Category Archives: Education

Willa Brown Chappell: She taught Tuskegee Airmen how to fly

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Many exceptional teachers use their instructional expertise to work with students outside of the classroom. Willa Brown Chappell, the first African American woman licensed to fly in the United States, is an excellent example of this.

Willa was born January 22, 1906, in Glasgow, Kentucky. She earned her degree in education from Indiana State Teachers College in 1927. She also completed the requirements for an MBA from Northwestern University in 1937. Following her college graduation, Willa was employed as a high school teacher at Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana, and later as a social worker in Chicago.

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Willa Brown Chappell

Willa was always seeking challenges and adventures in her life, especially if they could be found outside the limited career fields normally open to African Americans at that time. She decided to learn to fly, studying with Cornelius R. Coffey, a certified flight instructor and expert aviation mechanic at a racially segregated airport in Chicago. Willa earned her private pilot’s license in 1938. Later, Willa and Cornelius married and founded the Coffey School of Aeronautics at Harlem Airport in Chicago, where together they trained black pilots and aviation mechanics. Willa conducted the classroom instruction and Cornelius conducted the in-flight practice.

In 1939, Willa, Cornelius, and their friend Enoch P. Waters founded the National Airmen’s Association of America. Their goal was to secure admission for Black aviation cadets into the US military. As the organization’s national secretary and the president of the Chicago branch, Willa became an activist for racial equality. She persistently lobbied the US Government for integration of Black pilots into the segregated Army Air Corps and the federal Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), a system established by the Civil Aeronautics Authority just before the outbreak of World War II. The CPTP’s purpose was to provide a pool of civilian pilots for use during national emergencies. Willa was given the rank of an officer in this first integrated unit.

In 1948, when Congress finally voted to allow separate-but-equal participation of African Americans in civilian flight training programs, the Coffey School of Aeronautics was one of a select few private aviation schools selected for participation. Later, her flight school was selected by the US Army to provide Black trainees for the Air Corps pilot training program at the Tuskegee Institute. Willa was instrumental in training more than 200 students who went on to become Tuskegee pilots. Eventually, Willa Brown became the coordinator of war-training service for the Civil Aeronautics Authority and a member of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Women’s Advisory Board. She was the first Black female officer in the Civil Air Patrol and the first Black woman to hold a commercial pilot’s license in the United States.

This remarkable educator and pioneer aviatrix passed away on July 18, 1992. In 2010, Willa was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the Indiana State University Alumni Association. She was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in her native Kentucky in 2003.

To find out more about this remarkable Chalkboard Champion, you can read a chapter about her in my book, Chalkboard Heroes, which is available on amazon.com and the website for Barnes and Noble.

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Coronavirus claims life of NJ Special Ed teacher Milca Hernandez 

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Coronavirus claims the life of dedicated middle school special education teacher Milca Hernandez of Trenton, New Jersey.

Sadly, the coronavirus has claimed the life of yet another dedicated educator. Milca Hernandez, a middle school special education teacher from Trenton NewJersey, passed away on May 28, 2020. She was 55 years old.

Milca earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Arecibo, in 1998. She earned a Master’s degree in Education from Canyon University last year.

Milca was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. She was the eldest of five siblings. She graduated from Trenton Central High School. Once she completed her Bachelor’s degree in 1998, Milca returned to her home town of Trenton. She began her career as an educator the same year. At the time of her passing, she taught at Grace A. Dunn Middle School in Trenton.

During her career as an educator, Milca taught some of the district’s most intellectually challenged and disabled students. “She was a very warm, caring, knowledgeable educator who made all of her students feel valued,” remembered Addie Daniels-Lane, President of the Trenton School Board. “Ms. Hernandez was firm, yet fair, and held high expectations for her students. She was highly respected by her colleagues and deeply appreciated by the parents of her students,” she continued.

In fact, Milca’s dedication in the classroom was so exemplary that she was honored as a Teacher of the Year, not once, but twice, according to her family.

To learn more about Milca, follow this link to the story about her published in the Trentonian.

Wowaus of Massachusetts: Native American printer and teacher

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A page from the Bible printed by Samuel Green and translated into the Algonquin language by Wowaus. Wowaus was a Native American printer and teacher.

There are many examples of Native Americans who have become talented classroom teachers. One of these was Wowaus, also known by the name James Printer. He was a typesetter, translator, and educator who helped translate the Bible into the Algonquin language.

Wowaus was born in Hassanamesit, a Praying Indian settlement founded by colonist John Elliot. The remains of the settlement are located in modern-day Grafton, Massachusetts. The exact year that Wowaus was born is uncertain, but researchers believe it was approximately 1650. Son of William Sudbury, an indigenous leader who converted to Christianity, Wowaus was a member of the Nipmuc Tribe.

As a child, Wowaus attended an Indian charity school where he became fluent in the English language. He went on to study at Harvard University’s Indian College. As a youth, he was apprenticed to Samuel Green, the printer who published The Cambridge Press in 1659. While there, Wowaus assisted in printing many of the books in the Algonquin language that were used throughout the American colonies in his day. He also helped create the first Bible in the Massachusett language. These Bibles were used by English colonists in their attempts to assimilate Native Americans of the Algonquin tribe.

During King Philip’s War, an armed conflict between Native Americans and New England colonists (1675-1678), Wowaus joined forces with tribal chieftain Metacom. Once the war was over, he returned to the printing press. His work during that period is most notable for his work typesetting the famous captive narrative of Mary Rowlandson. In his later life, the former printer returned to his home town of Hassanemesit, where he became a teacher. This intriguing historical figure passed away in 1717.

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, you can click on this link to The American Antiquarian Society.

English educator Lauren Merkley named Utah’s 2020 Teacher of the year

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Congratulations to English educator Lauren Merkley who has been named Utah’s 2020 State Teacher of the Year.

Congratulations are due to English educator Lauren Merkley of Cottonwood High School in Murray, Utah. She’s been named her state’s 2020 Teacher of the Year.

Lauren earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Cornell University in 2005. She spent the next ten years working in the fundraising field. It was in 2015 that Lauren decided to go into the teaching profession. For the past five years, she has taught at Cottonwood High in the Granite School District in Murray, Utah. She currently teaches Language Arts to high school juniors.

Lauren says she was inspired to become an English teacher by her own high school English teacher, Mr. Wolfe. She recalled that Mr. Wolfe’s classroom was furnished with couches and lamps. “It felt like we’re in his living room having a discussion,” she described.

In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Lauren serves on her school’s Equal Opportunity Schools team. The team works to identify students from under-represented groups to consider taking a more rigorous coursework, such as AP classes, concurrent enrollment, Career and Technical Education, or honors courses.

“I’m really interested in educational equity, so removing barriers to education through advanced classes, attendance policies, homework policies that are roadblocks for underrepresented populations, I’m very passionate about that,” expressed Lauren.

Lauren also serves as a member of Cottonwood’s leadership team. “This team looks at school data to help identify the positive things that are going on in the school, as well as coming up with solutions for problems,” described Cottonwood Principal Terri Roylance.

To read more about Lauren, follow this link to an article published by Deseret News.

US Representative and Home Economics 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 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 this Elizabeth Andrews, see this article about her in the Encyclopedia of Alabama.