical, or Comedy. The honor was awarded to the actor to recognize his work in the motion picture The Holdovers. The movie shares the story of a cranky history teacher at a remote prep school. The teacher is forced to remain on campus over the holidays to supervise a troubled student who must remain at the school because has no place to go.

“It’s a movie about a teacher,” Giamatti said in his acceptance speech. “I play a teacher, my whole family, they’re teachers, all of them going back generations. Teachers are good people, gotta respect them. They do a good thing. It’s a tough job, so this is for teachers as well,” he said, indicating the golden statuette he was holding in his hands.

Thank you for sharing, Mr. Giamatti!

 

Joseph Murillo: CA teacher and consummate athletic coach

Posted on by

Chino High School teacher Joseph Murillo was also a consummate athletic coach. Photo credit: Chino Champion

Many fine educators also make superlative athletic coaches. One of these was Joseph Murillo, a science teacher and basketball coach from Chino, California.

Joseph was born on Sept. 18, 1945, in the town of El Refugio in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico. When he was only ten years old, he came to the United States with his family and the group settled in Chino, California. He attended public schools and graduated from Chino High School in 1965.

“As a young man, Joe showed preternatural skill for virtually any game that requires hand-eye coordination,” reads the educator’s obituary, “but he particularly excelled at basketball. A lank point guard who sometimes jumped center, Joe’s team’s home games often drew large crowds and are the stuff of legend.” In 1963 and 1964, Joseph led his team to two Tri-County League Championships and a CIF playoff. In his honor, the Chino High School gymnasium floor was dedicated to both Joseph and his high school basketball coach, Frank Elder.

After graduating from high school, Joseph attended first Mt. San Antonio College and then California Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he continued to play basketball. During the summers, he organized recreational programs for children at Richard Gird Elementary School in Chino. He also worked maintaining the Little League baseball fields in the town. He completed the requirements for his Bachelor’s degree in 1972.

In 1974, Joseph inaugurated his career teaching biology to English language learners at his alma mater, Chino High. For many years, he also instructed driver’s training courses. In addition, he coached both boys’ and girls’ basketball. He led the girls’ team to 17 league championships during his nearly 30-year career as Head Coach. He also coached them to CIF Championships in 1981, 1986, and 1988.

For his work as an athletic coach, Joseph earned many accolades. In 2010, he was inducted into the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Chino Valley Unified School District Richard Gird Hall of Fame in 2015, and the CIF-Southern Section Hall of Fame in 2022.

Sadly, Joseph Murillo, consummate educator and coach, passed away on December 18, 2023.

Teacher Samuel Youngs: Revolutionary War veteran

Posted on by

History abounds with school teachers who have earned fame outside of the classroom. Such is the case with Samuel Youngs, an American school teacher who was a close friend of famous American author Washington Irving. In fact, it has been speculated that Samuel served as the inspiration for the character of Ichabod Crane in Irving’s story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

Samuel Youngs was born December 4, 1760. During the Revolutionary War, he served as a lieutenant in the 4th New York Infantry Regiment led by Baron Frederick von Weissenfels. Throughout the war, Samuel served the fledgling American army as a guide over the roads and trails in the county around his home. He was one of a dozen native soldiers who were known as The Westchester Guides. His father’s farmhouse, located near the intersection of Bradhurst Avenue and Grasslands Road in Eastview, was the scene of a British raid during the Revolution.

After the Revolutionary War was won, Samuel served as a Federalist member of the New York State Assembly from 1796-1797, 1809, and 1810. Additionally, Samuel served as a Surrogate of Westchester County for terms of one or more years in 1800, 1807, 1810, 1811, and 1819.

The intrepid school teacher and veteran passed away on September 12, 7051406_1175741520611839. He was originally buried in the yard of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow in New York. There he was honored with other citizens of Tarrytown who fought during the Revolutionary War with a monument, pictured at left. The inscription at the bottom of the monument reads: “This monument is erected by Major General Aaron Ward, 9 division, N.Y.S.M. in testimony of his high appreciation of the services of a brave officer and a true patriot.”

In 1851, Samuel’s remains were relocated to the Dale Cemetery in Ossining, New York. He was the first person to be buried in that cemetery.