Category Archives: Education

Teacher, principal, and actress Kami Cotler, Elizabeth of The Waltons

Posted on by

Kami Cotler is probably best known for her role as Elizabeth on the hit show The Waltons. After ten years on the program, she became a teacher and principal in California. Photo credit: MeTV.

I often discover dedicated educators who have also earned acclaim in Hollywood. One such teacher is Kami Cotler, who is known to many as the actress who played Elizabeth Walton on the television series The Waltons.

Kami was born on June 17, 1965, in Long Beach, California. Kami was only seven years old when she landed the role of the youngest Walton child on The Waltons. She spent ten years of her childhood on the show, and she has returned to Hollywood to portray Elizabeth in each of the show’s reunion movies. In addition, she occasionally makes speeches and personal appearances.

As a young woman, Kami earned her Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. Once she completed her education, she launched her career as an educator at a small rural school in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Charlottesville, Virginia. There she taught for ALPHA, an interdisciplinary alternative program designed to assist at-risk high school students.

In 2001, Kami returned to California where she accepted a position as a teacher at Environmental Charter High School in Lawndale, a suburb of Los Angeles. She taught ninth grade there. In 2004, the former actress became the Co-Director of the Ocean Charter School, a position she held until 2007. That year she inaugurated her own business as a consultant. Later she served as the Principal of Environmental Charter Middle School located in Los Angeles County. The school is part of a network of free public schools in underserved communities of south Los Angeles that prepares students for four-year college. The school’s instructional program offers a focus on experiential learning and uses the environment to engage students and prepare them to become leaders in their communities. Kami has also served as a Board Member of the American Montessori Society.

To learn more about this remarkable educator, see this interview published by MeTV.

Miami teacher Lizbet Martinez: She came to the US on a raft

Posted on by

Florida music educator Lizbet Martinez fled the repressive Castro regime and came to the United States on a raft when she was just a child. Photo credit: The Buffalo News.

Many dedicated educators can share a personal history of overcoming great adversity. One is Lizbet Martinez, an elementary school teacher who, when she was just a child, fled the repressive Castro regime to come to the United States on a raft.

Lizbet was only 12 years old when she braved the dangers of the sea to immigrate to this country from her home island of Cuba on nothing more than a raft. She was one of more than 30,000 Cubans who made this treacherous journey during what is known as the “balsero crisis” of 1994. Lizbet and her family were plucked from the waters by the US Coast Guard on Aug. 21, 1994. At the time, the child was clutching a violin case, which the Americans discussed confiscating because they believed the case might contain a weapon. To prove them wrong, Lizbet opened the case, pulled out her violin, and began to play The Star Spangled Banner. Before the family fled the Castro regime in Cuba, she was studying violin at Alejandro Garcia Caturla Conservatory in Havana.  After their rescue, the Martinez family and other refugees spent five months at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base before being relocated to Miami.

When she grew up, Lizbet enrolled at Florida International University in Miami. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education in 2003. Cuban-American singer Willy Chirino offered her with a $3,000 scholarship to help pay for her college expenses. At her college graduation, she was asked to performed the national anthem to open the commencement ceremonies. Later, Lizbet performed with music stars Gloria Estefan and Jon Secada. She also performed for President Bill Clinton and George H. Bush.

The aspiring teacher completed her student teaching assignment at Emerson Elementary School located in Westchester, Florida, and at Coral Reef High School in Miami. At the grade school, she taught basic music skills. At the high school, a magnet school for teenagers interested in music, she conducted the string orchestra.

Lizbet became a teacher at Emerson Elementary school. She also taught at M.A. Milam K-8 Center, where she was a music instructor until budget cuts cancelled the school;s music program. She then taught English.

To read more about this remarkable educator, see this story published by The Buffalo News.

North Dakota’s JoNell Bakke: Special Ed teacher and politician

Posted on by

Because of their highly developed leadership skills, hardworking classroom teachers often earn acclaim in the political realm. One such teacher is JoNell Bakke, an educator from Grand Forks, North Dakota, who also served multiple terms in her state’s Senate.

JoNell earned her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Elementary/Special Education in 1973 and her Master’s of Education in 1997, both from the University of North Dakota.  After earning her degrees, she worked as an eighth grade special education teacher at Elroy Schroeder Middle School in her home city of Grand Forks. Her career spanned the years of 1983 to 2013.

After many years in the classroom, JoNell was elected on the Democratic ticket to the North Dakota State Senate, where she represented the 43rd District from 2007 to 2009, and from 2019 to present day. There she served on the committees for Education, the Commission on Juvenile Justice, the Human Services Committee, and the Committees for Judiciary, Transportation, and Long-Term Care. 

In addition to her work in schools and in the legislature, JoNell has lent her considerable talent to a number of civic organizations. She has served as the President of the Grand Forks Education Association and as a member of the Board of the North Dakota Education Association. She also served as the Chair of the North Dakota Women’s Network and as the Vice Chair of the Board of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition. Furthermore, she completed a lengthy stint as the Chair of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education Board of Examiners (NCATE) and as a member of the State Mentoring Trainer for Teacher Support System.

To read more about JoNell, see her web page at North Dakota Legislative Branch.

Hawaii’s Soichi Sakamoto: Self-taught Swim Coach to Olympians

Posted on by

Former sixth grade science teacher Soichi Sakamoto from Maui, Hawaii, became a swim coach to Olympic swimmers. Photo credit: Star-Bulletin

Many fine classroom teachers also earn acclaim as athletic coaches. One of these is Soichi Sakamoto, a science teacher who also became a Swim Coach to Olympian athletes.

Soichi was born on August 6, 1906. In the late 1930’s, he taught sixth grade science and health at Puunene School on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The school was built in 1922 on ten acres of land donated by the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company.

At first, Soichi didn’t know anything about coaching a swim team, and his team members consisted of the children of poor sugar plantation workers. Nevertheless, the  inventive teacher established a Three-Year Swim Cub in 1937. His goal was to guide his athletes to the Olympics within three years. The indefatigable coach was able to achieve his goal of creating a team that qualified for the US Olympic team; however, the 1940 Summer Games were cancelled because of the outbreak of World War II.

To get his student athletes to their goal, the innovative coach developed a training regiment involving the use of interval training. As a form of resistance training, Soichi used area irrigation ditches to train his athletes to swim against the current. In addition, he used pulleys and weights to build upper body strength in his young swimmers, also an innovation for the times.

Eventually, Soichi became the Swim Coach at the University of Hawaii, where he served from 1946 to 1961. He also served as an Assistant Coach for the US Olympic Swim Team from 1952 to 1956. Over the course of Soichi’s career, many of his athletes competed in the Olympics, where they earned gold, silver, and bronze medals.

For his work as a swim coach, Soichi earned international accolades. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame, and the American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Sports Circle of Honor at the University of Hawaii.

This superlative coach passed away on Sept. 29, 1997. He was 91 years old. To document the story of this Chalkboard Champion, a book detailing his life and career was written by Julia Checkoway. The biography, published in 2015, was entitled The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui’s Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory. The volume is available on  Amazon.com. You could also read this 2003 article published abut him in the Star Bulletin.

Teacher Sarah Fain one of Virginia’s first women politicians

Posted on by

Virginia school teacher Sarah Fain was one of the first two women elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. Photo credit: Dictionary of Virginia Biography.

Many talented educators have also earned success in the political realm. One such educator is Sarah Fain, a public school teacher from Virginia who was one of the first two women to be elected to her state’s House of Delegates.

Sarah was born on Nov. 23. 1888, in Norfolk Virginia. She was educated first at Leache-Wood Seminary. She graduated from Hemmingway High School in 19097. Following her high school graduation, Sarah taught for 12 years in elementary schools in the Norfolk public school system. During her summer breaks, she enrolled in summer courses at the University of Virginia. The university did not offer diplomas to women in her day, but still Sarah managed to earn enough credits to qualify as the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Administration.

When World War I broke out, Sarah volunteered for the Norfolk Red Cross, and she sold Liberty bonds to help financially support the war. When the 19th Amendment was ratified, she joined the League of Women voters and became active in Democratic Party politics. In 1923, the former teacher was elected to the House of Delegates becoming one of the two first women to serve in that political body. She served  total of three terms in the House. As a delegate, Sarah focused on issues that were important to her constituents, especially education and maritime laws. During her last term, she chaired the prestigious Committee on Schools and Colleges. In addition, she voted for an anti-lynching bill that was then the strictest in the nation.

During the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sarah was appointed to serve in several New Deal agencies, including the National Emergency Council, where she helped establish the United States Information Service and served as its first chief. She later directed a homestead community project and supervised a rural family resettlement program.

In 1938, Sarah moved to San Marino, California, and continued to participate in local politics. It was there that she passed away on July 20, 1962. She was buried at Norfolk’s Elmwood Cemetery.

To learn more about Sarah Fain, see this article about her in the Dictionary of Virginia Biography published by the Library of Virginia.