Category Archives: Education

Celebrating Black History Month: Teacher Lucy Addison

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Lucy Addison of Virginia: For her many contributions to education this amazing woman has been honored as one of Virginia’s Women in History.

There have been many fine African American educators in American history. One of these is Lucy Addison, a teacher and principal from Roanoke, Virginia. For her many contributions to education, this amazing woman has been honored as one of Virginia’s Women in History.

Lucy was born the daughter of slaves in Upperville, Fauquier County, Virginia, on Dec. 8, 1861. Once her family was emancipated, Lucy’s father purchased land and established a farm. Lucy enrolled in the local school.

As a young woman, Lucy attended the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia. The Institute was a private school with a reputation for offering a faculty of exceptionally talented Black educators. Lucy earned her teaching degree there in 1882. She took additional courses at Howard University, Hampton University, and the University of Pennsylvania, even though it was difficult for her to come up with the tuition money to pay for the classes.

In spite of racial prejudice, inadequate facilities, and barriers to her advancement, Lucy dedicated her life to a career in education. After she graduated, Lucy returned to her home state of Virginia where she accepted a position in Loudoun County. In 1886, she relocated to Roanoke to teach at the First Ward Colored School.

In 1917, Lucy accepted a position as the principal for the Harrison School. One of her students there remembered that she was prim and proper in appearance, but fair and approachable. The Harrison School was accredited to teach up to grade eight, but under Lucy’s direction, high school level courses were introduced into the curriculum. By 1924, the school had earned accreditation as a high school. The facility became the first school in Roanoke to offer a high school diploma to African Americans.

Lucy retired in 1927 and moved to Washington, DC. She passed away on Nov. 13, 1937, of chronic nephritis. She is interred in National Harmony Memorial Park in Landover, Maryland.

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this link to Encyclopedia Virginia.

Black History Month originated by educator Carter Godwin Woodson

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Carter Godwin Woodson

Black History Month originated by educator Carter Godwin Woodson.

This February, educators all over the country are sharing Black History Month with their students. The observance is an annual celebration of the many important  contributions African Americans have made to our society. But did you know that Black History Month, itself, was the brainchild of a brilliant American teacher?

Educator Carter Godwin Woodson (1875-1950)  is credited with organizing and advocating annual Black History Month celebrations in American schools, starting in 1926. Certainly this is an admirable accomplishment in and of itself, but there is so much more to learn about this outstanding educator.

Did you know that, as a youngster, Carter was forced to work on the family farm rather than attend school? Nevertheless, he taught himself to read using the Bible and local newspapers. He didn’t finish high school until he was 20 years old. Did you know that he once worked as a coal miner in Fayette County, West Virginia, and then later went back there to teach school to the children of Black coal miners, serving as a personal role model for using education to get out of the mines? And did you know that Carter taught school in the Philippines, and then became the supervisor of schools, which included duties as a trainer of teachers, there?

This Chalkboard Champion was one of the first to study African American history, to collect data, oral histories, and documents, and to publish his findings in a scholarly magazine he published, The Journal of Negro History. For these accomplishments, and many more, Carter Godwin Woodson has been called the “Father of Black History.”

To read more about this fascinating historical figure, check out the chapter I have written about him in my first book, Chalkboard Champions.

Third grade teacher and Maryland’s 2020 Teacher of the Year Teresa Beilstein

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Third grade teacher and Maryland’s 2020 Teacher of the Year Teresa Beilstein.

I love to share stories about outstanding educators who have earned accolades for their work in the classroom. One of these is Teresa Beilstein, an elementary school teacher from Arundel County, Maryland. She has been named her state’s 2020 Teacher of the Year.

After earning her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Loyola, Teresa worked for SunTrust Bank. Later she earned two Master’s degrees, one in Teaching and a second in Organizational Psychology, both from Walden University. In addition, she holds an Advanced Professional Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Reading, and she is a nationally board certified as an Early Childhood Generalist.

In 2013, Teresa accepted a position to teach third grade at South Shore Elementary School for Anne Arundel County Public Schools. The school is located in Crownsville. The honored educator confesses that she especially likes working with third graders. She says that year is a time when children are developing their personalities and humor and are “absolutely on fire for learning.” In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Teresa collaborated with a small team of county educators who wrote an elementary-level curriculum and assessments aligned to new science standards.

Teresa believes that educators should always look for ways to engage their students’ attention and interest. “As teachers, we need to bring the content, bring the data, and bring the fun,” Teresa declared. “Before students can be expected to learn, they need to be emotionally invested and it is my job, as an educator, to create the spark that will draw students in and get them involved,” she continued.

To read more about this chalkboard Champion, see this article published by the Maryland Department of Education.

Helen Agcaoili Brown, Los Angeles teacher, established Filipino library

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Helen Agcaoili Brown, a former third grade teacher in Los Angeles, California, founded the Filipino American Reading Room and Library.

Students in our country are so fortunate to have many talented chalkboard champions in our schools. One of these is Helen Agcaoili Brown, a California teacher who is the founder of the Filipino American Reading Room and Library.

Helen was born May 16, 1915, in Manila, the Philippines. Her family immigrated to the United States shortly after her graduation from Manila Central High School in 1934. As a young woman, Helen studied first at Pasadena City Junior College, and then at the University of California, Los Angeles. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education and her Master’s degree in Social Work.

After she earned her college degree, Helen accepted a position as a third grade teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District in Los Angeles, California. Her career spanned many years.

In 1985, Helen founded the Filipino American Reading Room and Library, the first of its kind in the country. To enlarge the library’s collection, she donated her private library collection. She realized the value of the library she inherited from her father, and she worked diligently to build on it by collecting books, pamphlets, newsletters, newspaper clippings, and even the souvenir programs given out during the events of various Filipino organizations. She believed that nothing was too insignificant when it came to preserving the social history of Filipinos in the United States. In addition to founding the library, she also served as the facility’s librarian.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on January 25, 2011. She was 95 years old.

The Filipino American Library is located at 135 N. Park View St., Los Angeles, CA 90026. You can visit their website at Filipino Library.

High school English teacher and Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt

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High school English teacher and Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt.

Many people have heard of Frank McCourt, the author of the blockbuster Angela’s Ashes. But did you know that Frank was a high school English teacher in New York?

Frank McCourt was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 19, 1930. His parents were immigrants from Ireland. They came to America to escape the poverty, hoping to make a success of their lives. But when the Depression hit, the McCourt family returned to Limerick, Ireland, where they sank even further into poverty. Frank was forced to quit school at 13 to work a series of odd-jobs (and engage in some petty crime) to help feed his family. At 19, Frank was able to return to the United States on his own.

In 1951, he was drafted by the US Army to serve in the Korean Conflict. He was stationed in Germany for two years, where he worked first training dogs and then as a company clerk. Once he was discharged from the military, Frank returned to New York City, where he was employed at a series of low-paying jobs. He worked on the docks, in warehouses, in a grocery store, and in a bank.

As a veteran, Frank was eligible for benefits provided by the GI Bill. He used these benefits to enroll at New York University. There he earned his Bachelor’s degree in English in 1957. He completed the requirements for his Master’s at Brooklyn College in 1967, and he later completed some post-graduate courses at Trinity College in Dublin.

Following his college graduation, Frank accepted a teaching position at McKee Vocational and Technical High School in Manhattan. His students were teenage mechanics, beauticians, taxi drivers, and gang members. They were a tough crowd. They let him know right away they weren’t interested in Shakespeare. In fact, they didn’t want to be in school at all. Frank once recalled that one of his students threw a baloney sandwich at him in class one day. But the teacher who was saw his boyhood self in his students knew exactly how to respond. He picked up the sandwich, ate it, and told the class it was delicious. The stunt won over the recalcitrant kids.

Over his 30-year career, Frank taught at several other schools in New York City, including Ralph R. McKee High School in Staten Island, Stuyvesant High School, Seward Park High School, Washington Irving High School, and the High School of Fashion Industries. During these years, the veteran teacher told his students stories of his impoverished childhood in Ireland. He wanted the kids to know that education was the ticket out of poverty.

Frank eventually published these childhood stories in his memoir Angela’s Ashes (2006). The volume won much acclaim, including a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Critics Circle Award, and an LA Times Book Award. Frank also garnered the prestigious Ellis Island Family Heritage Award for Exemplary Service in the Field of the Arts (2006). The same year he was honored with the United Federation of Teachers John Dewey Award for Excellence in Education.

Sadly, this amazing educator suffered from cancer and meningitis and passed away on July 19, 2009. He was 79 years old. He is buried in Great Oak Cemetery in Roxbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut. To learn more about him, read this obituary published in 2009 by the Guardian.