Category Archives: Education

Minnesota’s Hannah Kempfer: Teacher and politician

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Minnesota’s Hannah Kempfer: The teacher and politician who championed the causes of children. (Photo credit: Minnesota Good Age)

Many teachers enter the profession because they experienced unhappy childhoods, and when they grow up, they want to do whatever they can to brighten the lives of other children. This could be said of Hannah Kempfer, a well-known educator from Minnesota.

Hannah Jensen Kempfer was born on December 22, 1880, on a ship in the North Sea, the daughter of a sailor and an unwed mother who was working as a stewardess. Shortly after her birth, she was abandoned by her mother and placed in an orphanage in Norway. Hannah was adopted the next year by a Norwegian family who immigrated to America in 1885. The family settled in Minnesota. There Hannah grew up in abject poverty.

When Hannah was only twelve years old, she took a train to Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where she was taken in by the family of a local milkman. There Hannah attended Fergus Falls High School. Once she graduated, she enrolled at Park Region Luther College, where she graduated at the age of 17. After she earned her teaching certificate, Hannah taught from 1898 to 1908 at a small rural schoolhouse. She married farmer Charles Taylor Kempfer in 1903, and although the couple never had any children of their own, they fostered eleven orphans.

In 1923, Hannah was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, where she served from 1923 to 1930 and 1933 to 1942. She was one of four women elected to the Minnesota House following the passage of women’s suffrage, and she was the first woman elected to office from rural Minnesota. She is best known for championing the causes of children, the conservation of natural resources, and the official selection of the Showy Ladies’ Slipper as  Minnesota’s state flower.  In 1923, Hannah and her fellow female legislators co-authored legislation that guaranteed children born out of wedlock would receive inheritance rights. The bill also required that fathers to give their children their last name.

Hannah Kempfer is remembered today as a true Chalkboard Champion. To learn more about this trailblazing woman, see her entry at the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.

Florida teachers turn students’ desks into little jeeps

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First grade teachers Patricia Dovi and Kim Martin from DeLand, Florida, turn their students’ desks into little jeeps to help their kids adjust to safe face-to-face instruction during the pandemic. (Photo credit: CNN)

Educators all around the country are scrambling to find ways to keep their students safe when face-to face instruction resumes. Two first grade teachers from DeLand, Florida, have come up with a unique strategy to create social distancing in their classroom. They have transformed their students’ desk chairs into little jeeps!

Patricia Dovi and Kim Martin, who teach at St. Barnabas Episcopal School, fashioned headlights,tires, front grills, and license plates from construction paper, Between each jeep they placed three-sided plexiglass dividers that serve as windshields and side windows. The dividers serve double duty as coronavirus barriers.

“We had a little meet-the-teacher session and we gave them keys to their car and told them just like in a motor vehicle, you have to stay in your car at all times and wear a mask when you get out in case you come across hazardous conditions,” explained Kim. “So we’re playing on this vehicle concept to turn social distancing fun and more kid friendly.” Many students said they could hardly wait to take their desks for a test drive, the two teachers revealed.
Paul Garcia, principal of St. Barnabas, said the plexiglrass shields were purchased by the school, but the teachers will be reimbursed for the $200 they spent on the other materials they used to transform the desks into vehicles.
Patricia and Kim said an Instagram post from Jennifer Birch Pierson, an elementary school teacher from Texas, served as the inspiration for the project. To read more about these innovative educators, see this link to CNN.

First grade teachers Patricia Dovi, lfet, and Kim Martin, right, from St. Barnabas Episcopal School in DeLand, Florida. (Photo credit: CNN)

Coronavirus claims life of Wisconsin teacher Heidi Hussli

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The coronavirus has claimed the life of high school German teacher Heidi Hussli of Wisconsin.

We are sad to report that the coronavirus has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Heidi Hussli, a foreign language teacher at Bay Port High School in Green Bay, Wisconsin, passed away from the disease on Sept. 17, 2020. She was 47 years old.

Heidi taught German at Bay Port High School in the Howard-Suamico School District for the past 16 years. Two of the classes she taught were International Baccalaureate courses.

Those who knew her are already expressing thoughts about their loss. “People were just drawn to her. She definitely touched every soul she met in a positive way,” expressed former student Erin Froelich. Former student Emily Ross agrees.  “She’s definitely one of the teachers who stands out the most to me,” she remembers. “Her ability to reach kids made me realize that, as a teacher, your power to impact students is limitless. I think about that every day in my classroom.” Emily currently teaches special education in Minnesota.

Heidi was born on July 15, 1973, in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. She graduated from Beaver Dam High School in 1991. During a high school trip to Germany, Heidi became enamored of the country, and that affection was responsible for her future career as a teacher of the German language. After she graduated from high school, Heidi enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, where she studied German and secondary education. During her collegiate years, Heidi spent more time studying in Germany, and once she earned her degree in 1997, she returned to Germany to enroll at the Univeritat of Konstanz to study the German and Linguistics.

To read more about the passing of this beloved educator, see this story printed in the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Alabama teacher Idella Jones Childs worked to better her community

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Alabama teacher and historian Idella Jones Childs worked tirelessly to improve her community. (Photo credit: Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame)

I believe that teachers are among the most dedicated individuals when it comes to their classroom communities, so it comes as no surprise to me that they are often among the most dedicated individuals when it comes to working towards improving society as a whole. This is certainly true of Idella Jones Childs, an elementary school teacher and historian from Alabama who was involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

Idella was born on June 21, 1903, in Marion, Perry County, Alabama.  As a young woman, she attended Lincoln Normal School, a teacher-training college, where she earned her teaching credential. She later earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Alabama State University. For over 35 years, Idella taught history, social studies, biology, and algebra in segregated elementary schools in  her home town of Marion.

All her life, this amazing teacher was a tireless advocate for the equality and dignity of all people. During the Civil Rights Movement, she even volunteered her home in Marion to be a meeting place for activists.

Idella established the Perry County Arts and Humanities Council in 1982, and she became the first Chairwoman of the organization. The Council provided the disadvantaged children of the rural county with unique cultural experiences. For this work, President Jimmy Carter named her an honorary member of the National Commission on the International Year of the Child.

This was not the only work Idella did to improve her community. She also served on the Library Board and was a member of both the Retired Teachers Organization and the Association of University Women. In 1985, at the age of 79, Idella was appointed to served on the City Council in Marion. She was the first African American woman to serve on the Council. In 1988, she was re-elected to the position. That same year she was appointed to the Board of the Alabama Historical Commission.

For her work towards improving her community, Idella garnered many accolades. She earned an Unsung Heroes Award from NASA in 1993, during the agency’s commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She was inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002. In addition, every year, the Alabama Historical Commission’s Black Heritage Council bestows the Idella Childs Distinguished Service Award, which “recognizes people who have contributed to the preservation of African American historic places.”

This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away on August 8, 1998. She was 95 years old. Her memorial service was held at her alma mater, Lincoln Normal School. She was interred at Marion Cemetery on Lafayette Street.

To read more about Idella Jones Childs, see this entry from the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame.