Category Archives: Education

Raul Pedraza named 2024 Middle School Teacher of the Year by the Idaho Humanities Council

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Middle school social studies teacher Raul Pedraza has been named the 2024 Middle School Humanities Teacher of the Year by the Idaho Humanities Council. Photo Credit: YouTube

Fortunately for our students, there are many outstanding social studies teachers working in our nation’s schools. Occasionally one of them earns recognition for their outstanding work in the classroom. One of these is Raul Pedraza, a middle school social studies teacher from Caldwell, Idaho. He has been named the 2024 Middle School Humanities Teacher of the Year by the Idaho Humanities Council.

Raul teaches eighth grade Social Studies at Vallivue Middle School in Caldwell, Idaho. In his classroom, he strives to make history relevant to all of his students. But he also works hard to help his Latino students discover their cultural heritage by emphasizing ancient Mesoamerican cultures in his curriculum. For example, he highlights such accomplishments as the Incas’ building of Machu Picchu in Peru and the Mayas’ invention of the number zero.

“We must find ways to relate what we’re teaching to our students’ experiences and interests so as to make what seems like a distant concept that students can connect with and hopefully want to learn more about,” declares Raul.

Raul was born in McAllen, Texas, but he was raised in Wilder, Idaho. He graduated from Wilder High School in 2012 as the class valedictorian. He earned his Bachelor’s degree with a major in History and a minor in education from The College of Idaho in 2016.

The Idaho Humanities Council (IHC) selects three teachers from the state each year to receive their annual Humanities Teacher of the Year award—one at the elementary level, one at the middle grade, and one at the high school level. Each winner is awarded a cash prize of $1,500. To learn more, click on this link to the IHC.

Intrepid teacher and pioneer Olive Mann Isbell taught in the middle of a war

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Intrepid teacher and pioneer Olive Mann Isbell was a California teacher who taught while war raged around her. Photo Credit: Braun Research Center

One relatively unknown figure in California history is educator Olive Mann Isbell. This outstanding lady taught while the Mexican American War raged on around her. She is credited with being the first teacher in a school in the state of California.

In 1846, when Olive was only 22 years old, she and her husband, Dr. Isaac Isbell, made the arduous journey west by wagon train. Western territories had recently severed their relationship with Mexico, and the Isbells arrived just as the Mexican army was poised to attack in an attempt to reclaim the land.

When fighting broke out, Olive and over two hundred American women and children barricaded themselves inside Mission Santa Clara de Asis, while the men were quickly drafted to defend the dilapidated fort. Inside the shelter, Olive sensed the anxiety of the children, so she decided to organize a school to occupy their attention. The newly-arrived pioneer was well-suited to this work, being the niece of the famous educator Horace Mann and an experienced teacher from her home state of Ohio.

The bullets were flying all around the mission, but Olive steadfastly conducted her lessons. Without slates or chalk, without pencils or paper, and with only a few books, the intrepid teacher skillfully conducted her lessons with little more than her experience and her wits. She used a long pointed stick to draw diagrams on the dirt floor. She used charcoal from an extinguished fire to write the letters of the alphabet on the palms of the children’s hands. And she kept a long rifle by her side, just in case.

When  Mexico finally laid down their arms and signed a truce with the United States on January 3, 1847, Olive’s Santa Clara Mission School became recognized as the first American school on California soil.

You can read more about this amazing chalkboard champion in my book, Chalkboard Heroes, available on amazon.com.

Former English teacher Annette Meyers is a well-known mystery writer

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Former high school English teacher Annette Meyers is also a talented and well-known mystery writer. Photo Credit: Annette Meyers

Many talented authors were once outstanding classroom teachers. This is true of Annette Meyers, a mystery fiction writer who was also a high school English teacher.

Annette was born on January 31,1934, in New York City. She was raised on a chicken farm in Toms River, New Jersey. After her graduation from Toms River High School in 1951, she earned her degree in English from Douglass College in 1955. From 1955 to 1960 she works as a high school English teacher. From 1960 to 1976 she worked as an assistant to Broadway theater director and producer Harold Prince.

After her marriage to writer and actor Martin Meyers, Annette focussed her efforts on her writing career. She published her first book, The Big Killing, in 1989.

Since then, Annette has become well-known for her Smith and Wetzon series. In these books, the author features headhunters Xenia Smith and Leslie Wetzon, who stumble over bodies on Wall Street and Broadway.

Annette’s Olivia Brown series, which includes the novels Free Love and Murder Me Now, is set in the 1920’s in Greenwich Village. This series features a young woman poet in the mode of Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Then there is the Dutchman series, which she co-wrote with her late husband and published under the joint pseudonym Maan Meyers. To date, there are seven history mysteries in the series, and numerous short stories that feature characters from the novels.

Her stand-alone novel Repentances is psychological suspense. In this book, the setting is 1936, in New York’s Jewish immigrant community. One of Annette’s short stories was included in Best American Mystery Stories, 2002.

To examine the author’s website, click on this link to www.meyersmysteries.com.

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame

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Highly-esteemed educator and author Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame. Photo Credit: SD Hall of Fame

Here is an amazing Chalkboard Champion of Native American descent: Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve. Her accomplishments as an educator and author are so impressive that she has been inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.

Virginia was born on Feb. 21, 1933, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. As a young woman, she enrolled in South Dakota State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in 1954 and her Master’s degree in 1969. She then went on to teach in the public school system, first on the Flandreau Indian Reservation, and then at Oglala Lakota College.

To further contribute to her students’ education, Virginia authored several children’s history books and highly-regarded adult non-fiction works. Some of her works include Jimmy Yellow Hawk (1977); High Elk’s Treasure (1995); Completing the Circle (1995); When Thunder Spoke (1974); and The Chichi Hoohoo Bogeyman (1975). In these works, Virginia blends personal narratives with broader historical contexts, offering her readers insights into the Native American experiences and traditions.

During the course of her lengthy career, Virginia has garnered widespread recognition and numerous prestigious accolades. Her honors include the Distinguished Alumnus from South Dakota State University (1974); the National Woman of Achievement Award (1975); and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Dakota Wesleyan University (1979). Furthermore, her literary skills earned her the Distinguished Contribution to South Dakota History by the Dakota History Conference (1982) and two Native American Prose Awards from the University of Nebraska Press in 1992 and 1996. Virginia was also the recipient of the South Dakota Education Association Human Services Award (1994) and the Spirit of Crazy Horse Award (1996). In addition, Pres. Bill Clinton recognized Virginia with the prestigious National Humanities Medal in Washington, DC, on Dec. 20, 2000. She was the first person from South Dakota to earn this honor.

For all these reasons, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1985.

 

CO science teacher and golf coach Colin Prater to play in US Open Championship

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High school science teacher and talented golfer Colin Prater of Colorado will be playing int he US Open Championship this week. Photo Credit: Linked In

Many talented teachers earn notoriety for accomplishments in fields other than education. One of these is Colin Prater, a high school science teacher from Colorado who has qualified to play in the US Open Championship this week.

Colin teaches science at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He has instructed courses in biology, anatomy, environmental science, physics, chemistry, and sports medicine. He also coaches the boys and girls golf teams at his school.

This week, Colin will be playing in the 124th US Open Championship at Pinehurst Resort & County Cub. The teacher successfully navigated the qualifying rounds, including a 3-under-par 141 at the Pronghorn Resort in Bend, Oregon on June 3 to earn the second of the two available spots. Then, he competed against a field of 44 potential competitors at the 36-hole final qualifier. This week, he will be one of a total of 156 players who will meet at Pinehurst for the year’s third major championship. More than 10,000 tried out for a spot.

Since getting into the field, it’s been quite a whirlwind for the former NCAA Division II All-American who posted 14 victories while at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He appeared on “The Gravy & Sleaze” radio show on SiriusXM with two-time USGA champion Colt Knost and Colorado native Drew Stoltz, who also competed in the Four-Ball. Golf Digest and Golfchannel.com wrote profile pieces.

Colin earned a reputation as a talented amateur. He was a four-time Division II All-American when he was a student at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He won the Colorado amateur in 2016 and 2020. Since his graduation he has been named the Colorado Golf Association’s Player of the Year twice—in both 2020 and 2023. He has also garnered five CGA titles. In 2020, he became only the second player to win the Colorado Amateur (stroke play) and Colorado Match Play in the same year. And as if all that were not enough, he also garnered two Colorado Mid-Amateur titles. In fact, he could have chosen to pursue a career as a professional golfer, but decided her preferred a career in the classroom.

Occasionally, says Colin, he will make references to golf or other sports in his classroom. “But at the same time,” he hastens to add, “I want to give kids the opportunity to make their own connections. I think that’s the most important part: fostering their passions, their interests and giving them the freedom to do that,” he concludes.

Best of luck, Colin!