Category Archives: Education

Our new First Lady Jill Biden: She’s also an English Teacher

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Our new First lady, Dr. Jill Biden, former high school English teacher, currently teaches at Delaware & Community Technical College. (Photo credit: White House)

With the inauguration of President Joe Biden today, the education community gains an ally in the White House. The ally comes in the form of the new First Lady, Jill Biden. Jill, who was formerly a high school English teacher, has been a professor of English at Community College since 2009. While serving as the Second Lady, Jill continued to teach, and she has declared her intention to continue teaching during her tenure as First Lady.

Jill was born on June 3, 1951, in Hammonton, New Jersey. She was raised in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. After she graduated from Upper Moreland High School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvnia, in 1969, Jill earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delaware (1975). She earned two Master’s degrees, one in English from West Chester University in Pennsylvania and one in Education from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. She completed the requirements for her PhD in Education from the University of Delaware.

After earning her degrees, Jill accepted a position teaching English and reading in high school. She taught for three years at Claymont High School in Delaware, and then at Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware (1991-1993). For five years she taught adolescents with emotional disabilities at Rockford Center Psychiatric Hospital.

From 1993 to 2008, Jill taught English and writing at Delaware Technical & Community College. Since 2009, she has worked as a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College.

When her husband was elected to serve as the Vice President under the Obama Administration, Jill continued to teach full time. She is believed to be the only Second Lady in history to hold down a full-time job while serving as Second lady. Despite her workload in the classroom, Jill still found time for public service. During her husband’s term, which spanned the years from 2009 to 2017, the hardworking educator co-founded the Book Buddies program and the Biden Foundation. She also spearheaded a nonprofit organization to support women’s health and another to support military families.

To read more about Jill Biden, see this article published by The Guardian.

Elaine Goodale Eastman: She was a “Sister to the Sioux”

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Elaine Goodale Eastman: The teacher who was a “Sister to the Sioux” (Photo credit: Boston University)

Many talented and dedicated educators have devoted themselves to working for disenfranchised groups of students. One of these was Elaine Goodale Eastman, who often called herself a “Sister to the Sioux.”

Elaine Goodale Eastman, originally from Massachusetts, was a talented teacher who established a day school on a Sioux Indian reservation in the territory of South Dakota. She believed very strongly that it was best to keep Native American children at home rather than transport them far away from their families to Indian boarding schools. She hadn’t taught on the reservation very long when she was promoted to the position of Superintendent of Indian Education for the Two Dakotas. In this capacity, she traveled throughout the five Dakota reservations, visiting the more than 60 government and missionary schools within her jurisdiction, writing detailed evaluation reports on each school she visited.

It was because of her work that Elaine just happened to be visiting the Pine Ridge Reservation when the tragic Wounded Knee Massacre took place. As a result of this tragedy, more than 200 men, women, and children from the Lakota tribe were killed, and another 51 were wounded. In addition, 25 government soldiers were also killed, most by “friendly fire,” and another 39 were wounded. Following the massacre, she and her fiance, physician Charles Eastman of the Santee Sioux tribe, cared for the survivors and wrote detailed government reports to accurately describe what happened.

In her later years, when America was experiencing a back-to-nature revival, Elaine and her husband operated Indian-themed summer camps in New Hampshire. Read more of the life story of this fascinating educator in Theodore D. Sargent’s biography The Life of Elaine Goodale Eastman, or an encapsulated version in my first book, Chalkboard Champions: Twelve Remarkable Teachers Who Educated America’s Disenfranchised Students, both available on amazon.

Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King continues to inspire us

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Today our nation celebrates the birthday of Civil Rghts leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The holiday offers teachers an excellent opportunity to share the story of this prominent and inspirational figure in American history. The observance provides an opportunity to guide young people in their reflection on what lessons about life this great leader’s life can offer to all of us.

I was just a young child in the 1960’s, but I can still remember avidly watching the historic “I Have a Dream” speech on television that hot August night in 1963. I was only eight years old then, transitioning from third to fourth grade, and quite impressionable. I’m all grown up now, but throughout the five and a half decades since that historic March on Washington, DC, whenever I watch video of that inspirational speech, I am impressed all over again. I am impressed by the possibility that the world we share could, and should, be a better place. I am reminded by the fact that no matter how young—or old—I am, I can take action, even if it’s just a small action, that would make such improvement come about. This is one of the most important lessons MLK has taught us all, not only then, but most especially now.

The video of King’s historic speech is below. To learn more about this amazing man, click on MLK Biography. To examine the website of the MLK Center for Nonviolent Change, click on King Center.

Thomas Knab inducted into 2020 National Teachers Hall of Fame

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Congratulations go to Thomas Knab, an elementary school art techer who has been inducted into the 2020 National Teachers Hall of Fame. (Photo credit: NTHF)

I always enjoy sharing stories about talented classroom teachers who have been recognized for their outstanding work int the classroom. One of these is Thomas Knab, an elementary school art teacher who has just been inducted into the 2020 National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF).

Thomas teaches at Dodge Elementary School, part of the Williamsville Central School District in East Amherst, New York. His career as an educator has spanned 31 years. As a young man, Thomas planned to become a graphic designer, but through coaching volleyball and teaching Sunday school, he became interested in a career as a teacher.

Thomas works to encourage the creativity and spirit of his elementary students through the arts. “I try to make it very diverse in the type of things we do in the art room so the students hopefully can discover something they’re successful at,” Thomas confesses. To this end, he created an art gallery inside the school to display the students’ art pieces. “I hope that [students] can see themselves, even in a small way as an artist,” Thomas says. “Whether it’s as a career, or even as a hobby, how it can add to your life.”

In addition to his responsibilities in the classroom, Thomas has spent decades as the Williamsville South boys volleyball coach. He has also served as a leader and advocate for the importance of art education in regional and national organizations. He’s currently the president of the National Art Education Association.

Thom’s inducttion into the NTHF is not the only recognition the superlative teacher has earned. In 2019, he earned the Lowell Milken Center Fellowship Award, an honor given to educators who have distinguished themselves in teaching respect and understanding through project-based learning. In 2018, he garnered the Eastern Region Elementary Art Education Award from the National Education Association. The same year, he was honored as the National Art Educator of the Year award from the National Art Educators Association.

Art, music teacher Melinda Roellig succumbs to Covid-19

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Melinda Roellig, a teacher of art and music in Sellersbug, Indiana, succumbed to Covid-19 on November 15, 2020.

With great sadness we report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Melinda Roellig, an art and music teacher from Sellersburg, Indiana, succumbed to the disease on November 15, 2020. She was just 37 years old.

Melinda was born on December 6, 1982, in Scotland, where her father was stationed with the US Navy. As a teen, Melinda attended Jefferson High School, where she played the trumpet and participated in marching band. She also played the trombone and the French horn. The talented future educator also showed an aptitude for art, specifically painting.

After she graduated from, Melinda attended the University of Louisville where she majored in music. She earned her degree in 2006. While still in college, Melinda decided she wanted to become a teacher of art and music.

When she lost her teaching position at the public school due to budget cuts, Melinda applied for a post at Rock Creek Community Academy, a new K-12 charter school in nearby Sellersburg that did not have a music program. But Principal Sara Hauselman hired her to teach art. Melinda taught there for ten years.

“You can’t say this about very many teachers — nobody’s perfect, everybody doesn’t do everything right — but I never saw a kid that did not want to be in her class and didn’t love it once they got in it,” Hauselman said. “Whatever they could do, she just would encourage them.”

To read more about this remarkable teacher, see this obituary published by NBC News.