Category Archives: Education

Remembering Chalkboard Hero Michael Landsberry

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Michael Landsberry

Junior high school mathematics teacher and veteran Michael Landsberry sacrificed his life to save as many as 30 students from a teen gunman. Photo credit: Public Domain

Sometimes it is sobering to remember what a heavy responsibility we teachers have when it comes to protecting our students from harm. And there are many examples of heroic educators who have paid the ultimate price to protect their kids. One such hero is Michael Landsberry, a junior high school math teacher from Reno, Nevada.

Following his graduation from high school in 1986, Michael served in the United States Marine Corps where he had risen to the rank of corporal. He served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, and later became a member of the Nevada Air National Guard.

After his discharge, Michael attended college at Nevada State University, Reno, on the GI Bill. There he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in 2001. Following his college graduation, Michael accepted a teaching position at Sparks Middle School in Sparks, a suburb of Reno, Nevada. In addition to being a math teacher, he also coached basketball, cross country, track, and volleyball, and he served as the girls soccer coach at Sparks High School. Michael quickly became a beloved teacher known for pushing his students, but doing it with love and compassion.

On October 22, 2013, Michael was getting ready for the morning bell, when a 12-year-old student suddenly opened fire on his classmates. After the first student was shot, the chalkboard champion’s military training in kicked in. He calmly walked toward the shooter, putting his hands up in a motion to try to talk the youngster into giving up his gun. The student shot him in the chest at point blank range. Michael later succumbed to his injuries, but his heroic actions gave the other students on the playground time to run to safety. He is credited with saving as many as 30 lives that day.

For his heroism, Michael’s name has been inscribed on the Memorial to Fallen Educators at the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas.

Elem teacher Evelyn Kawamoto Konno was an Olympic athlete

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Elementary teacher Evelyn Kawamoto Konno was an exceptional swimmer who once competed in the 1952 Olympics. Photo credit: Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame

There are numerous outstanding classroom teachers who have also become accomplished athletes. One of these is Evelyn Kawamoto Konno, an exceptional swimmer who once competed in the Olympics.

Evelyn was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Sept. 17, 1933. She was raised in poverty. Her mother, Sadako, was a single parent. To support the family, Sadako took in laundry and ironing.

As a teenager, Evelyn attended McKinley High School in Honolulu. In 1949, she helped lead the Hawaii Swim Club to the National Amateur Athletic Union Team championship in San Antonio, Texas. Although she was only 15 years old, she set American records in both the 300-meter individual medley and the 200-meter breaststroke in that competition.

In 1952, Evelyn represented the United States at the Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland. She garnered bronze medals in the 400-meter individual freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay events. At the same event, she placed second in the 110-yard breaststroke and was on the winning 880-yard relay. In fact, she became the first Japanese American woman to win an Olympic medal. For these accomplishments, in 2000 she was inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1956, Evelyn married her fellow Olympian from Hawaii, Ford Konno, who won four medals at the 1952 Games. Several months after their wedding, Ford won a silver medal in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay at the Melbourne Olympic Games. Two daughters were born to the couple.

When she was 30 years old, Evelyn enrolled in courses at the University of Hawaii. After earning her degree, she worked as an elementary school teacher in Kaneohe, a city in Honolulu County. Later she worked in Wailupe, until her retirement from the teaching profession.

Sadly, Evelyn passed away on Jan. 27, 2017 in her native state of Hawaii. She was 83 years old.

US Rep and Home Ec teacher Elizabeth Andrews

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Former high school Home Economics teacher Elizabeth Andrews was the first woman to represent Alabama in the US House of Representatives. Photo credit: Encyclopedia of Alabama

Many talented educators also distinguish themselves in the political arena. One such educator is Elizabeth Andrews, a high school Home Economics teacher who became the first woman to represent Alabama in the US House of Representatives.

Elizabeth was born on February 12, 1911, in Geneva, Alabama.  After she graduated from high school, she enrolled at Montevallo College, now known as the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics in 1932.

The neophyte educator inaugurated her career at a high school in Livingston, Alabama. During the Great Depression, she relocated to a teaching position in Union Springs to earn more money.

When Elizabeth’s husband, George William Andrews, ran for office in the 78th US Congress, she worked tirelessly for his campaign. He won the election, and was re-elected 13 times. When her husband passed away in 1971, Elizabeth ran on the Democratic ticket unopposed for his position representing the 3rd Congressional District. When she won the election, she became the first woman to represent her state in the US Congress until the next one was elected in 2010.

While in office, Elizabeth served on the Committee for Post Office and Civil Service. She introduced legislation to protect benefits for Social Security and health care. She also threw her energy into funding research centers working for cures for cancer and heart disease. She sponsored legislation to designate Tuskegee University a National Historic Site. In addition, she supported withdrawal from the VietNam conflict.

Elizabeth retired from politics in 1973. She moved to Union Springs, Alabama, and became engrossed in local community affairs.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on December 2, 2002, in Birmingham, Alabama. She was nearly 92 years old. She was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Union Springs.

To read more about Elizabeth Andrews, see this article about her in the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Abigail Fillmore: The First Lady who was her husband’s teacher

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Former First Lady Abigail Fillmore: She was not only the wife of President Millard Fillmore, before she married him, she was his teacher! Photo credit: National First Ladies Library

Many American Presidents and First Ladies were former school educators. One of them was Abigail Fillmore, who actually taught the school her future husband, Millard Fillmore, attended.

Millard was 19 years old and largely illiterate when he decided he needed more education. He enrolled in a school in a nearby town in the state of New York. The 22-year-old teacher was Abigail Powers. Millard, the oldest student in her class, quickly fell in love with his teacher, but he was too poor and too shy to do anything about it. Seven years after he became her student, she became his wife.

When Abigail became Millard’s teacher, she had already established herself in her career. She had been teaching for six years. In 1814, she accepted a position as a part-time school teacher at the Sempronius Village School. In 1817, she became a full-time teacher, and in 1819 she took on another teaching job and began to teach at the private New Hope Academy. When she was asked to open up a private school in Broome County, she agreed, and within a short time opened the school. In 1825, she returned to Sempronius to teach in her original position.

When Millard Fillmore was elected President in 1850, Abigail became the nation’s First Lady. In fact, because she did not follow local custom and quit her job after her marriage, she was the first First Lady who came to her new position as a woman with a prior career.

As First Lady, Abigail Fillmore created a White House library for future residents of the People’s House. With her husband, she supported education and championed hospitalization for the mentally handicapped rather than imprisonment and punishment.

To read more about this amazing First Lady, click on this link to History.com.

TX History teacher Nichole Ritchie garners Leadership Award

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Texas teacher Nichole Ritchie has garnered a 2025 Julius Glickman Educational Leadership Award from Humanities Texas. Photo credit: Nichole Ritchie.

There are many outstanding educators who have earned recognition for their work in our public schools. One of them is Texas teacher Nichole Richie. She has garnered a Julius Glickman Educational Leadership Award from Humanities Texas, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Nichole teaches courses in Texas History, US History, and World Cultures at Llano Junior High School in Llano. She has worked at the school since 2021. Prior to teaching at Llano, she taught at Hutto Independent School District in Hutto, Texas for two years.

The honored teacher its very intentional with her curriculum and instructional strategies. “My approach blends academic rigor with interactive, student-led projects—whether it’s organizing essay contests, leading historical preservation initiatives, or helping students connect local stories to global events,” declares Nichole.

Outside the classroom, Nichole collaborates with museums, civic organizations, and history advocates to promote historical literacy and increase student voice. In addition, she has devoted many volunteer hours to the Burnet Historical Commission working on a restoration project of a 1930 Texas Centennial Highway marker and coordinating a cleanup and restoration of a Reconstruction-era slave cemetery in the county.

She also completes volunteer work for the Texas Historical Association. Nichole has also worked as a judge for their Texas History Day for several years, and she has been invited to be a 2025 panelist for the Texas Digitization Process at an annual history conference to speak about the men and women in World War II.

Nichole’s selection for the Julius Glickman Award is not the only recognition she has earned. She was selected the Outstanding 7th Grade Teacher of the Year by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas in 2025. The year prior she was selected Star of the Month by Region 13 and she earned the Mirabeau B. Lamar Texas History Teacher Award by San Jacinto Descendants.

Nichole earned her Bachelor’s degree in History from Northern Illinois University in 2017. She earned her Master’s degree in History from Gettysburg College in 2007.

Each year, 12 teachers are selected to receive a $5,000 cash award and an additional $1,000 for their respective schools to purchase humanities-based instructional materials. Learn more at Humanities Texas.