Category Archives: Education

A hearty thank you to educators: Teacher Appreciation Week

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It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! Teachers all over the country change the lives of millions of children every day. And in a year of challenges, where instruction could be virtual, in-person or a mix of both, our teachers’ immense work, creativity, and resilience have provided a much-needed sense of community and connection. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, educators across America are working hard to ensure every student has the tools they need to reach their full potential.

So, teachers, here are some small tokens of appreciation for all the work you do, year ’round. As a thank you, see this list of discounts and coupons from restaurants, clothing stores, book stores, electronics stores, and travel providers. Check it out at Coupon Cabin.

Here’s another website that suggests places where teachers can get freebies and deals during Teacher Appreciation Week. The site is The Real Deal.

See a list of free or inexpensive food treats available to you this week from such establishments as Sonic, White Castle, and Krispy Kreme. Just check out this website: Thrillist.

Teachers, know that you are loved! Have a wonderful day, this week and every week!

Texas educator and community activist Leona Washington

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Many talented educators also work to improve the lives of the people of their city through community activism. Leona Washington of El Paso, Texas, was one such educator. Photo credit: El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs.

Many talented educators also work to improve the lives of the people of their city through community activism. Leona Washington of El Paso, Texas, was one such educator.

Leona was born in 1928 in El Paso. As a young woman, she attended Prairie View  A&M University. There she earned both her Bachelor’s and her Master’s degrees. Once she earned her degrees, Leona taught for two years in  Las Cruces schools. Later, Leona became a teacher in Douglass School, a segregated school in the El Paso Independent School District. Her career there spanned 39 years.

In addition to her classroom duties, Leona founded the McCall Neighborhood Center in El Paso. There she worked as the first Executive Director of the facility, which served both the African American and Mexican American communities in the city. In addition, she was a co-founder and principal organizer of the annual Miss Black El Paso Southwest Scholarship Pageant. She also served as President, Vice-President, and Treasurer of the Phillis Wheatley Chapter of El Paso, an organization that provided a food bank for needy families and the elderly. She was also a member of the NAACP, the El Paso Community Foundation Advisory Board, the Arts and Resources Board of El Paso, and the Planned Parenthood Board of El Paso.

As if all this were not enough, Leona accepted the responsibilities of publishing The Good Neighbor Interpreter, a newspaper that provided news about the African American community to the residents of El Paso. In addition, she composed the song “The City of El Paso,” which was adopted as the city’s official song in the 1980’s.

For her many works of community activism, Leona earned many accolades. She was inducted into the El Paso County Democratic Hall of Fame in 1984, and in 1991, she was inducted into the El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame. She was given the city of El Paso’s Conquistador Award in 2000. She also received Woman of the Year Award in 2002 and the Myrna J. Deckert Lifetime Achievement Award by the YWCA in 2007, the last honor posthumously.

Leona passed away on August 5, 2007. To learn more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion, see this article about her published in the Texas State Historical Association.

 

PE teacher and coach Matthew Beaver succumbs to Covid-19

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Physical Education teacher and coach Matthew Beaver of Salisbury, North Carolina, succumbed to Covid-19 on Jan. 19, 2021. Photo credit: Salisbury post.

We are sad to report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Matthew Beaver, a physical education teacher and coach from Salisbury, North Carolina, succumbed to the disease on Jan. 19, 2021. He was only 40 years old.

Matthew was born on Nov. 24, 1980, in Christianburg, Virginia. He graduated from East Rowan High School in Rowan County, North Carolina, in 1999. Following high school, Matthew earned his degrees in Health and Physical Education. He first attended Piedmont Bible College. While there, he played college basketball. He also attended High Point University. In 2006, Matthew was honored a the Outstanding Student Teacher and Outstanding Physical Education Major.

Matthew inaugurated his career as an educator when he accepted an interim position at Southeast Middle School in the Rowan-Salisbury School System in 2006. At the time of his passing, the beloved educator was teaching physical education at Knox Middle School in Salisbury. He also served his school as a coach of basketball and tennis. He had been employed there since 2007, a total of 13 years.

Matthew was highly respected by his students, their parents, and his colleagues, and he will be fondly remembered. “Great with the kids — his kids and students. He affected so many people in a positive manner, made me a better teacher,” remarked colleague James Phillips. Co-worker Justin Pauley agreed. “He would get to work early. He would never miss. He’d put everybody above himself. His wife, his kids, he bragged about, loved them, talked about them constantly,” Pauley recalled. The beloved educator leaves behind a wife, Ruth, who is also a teacher, and two young children.

To read more about Matthew Beaver, see this article published by the Salisbury Post.

Niilo Koponen: Teacher and member of Alaska’s House of Reps

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Niilo Koponen was an elementary school teacher and principal from Alaska who also served in his state’s House of Representatives. Photo credit: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Many capable educators are also excellent politicians. This is true of Niilo Koponen, an elementary school teacher and principal from Alaska who also served in his state’s House of Representatives.

Niilo was born on March 6, 1928 in the Bronx section of New York City, New York, Following his graduation from the High School of Music and Art in 1945, he attended Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. There he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Social Administration and Sociology in 1952. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Anthropology from the University of Alaska in 1957, and he also studied anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science in London, England. Niilo completed the requirements for his Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Harvard University in 1966.

Niilo and his wife moved to Fairbanks in 1952. The couple homesteaded 160 acres and raised a family of five children. For some time, Niilo worked as a surveyor and an electrician, but later he accepted a position an an elementary school teacher at University Park Elementary in the North Star Borough School District located in Fairbanks. He taught fifth and sixth grades from 1957 to 1962. Eventually Niilo became the principal of the school. He also taught night school and extended day courses in anthropology, sociology, Arctic Peoples, and Arctic Natives at the University of Alaska. He also served as a grants administrator for the school district and consultant for other projects, including the development of village high schools, director for Greater Fairbanks Head Start, and a labor investigator for the Alaska Human Rights Commission.

All his life, Niilo was committed to service to others and the improvement of his community. In 1948, Niilo volunteered at a Quaker work camp in Finland helping World War II refugees from Soviet occupation. In 1982, Niilo was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent the 21st District in the Alaska House of Representatives . He served five terms there, from 1983 to 1992.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on December 3, 2013, in Fairbanks, Alaska. He was 85 years old.  To read more about him, see this obituary published by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

 

Charlotte Stephens of Arkansas: Teacher and trailblazer

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Charlotte Stephens, pictured above, was the first African American teacher in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Many fine educators are notable for their “firsts.” One of these was trailblazer Charlotte Stephens, the first African American to teach school in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Charlotte was born into slavery in 1854 in Little Rock. After the end of the Civil War, in 1869, she inaugurated her career as an educator when she became a substitute for her own teacher, who had fallen ill near the end of the school year. Charlotte was only 15 years old at the time.  At the end of her first full year of teaching, Charlotte used her savings to travel to Ohio, where she completed courses in pedagogy at Oberlin College. There she studied Latin, geometry, the history of Rome, music, English, and the Bible. For three years she continued to perfect her craft, returning intermittently to Little Rock to teach and earn additional money to pay for her courses.

Charlotte’s career included 30 years as an elementary school teacher, 30 as a high school teacher, and 10 as a teacher librarian in both high school and junior college. In all, Charlotte’s career spanned an astonishing 70 years before her retirement at age 85 in 1939. Among her most notable students were African American composers Florence Price and William Grant Still.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on December 17, 1951. In 1910, Stephens Elementary School in Little Rock was named in her honor. To read more about her, see this article published in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.