Category Archives: Education

Katie McGarvey named Illinois Special Ed Teacher of the Year

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Congratulations to Katie McGarvey, who has been named 2021 Special Education Teacher of the Year by the Illinois State Board of Education. Photo credit: Journal & Topics.

When an educator is recognized for exceptional work in the classroom, this event is exciting to teachers everywhere. One educator who was recently honored was Katie McGarvey, a special education teacher from the northwest suburbs of Chicago. She was been named a 2021 Special Education Teacher of the Year by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Katie teaches Special Education at Hoffman Estates High School in District 211. Her career there has spanned a mere three years. Her students have intellectual and developmental disabilities. “For me, students come first,” Katie declares.  “I love seeing them every day, which drives my passion for this job,” she continues. “I hope to use that passion to continue to grow in a way that can always help the students,” she concludes.

“Katie is all about service to others,” asserts colleague Colleen Little.  “It’s been great to see her in action and to see her recognized.” In addition to her honors from the Illinois State Board of Education, Katie has also been honored as a 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award from Loyola University. She has also been inducted into Delta Kappa Gamma, a prestigious professional organization for women educators.

Katie graduated from Palatine High School in the small town of Palatine, Cook County, Illinois. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Loyola University Chicago in 2018.

Covid-19 claims life of math, PE teacher Rodney Lee

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We regret to report that Covid-19 claimed the life of elementary math and physical education teacher Rodney Lee of Dalton, Georgia, on September 6, 2021. Photo credit: Photo credit: Dalton Citizen.

We regret to report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Rodney Lee, an elementary school teacher from Georgia, succumbed to the disease on September 6, 2021. He was only 44 years old.

Rodney taught physical education at Varnell Elementary School in Dalton.  His wife, Lacey Lee, said her husband enjoyed young people. “He loved working with them, and it was really important to him to be a good role model for them,” she recalled.

Rodney inaugurated his career as an educator a math teacher. “He taught in middle school for one year and decided that wasn’t for him and went back to elementary school,” Lacey says. “Then the opportunity to become a physical education teacher came up, and he took it. That’s what he taught for the last 12 years or so,” she continued. “He was a great math teacher, but he just loved PE,” she concluded. In 2018, the fallen educator was recognized as the school’s Teacher of the Year. His career as a teacher spanned 18 years.

Rodney and Lacey met when they were both education students at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. “There was a student-teaching abroad program,” Lacey remembered. “We both signed up for it, and we both spent about eight weeks teaching in England and got to know each other and fell in love.”

In addition to teaching, Rodney coached travel softball, basketball, and baseball. He was active with Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief and Georgia Baptist Builders, an organization which helps the needy with construction projects. “He would work on cars (for those in need),” remembered friend Allee Worley. “He would work on air conditioners. He would build wheelchair ramps. And he did everything with a cheerful attitude and a smile on his face,” she said.

To read more about Rodney Lee, see this article published by the Dalton Citizen.

Oklahoma’s Maude Brockway: Teacher and social activist

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Oklahoma Territory teacher Maude Brockway worked tirelessly to improve social conditions for others. Photo credit: Public Domain.

Often times, hardworking educators dedicate their energy and talent to the improvement of social conditions for others. Maude Brockway, an African American teacher from Oklahoma, is one of these.

Maude was born on February 28, 1876, in Clark County, Arkansas. She was raised in Curtis, where she attended the Arkadelphia Presbyterian Academy, an elementary and secondary school founded to educate the children for former slaves. The school was operated under the auspices of the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen. Later Maude enrolled at Arkansas Baptist College located in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Once she completed her education, Maude moved to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, where she worked as a teacher in Ardmore and Berwyn in the Chickasaw Nation. Later she opened a hat-making business. In 1910, Maude relocated to Oklahoma City, then still part of the Oklahoma Territory. There she became involved in an activist movement that furthered the interests of African American citizens in the city. She was particularly active in the Black Clubwomen’s Movement in her area. This movement took place throughout the United States, functioning under the founding philosophy that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy.

As part of her work as an activist, Maude founded the Oklahoma Training School for Women and Girls in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. This school was later known as the Drusilla Dunjee Houston Training School. Later she established the Brockway Community Center in Oklahoma City. The center offered training courses, well-baby clinics, a daycare center, and a women’s health center which included a birth control clinic.

Sadly, Maude Brockway succumbed to a heart attack on October 24, 1959, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, while attending a the state convention of the Women’s Auxiliary of the state Baptist Convention. At the time, the Chalkboard Champion was 83 years old. To read more about her, see this link to The Black Dispatch.

Former teacher Dayna Polehanki now serves in Michigan Senate

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Former English teacher and Michigan State Senator Dayna Polehanki. Photo credit: www.senatedems.com.

It is no secret that many times, talented classroom teachers become very successful politicians. An excellent example of this is Dayna Polehanki, a former English teacher who now serves in the Michigan State Senate.

In  2018, Dayna was elected on the Democratic ticket to serve in the Michigan State Senate. She represents the 7th District there. She serves as the Minority Vice Chair on the Committees for Education and Career Readiness; Regulatory Reform; and the K-12 and Michigan Department of Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

Dayna is a long-time resident of Michigan. She graduated from Flushing High School in Flushing, Michigan. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Central Michigan University; her teaching credentials from Alma College, a private liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan; and her Master’s degree in Teaching from Marygrove College in Detroit. She also earned an administrator credential from the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. Dayna taught English in the New Haven Community Schools District. Her career as an educator has spanned 19 years.

For her work in the classroom, Dayna has earned many accolades. In 2018, she was recognized as the Teacher of the Year for New Haven Community Schools, and the year before, she was one of two recipients of the Michigan Schools and Government Educator Advantage Scholarship.

Before Dayna became a teacher, she was the manager of Features Casting at Paramount Pictures. She is also the owner of a small business. For the past ten years she has been the owner of Detroit Casting Company, and she has also served as the Michigan casting director of such productions as Alex Cross, Into the Storm, and The End of the Tour.

Arturo Arredondo: Consummate counselor, PE teacher, and coach

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Arturo Arredondo, originally from Arizona, was a consummate school counselor, physical education teacher, and coach.

I always enjoy sharing stories about outstanding athletes who become teachers and coaches. One of these is Arturo Arredondo, originally from Arizona, who chose a career in education instead of professional baseball.

Arturo was born on August 21, 1931, in Kingman, Arizona. As a youngster, he attended Kingman High School, where he played varsity basketball, baseball, football, and track. He was particularly adept as a pitcher, and he was even scouted and drafted by the LA Dodgers, but Arturo chose instead to go to college.

As a young man, Arturo attended Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. Later he earned a Master’s degree in Counseling from the University of California, Riverside.

After completing his Bachelor’s degree, Arturo inaugurated his career as an educator when he accepted a position as a sixth grade teacher in Douglas, Arizona. He also coached baseball and basketball. In 1958, he and his wife relocated to Riverside, California, where he became a teacher at Chemawa Junior High School. He taught Spanish there. Later he transferred to Riverside’s JW North High School, where he worked as a counselor. Arturo also worked as a counselor at both Mira Loma Middle School and Mission Middle School in the Jurupa United School District. Throughout his lengthy career as an educator, Arturo was an advocate for the rights of people in the Mexican American community. In addition, he worked tirelessly for such organizations as MeCha and ESAA. He also spent some time as the Director an an educational program called “Follow Through,” and he worked as a referee for local high school teams.

Arturo retired in 1998. In his golden years he established a translation service and indulged his love for language arts projects—he compiled a dictionary of English idioms, adages, and phrases and translated them into Spanish. This Chalkboard Champion passed away on August 19, 2021, from heart failure. He was 89 years old.