Category Archives: Education

Virginia’s Martha Forrester: Teacher and activist

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Martha Forrester

Teachers very often devote considerable talent and energy towards advancing social causes. One teacher in American history who did this is Martha Forrester, a classroom teacher and early Civil Rights activist.

The Civil War was in full swing in 1863 when Martha Forrester was born in Richmond, Virginia. When she grew up, she worked for several years as a public school teacher in Richmond.

Martha married Robert Forrester as a young woman, and after her husband passed away, she moved to Farmville, Virginia, to live with her daughter. There Martha was one of five founding members of retired educators who established the Council of Colored Women in 1920. She served as the president of that organization for over 30 years, endeavoring to better educational opportunities for African American students in Prince Edward County. “She felt the need that she wanted to improve the lives, you know, of African American children here in the form of education,” commented Beatrice White, a descendant of Martha Forrester. Martha was able to accomplish many improvements for the students she cared so much about, including  extending the school year and increasing access to higher-level classes. The Council also conducted tutoring, offered counseling, and organized blood mobiles to serve their community.

The former classroom teacher was also instrumental in founding the county’s first high school for African American students. Under her leadership, the Council raised $300,000 to buy a building and establish Robert Russa Moton High School, named in honor of a local educator. When the doors of the school opened in 1939, 450 students showed up for classes, although the facility was built for only 150. The school has since been turned into a museum.

This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away in 1951. Her Farmville home was designated a historic site by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in March, 2017. Read more about Martha Forrester in this article published by the Farmville Herald.

Kristi Borge: Montana’s 2021 Teacher of the Year

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Kristi Borge, a teacher in a rural one-room schoolhouse in Polaris, Montana, has been named her state’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Kristi Borge

I always enjoy sharing stories about teachers who have been honored for their excellence in the classroom. One of these is Krista Borge, a K-8 teacher from Polaris, Montana, whose classroom is in a rural one-room schoolhouse. She has been named the 2021 Montana State Teacher of the Year.

Over the course of her career, Kristi has taught students from kindergarten through eighth grade in every content area. In her school, Kristi is the only full-time staff member. She teaches several grade levels at once, including students who are siblings.

In her schoolhouse, Kristi wears many hats. She is the administrator, librarian, and the school lawn care and snow removal technician. In addition, she helps co-ordinate extracurricular activities such as the rural school science fair, the basketball league, and the track meet. “You have to be really self-sufficient when you run a one-room school,” Kristi observes.

Kristi earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a minor in K-12 Reading from Montana State University, Bozeman. Later she earned a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the same university.

Kristi inaugurated her degree as a middle school Social Studies and Language Arts teacher at Monforton School in Four Corners. After four years there, Kristi and  her husband, Erik, returned to the small town of her roots.

In addition to teaching, Kristi enjoys traveling. She even volunteers to escort students for the program People to People Student Ambassadors, which gives her opportunities to tour Europe and Australia with high school students. She has traveled to Cambodia as a volunteer English teacher, and she has worked as a science camp instructor at the Montana Learning Center during her summers.

In her classroom, Krista is passionate about exploring and employing best practices and careful curriculum planning to meet the needs of her diverse learners. But these are not the only priorities of the honored teacher. “My number one goal is to build positive relationships with the students first,” she declares. “Then, once you have mutual respect and understanding, then you can make a lot of progress in academics.”

To learn more about this Chalkboard Champion, see the article published about her at the website for Montana State University.

NJ educator Christine Lim garners Princeton Prize

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Congratulations to Christine Lim of Pennsauken, New Jersey. She has been named a recipient of the Princeton University Prize for Distinguished Secondary School Teaching. Photo credit: Christine Lim.

Congratulations to Christine Lim of Pennsauken High School in Pennsauken, New Jersey, who has been named a recipient of the Princeton University Prize for Distinguished Secondary School Teaching.

Christine teaches Advanced Placement Literature, Composition, Honors, and SAT Prep at Pennsauken. Her career there has spanned 12 years. In her classroom, Christine practices the philosophy Kaizen, a Japanese word meaning “continuous improvement.” In doing so, she promotes a culture of self-growth in her 9th and 10th grade English classes. To accomplish this, her students actively engage in Socratic Seminars, writing spoken word poetry, and book club study. Through these activities, says Christine, she creates a family atmosphere in her classroom.

Since Christine expects continuous improvement from her students, she also expects the same from herself, says Caroline Steer, Curriculum Supervisor at the Pennsauken School District. “As a result, Mrs. Lim is the finest example to her peers as not only an education leader, but as a kind and thoughtful human,” Steer continued. “Mrs. Lim takes her responsibility as an educator to the next level.”

Daily mood check-ins and weekly evaluations enable Christine to tune in to her students’ emotional well-being, though many are fully remote learners. To reflect upon their successes and their struggles, students write Anything Journals as a validation of their unique stories.

In addition to her responsibilities in the classroom, Christine is the adviser for the Asian Student Association. In this capacity, she organizes the annual Lunar New Year celebration and an Asian Pacific American Heritage Month assembly, among many other social, cultural, and charitable events.

Christine earned her Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and English, maxima cum laude, from LaSalle University in 2007.

 

Illinois’ Ola “Madge” Miller Green: Teacher, author, and politician

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Ola “Madge” Miller Green: Educator, author, and political. Photo credit: Findagrave.com

Many dedicated educators also make excellent authors and fine politicians. One of these was Ola “Madge” Miller Green, an Illinois school teacher who published an important school textbook and who also served her community in the Illinois Senate.

Ola was born on April 19, 1900, in Palestine, Crawford County, Illinois. As a youngster, she attended public schools in her home town. Once she graduated from high school, she earned her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Education from Indiana State University in Terra Haute.

Once she completed her education, Ola accepted a position as a school teacher in a public school in Palestine. Later she taught in Richmond, Indiana. While working as a teacher, Ola authored the book Through the Years in Indiana, published in 1954. The volume was widely used as a textbook in Indiana schools.

When Ola’s husband, Herschel S. Green, an Illinois State Senator, passed away in office in 1962, the veteran school teacher was appointed to serve the remainder of his term. Later she was elected on her own merit on the Republican ticket to a full term in the Senate. She served until 1965. Once she left office, Ola served as the postmistress for the Illinois Senate.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away December 11, 1989, in Springfield, Illinois. She was 89 years old. Her remains are interred at Hutsonville Cemetery in Hutsonville, Illinois. To read more about Ola “Madge” Miller Green, see her obituary published by Findagrave.

Spanish teacher and TikTok sensation Dr. Trevor Boffone

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Often dedicated classroom teachers will do anything to motivate their students. Here’s one who hip-hop dances with them: Dr. Trevor Boffone, a Spanish teacher at Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas. He has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram – all because of his viral videos in the classroom. Dr. Boffone wanted a way to connect with his students and asked them to teach him some dance moves like the ones he viewed on Dubsmash and TikTok. In just six weeks, he racked up 50,000 followers. Now he has millions of views and followers around the country! Dr. Boffone says he’s not afraid to dance like no one’s watching, but he knows plenty of people are. Watch him with his students in the 4:21 minute video below. Enjoy!