Category Archives: Education

Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, founder of Hawaii’s Kamehameha Schools

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Princess Bernice Pauahi

Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the founder of Hawaii’s Kamehameha Schools.

While conducting research for my book Chalkboard Champions, I learned a great deal about numerous types of schools that I had never heard about in my thirty-odd years as an educator. Industrial schools, emancipation schools, farm schools, normal schools, specialist schools. Where were all these terms when I went through student teaching? One type of school I learned about that I found particularly intriguing is the Kamehameha School located in the beautiful state of Hawaii.
Kamehameha Schools were first established in 1887 at the bequest of Bernice Bishop, also known as Princess Pauahi, a member of the Hawaiian royal family when the state was still a territory. Princess Pauahi and her beloved husband, an American named Charles Reed Bishop, had no children of their own, and so when she passed away in 1882 at the age of 52, she directed that her vast estate should be used to benefit and educate underprivileged Native Hawaiian children. Two schools were built: one for boys and one for girls. Eventually the two schools were merged to form a coed school, now located on a six-hundred-acre campus on the main island of Oahu overlooking Honolulu Harbor.
Kamehameha Schools serve the important function of preserving Native Hawaiian culture, history, and language. One of the ways this is done is through the annual choral competition known as the Kamehameha Song Contest, where traditional Hawaiian songs and dances as well as new compositions in the genre are performed by the students. This is a wonderful tradition that goes back 45 years.
When I think of Chalkboard Champions, my first thought is of teachers, of course, but individuals such as Princess Pauahi who support schools financially and with their volunteer hours are also heroes to our students!

Read more about Kamehameha Schools in my book Chalkboard Champions, available on amazon.

Milken Educator Brian Quinn, from Silver Spring, Maryland

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Brian Quinn

Milken Educator award winner Brian Quinn, a fourth grade mathematics teacher from Silver Spring, Maryland.

American schools are very fortunate to enjoy the benefit of a multitude  of talented educators. One of these is Brian Quinn, a fourth grade mathematics teacher at East Silver Spring Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland. In 2018, Brian was recognized for his work with a Milken Educator Award.

Brian earned his Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Salisbury University in 2006. He completed the requirements for his Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction for middle school mathematics from the University of Maryland in 2013.

In Brian’s classroom, students play board games and computer games, they work together in small groups using cooperative learning strategies, and they even create their own math games, designing the rules and writing instructions for their classmates to follow.

“If mathematics is the music of reason, Brian Quinn is a gifted conductor bringing the best out of his fourth-grade ensemble,” Jane Foley, the Milken Family Foundation vice president, said. “As a strong proponent of project-based learning, technology integration and smart data, he brings math to all of his learners so they can maximize their potential,” she continued. “We commend Quinn’s creativity, drive and dedication, qualities we value deeply in Milken Educators,” Foley concluded.

The Milken Educator Awards has been described by Teacher magazine as the “Oscars of Teaching.” In addition to the $25,000 cash prize and public recognition, the honor includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,700 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists from all over the country who work towards strengthening best practices in education. Brian is the only teacher in Maryland to receive the award this year. He is one of up to 40 educators to receive the Milken Educator Award for the 2018-2019 year.

Former elementary teacher and politician Sheryl Allen

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Sheryl Allen

Former elementary teacher and politician Sheryl Allen from Bountiful, Utah.

Many times talented classroom teachers go on to successful careers in politics. One of these educators is Sheryl Allen, an elementary school teacher who served in the Utah State House of Representatives.

Sheryl was born on June 30, 1943, in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1965, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, and in 1990 she completed the requirements for her master’s degree in Educational Administration, both at the University of Utah.

After serving as an elementary school teacher for a number of years, Sheryl served as first a member and then the president of the Davis County Board of Education. Her 12 years of service on the Board began in 1977 and ended in 1989.

In 1994, Sheryl was elected on the Republican ticket to represent the 19th District in the Utah House of Representatives. She served in this capacity until 2011. During her many years in the Utah Legislature, Sheryl was a tireless champion of children and her state’s educational system. In addition, she was an outspoken advocate for ethics reform and transparency in government, and she was an indefatigable leader in economic development and international trade.

In addition to her experience in the classroom and in the legislature, Sheryl worked for the Davis Applied Technology College. She was the Public Relations Director from 1985 to 1995, and the Custom Fit Coordinator from 1985 to 1990. She was also a member of the Davis Higher Education Center Committee and the Utah Strategic Planning Committee for Higher Education. In 2005, the Utah School Board Association named Sheryl Legislator of the Year. She was also named the National Legislator for the Arts Award from Americans for the Arts.

At age 75, Sheryl is now retired. She resides in Bountiful, Utah.

The pioneer Crystal Brilliant Snow Jenne, Alaska teacher

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Crystal Brilliant Snow Jenne

Alaska pioneer teacher Crystal Brilliant Snow Jenne

Alaska’s history abounds in stories about lionhearted pioneers who were also chalkboard champions. One such teacher was Crystal Brilliant Snow Jenne.

Crystal Jenne was born on May 30, 1884, in Sonora, California. In 1887, when only three years old, she emigrated to the Alaska Territory with her parents, who worked as a troupe of actors who entertained Alaska’s gold miners.

For a number of years, Crystal’s mother tutored her, but the child was ten years old before she was enrolled in school for the first time. She attended an Alaskan mission school, where she learned “singing, praying, and knitting.” When the family moved to Juneau, Crystal was sixteen. Despite her age, she was placed in a fifth grade class. Being behind in formal education did not stop Crystal from achieving,  however. She graduated from Juneau High School in 1905 at the age of twenty-one, the only member of her class.

Following her high school graduation, Crystal enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in music. She also earned a teaching certificate. After her college graduation, Crystal taught in Paso Robles, California. From 1907 to 1908, Crystal taught school in Douglas, Alaska. A talented musician, Crystal performed creekside concerts for gold miners in the Alaska and Yukon Territories when she was not in the classroom.

Always thirsty for knowledge, the venturesome teacher attended the Spencerian Commercial School in Cleveland, Ohio, where she studied business and shorthand. Following her graduation from business school, Crystal returned to Alaska, where she continued her career in education, teaching in Skagway, Sitka, and the Mendenhall Valley, and also at her alma mater, Juneau High School.

In 1916, Crystal married Dr. Charles Percival Jenne, a Juneau dentist, and the couple had three children. Even after she started her family, Crystal continued to teach and give concerts. In 1923, she performed her mother’s composition, Alaska and the U.S.A., for President Warren G. Harding and First Lady Florence Harding, during their visit to Juneau.

Charles Jenne passed away in 1938. The next year, Crystal published a volume of historical poetry. Meanwhile, she pursued community activities, participating in church choirs, running a flower shop, and continuing with her teaching career. In 1940, this remarkable educator was elected to the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket. She was the first woman to run for representative in the Alaska Legislature. She served several terms representing the First District of Southeast Alaska.

During her lifetime, Crystal was a member of the Alaska Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Democratic Women’s Club, the Juneau Women’s Club, and the National Business and Professional Women’s Club. She passed away on June 5, 1969, at the Sitka Pioneer Home.

Teacher Anna Williams served as model for Lady Liberty coin

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Anna Willess Williams

Philadelphia teacher Anna Willess Williams served as the model for “Lady Liberty” on the Morgan silver dollar coin.

Frequently talented educators become famous for reasons that have nothing to do with the field of education. This is true of Anna Willess Williams, a Philadelphia schoolteacher who is best known for being the model for the image of Lady Liberty on the Morgan silver dollar coin.

Anna was born in Philadelphia in 1857. In 1876, when she was just an eighteen-year-old art student, she was asked to pose for engraver George T. Morgan, an acquaintance of a friend of her father, who had just been commissioned to produce a new series of coin designs for the US Mint. For his design, Morgan wanted to use the image of an American girl. After rejecting several candidates, Morgan selected Anna as his model because was so impressed with her profile. He once commented that it was the most perfect he had seen in the country. He described her as being fair in complexion, “with blue eyes and a Grecian nose,” with hair that was “almost her crowning glory… golden color, abundant, and light of texture,” worn in an attractive classical style.

After being promised that her identity would always be kept confidential, the young art student sat for five sessions in November, 1876. By the time the silver dollar bearing her likeness was first struck on March 11, 1878, Anna had begun her career as a classroom teacher. To Anna’s dismay, her identity as the image’s model was revealed shortly after the coin was released, resulting in instant fame. Anna received thousands of letters and visits at both her home and work place, and she was very disturbed by the attention. In her later years, she preferred not to discuss her modelling work with Morgan, dismissing the experience as an “incident of my youth.”

Anna refused offers for acting and stage work, and chose to continue in her position as a teacher at the House of Refuge. In 1891, she left her job as the principal of that school to become a teacher of kindergarten philosophy at Girls’ Normal School in Philadelphia. Though she was once engaged to an unknown suitor, Anna never married.

She retired from the teaching profession in 1924. This chalkboard champion passed away from complications suffered from a bad fall on April 17, 1926, at the age of sixty-eight.