Category Archives: Education

Former teacher Susan Holmes also served in Georgia State House of Reps

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Former teacher Susan Holmes has also served her community in the Georgia State House of Representatives. Photo credit: Ballotpedia

Many fine teachers also serve as competent politicians. One of these is Susan Holmes, a teacher from Jasper County, Georgia, who also served in the Georgia State House of Representatives.

Susan was born on Oct. 8, 1942, on a large cotton farm in northern Jasper County. She represents the seventh generation in her family to live in Jasper County. As the years went by, Susan’s family farm was transformed into a dairy business. As a member of a farming and dairy family, Susan grew up with a deep appreciation and love for rural Georgia.

After her graduation from Monticello High School in Jasper, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Education at the University of Georgia. Later she completed courses in administration and leadership from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.

After earning her degree, Susan taught school, both public and private, served as a postmaster, a legal assistant, and also served as the CFO of a family-owned insurance company. As if all that were not enough, she is a licensed real estate agent.

In 1998, Susan was elected to the office of Mayor of Monticello, a position she kept for 12 years. She was the first woman to serve her community in this role. In 2007, Susan was appointed by President George W. Bush to the position of State Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency for Georgia.

In 2010, the former teacher was elected to the Georgia State House of Representatives on the Republican ticket. There she represented first District 125 and then District 129. While there, one of her most significant pieces of legislation was to provide grants and scholarships to students to help pay for their tuition.

For her service to the community, Susan has earned many accolades. She was selected Monticello Jasper County Citizen of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians by Georgia Trend Magazine and one of the five most outstanding women in Middle Georgia by the Girl Scouts Council. In addition, she garnered recognition as Northeast Georgia’s Most Outstanding Citizen and she earned the Georgia Downtown Association’s Outstanding Leadership Award.

NY teacher Julia Richman worked tirelessly for immigrant children

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Julia Richman

Teacher, principal, and social reformer Julia Richman worked tirelessly on behalf of immigrant children in New York City. Photo credit: Public Domain

Just about everyone agrees that a teacher can profoundly influence the lives of the students in his or her classroom. But Julia Richman, an educator, philanthropist, author, and social reformer from New York City, influenced the lives of students in an entire city.

Julia was born October 12, 1855, in New York City, the daughter of German-speaking Jewish immigrants from the Czech Republic. At a young age, Julia made some important decisions about her own future. “I am not pretty…and I am not going to marry,” she once declared, “but before I die, all New York will know my name.”

Julia was determined to become a teacher, a decision her very traditional father vehemently opposed. In the late 1800’s, an eighth grade education was considered sufficient for girls. However, after a protracted battle royal, Julia convinced her father to allow her to pursue her goal of becoming a professional educator. In 1872, Julia realized her dream when she graduated from Hunter College.

Over the next four decades, Julia worked tirelessly as a classroom teacher, principal, school superintendent, and social reformer. Inside the classroom and within her community, she improved the lives of countless newly arrived immigrants, special needs students, and delinquents: the children 19th-century society typically considered “throwaway kids.” This innovative educator tossed away the conventional methods of instruction of her day, and designed model programs that educators from all over the world came to observe. She instituted numerous progressive practices that are still used in public schools today.

When Julia passed away in 1912, the New York City Board of Education ordered the flags of all NYC public schools be flown at half mast in her honor. It appeared that Julia’s prediction as an eleven-year-old had come true: all New York City knew her name.

Want to learn more about Julia Richman? I’ve written an entire chapter about this amazing educator in my book, Chalkboard Champions, available on amazon or bn.com. Available in print or ebook versions.

Chicago Cubs player Victor Aldredge also known as the “Hoosier Schoolmaster”

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Hoosier Schoolmaster Victor Aldredge taught in Indiana schools before becoming a pro baseball player with the Chicago Cubs. Photo credit: Times Mail.

There are many examples of capable educators who have also established themselves as talented athletes. One of these is teacher Victor Aldridge, who was also an accomplished pitcher for Major League Baseball.

Vic was born on October 25, 1893, in the small town of Crane, Indiana. He attended Tempy Primary School, just a short walk from his home. In high school, the teenaged Vic attended nearby Trinity Springs, and following his graduation, the young athlete enrolled in Central Normal College in Danville, Indiana.

From 1914-1915, Vic taught school at the Pea Ridge School in Trinity Springs, Indiana. He also taught in Miami County, Indiana.

Dubbed the “Hoosier Schoolmaster,” Vic was drafted in 1916 as a right-handed pitcher by the Chicago Cubs. Before his career was over, he also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Giants, and the Los Angeles Angels. Vic earned a reputation for a sharp, breaking curve ball, one of the three best pitches on any diamond in his day.  In 1918, the former educator played only three games, pitching a total of only twelve innings, before joining the US Navy during the final year of World War I. After returning from the war, Vic played for the Los Angeles Angels, an affiliate of the Cubs, then returned to the Cubs for the 1922 season. He played the next three years for Chicago, delivering consistent performances. But his most notable performances occurred during the 1925 World Series, when Vic pitched and won games two and five, only to pitch a disastrous first inning in the seventh game. He played his last game on August 29, 1928.

After he retired from baseball, Vic attended law school at the Voorhees School of Law. He also served in the Indiana State Senate from 1937 to 1948. He was first elected on November 4, 1936, on the Democratic ticket.

This distinguished educator and talented athlete passed away in Terre Haute, Indiana, on April 17, 1973, at the age of 79, and is buried in the New Trinity Springs Cemetery. For his work in baseball, he was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame on January 19, 2007, as its 131st member.

Benavides named 2022 Texas State Teacher of the Year

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High school STEM teacher Ramon Benavides of El Paso, Texas, has been named his state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Ramon Benavides

I always enjoy sharing stories about exemplary educators who have won honors for their work in the classroom. One of these is Ramon Benavides, a high school STEM teacher from El Paso, Texas, who has been named his state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year.

Ramon teaches Biology and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) courses at Del Valle High School in the Ysleta Independent School District. His career there has spanned 12 years.

It is amazing that Ramon made his way into the classroom. He is the son of migrant farmworkers who were forced to drop out of school at a young age to help support their family. Later, Ramon saw his parents return to school, earn their diplomas and become teachers themselves. He took his cue from them.

Ramon says his work as an educator isn’t about the teaching, it’s about the positive exchanges. “The kids are the best part of my job, by far,” he says. “One of my greatest joys is getting to stand outside my classroom and as my kids come in we exchange that smile, and for that split second we know that everything is okay,” he continues.

The honored educator earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology at the University of Texas, San Antonio, in 2001, and a second Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Texas, Brownsville, in 2003. He completed the requirements for his Master’s degree in Teaching Science at University of Texas, El Paso, in 2016. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at Texas Tech University, Lubbock.

Congratulations, Ramon!

Maryland educator Anne Coleman Chambers created innovative curriculum

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Dedicated educator Anne Coleman Chambers taught in public schools in Maryland before establishing her own school, the Indian Creek School, which offered an innovative curriculum. Photo credit: Pasadena Voice.

Many dedicated educators work hard to provide enhanced learning opportunities and innovative curriculum for students in their communities. One of these is Anne Coleman Chambers, a public school teacher from Maryland who founded a highly successfully private day school in her community.

Anne was born in 1940, although she was raised in Colesville. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. Once she graduated from college, she taught in public schools in Prince George’s County in her home state until 1963.

Anne believed strongly that every student should be provided stimulating educational experiences in a small, nurturing environment in which each student is known and approached as an individual. To create this environment, she founded Indian Creek School, a co-educational Pre-K through grade 12 private school in Crownsville in 1973. Indian Creek School opened its doors in with 33 students in Pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade. Four years later, she opened a middle school that doubled its capacity, and in 2006 she added an upper school.

Anne built a curriculum for her students that offered not only a broad-based education emphasizing the fundamentals, but also stressed the importance of music, art, physical education, drama, clubs, and sports.  She included Spanish, computers, and human development instruction at a time when many schools didn’t offer those as subjects for older students, let alone for kindergartners. In addition, Anne was steadfast in her insistence that her school be a diverse and inclusive community from the start. Anne served as the school’s first Director from its founding until 2010, when she went back to the classroom to teach for one last year before she retired in 2011.

Anne Coleman Chambers passed away on Oct. 12, 2020, in Hagerstown, Maryland. She was 80 years old. She was a true Chalkboard Champion.