Category Archives: Education

Indiana Elem teacher Carol Pierobon Hofer earns Horace Mann Award

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Congratulations to Indiana educator Carol Pierobon Hofer. She has garnered a 2024 Horace Mann Award from the National Education Association Foundation. Photo Credit: National Board for Professional Standards

I am always excited to share the news when an outstanding educator earns recognition for their work in the classroom. Today, I share the news that Carol Pierobon Hofer, an elementary school teacher from Indiana, has just garnered a 2024 Horace Mann Award from the National Education Association Foundation.

Carol currently teaches classes in English as a New Language at Fox Hill Elementary in Indianapolis. The school has an enrollment of over 500 students, and 77% of them are minority students. Carol’s students are in grades one through five, she has taught students of all ages, from preschoolers to senior citizens. Her career as an educator spans 28 years.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Carol serves her school community as an interpreter, translator, and family liaison. Additionally, she is a member of the National Board Network of Accomplished Minoritized Educators (NAME) and mentors National Board candidates. She has served as a workshop leader and site visitor for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program.

Her selection as a Horace Mann Awardee is not the only recognition Carol has earned. She has been named a 2020-2022 WIDA Fellow by the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She earned this honor for her exemplary service to bilingual and multi-lingual students. Eleven years ago, she was a Fulbright Educator. During this period, she participated in an exchange in Uruguay.

Carol immigrated to the United States when she was 18 years old. A world traveler and polyglot, Carol says she feels at home in any part of the world.

Congratulations, Carol!

Math teacher Toru Kumon developed a learning system now used worldwide

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Japanese math teacher Toru Komon developed a learning system and tutoring program that has helped millions of students worldwide. Photo Credit: Kumon Institute of Education

Have you ever had a student who was enrolled in a Kumon tutoring center? These centers are immensely popular and extremely successful in helping students improve their academic skills. But did you know the learning system taught in these tutoring centers were developed by a Japanese math teacher named Toru Kumon?

Toru was born on March 26, 1914, in Kochi Prefecture, Japan. As a young man, he earned his degree in Mathematics from the College of Science at Osaka University. He then established a vigorous career as a high school math teacher in Osaka.

Despite his success as a professional educator, Toru discovered that his own son, Takeshi, was struggling to keep up in his own math class. In response, Toru conducted a careful examination of the boy’s textbooks, and came to the conclusion that the books failed to provide adequate opportunities for independent practice. To counter this, Toru designed a series of worksheets for Takeshi. Before long, Toru saw significant improvement in his son’s progress. After that, the teacher began using the strategy to tutor other children around the city.

By 1955, he established his first learning center, and in 1968, Toru retired from teaching to focus on his rapidly expanding educational service, which spread to the United States in 1974. The Kumon Learning System is designed to strengthen a student’s basic math and language skills by completing worksheets tailored to a student’s ability. The method also encourages students to learn independently and to study advanced material beyond their grade level. Even though Toru’s tutoring system emphasizes strategies considered old-fashioned by today’s standards, his Kumon Centers have enrolled millions of students around the world.

Sadly, Toru Kumon passed away in Osaka on July 25, 1995, from pneumonia. He was 81 years old. In his honor, the Toru Kumon museum was founded in Osaka. An asteroid, 3569 Kumon, was named after him. Additionally, the Kumon Foundation Day is celebrated each year on Oct. 20.

Emma Hart Willard: Influential educator and advocate for girls’ education

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Teacher Emma Hart Willard was one of the most influential educators in American history. Photo Credit: Public Domain

One of the most influential educators in American history was Emma Hart Willard, a teacher and women’s rights advocate from New England. In a time when most women were restricted to the role of homemakers, Emma advanced the cause of making higher education available for girls.

Emma was born on Feb. 23, 1787, in Berlin, Connecticut. Even at a young age, her intelligence was evident. Even though she was a female, her father nurtured her intellectual development. By the time she was 17 years old, Emma was teaching at the academy where she had been a student. By the time she was 19 she was the principal of the school.

In 1809, Emma married Dr. John Hart, and the couple had one son together. After her marriage, Emma and her family moved to Vermont. There she opened her own boarding school for girls. She taught her young students courses in science, mathematics, philosophy, geography, and history. The experience put her in a fine position to advocate for an institution of higher learning for female students.

In 1821, Emma persuaded the leadership of Troy, New York, to sponsor the founding of an institution of higher learning for girls. The school became known as the Troy Female Seminary, the first higher education institution for women in the country. The school was an immediate success, and upper class families began to send their daughters to Troy. Her example inspired other private institutions to open their doors to girls. Emma served as the principal of Troy Female Seminary until 1838. By that time, hundreds of graduates of the school—many of them teachers—had been shaped by her philosophy.

In addition to paving the way for advanced educational opportunities for girls in New York, Emma traveled widely throughout the country and in Europe, where she advocated more schools of higher learning be established. She founded an all-girls school in similar to the Troy School in Athens, Greece. She also wrote textbooks for American history and geography. In addition, she published a volume of poetry.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on April 15, 1870, in Troy, New York. She is interred in Oakwood Cemetery in Troy. In 1905, Emma was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in Bronx, New York. She was also inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2013. The school that Emma Hart Willard founded in Troy still exists today, although it is now known as the Emma Willard School.

To read more about Emma Hart Willard, click on this link to Encyclopedia Britanica.

Elem teacher Kylie Altier named Louisiana’s 2024 State Teacher of the Year

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Kylie Altier, a first-grade teacher in Baton Rouge, has been named Louisiana’s 2024 State Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Kylie Altier

It is always exciting when a member of our profession garners recognition for their outstanding work in the classroom. One of these colleagues is Kylie Altier, an elementary school teacher from Louisiana. She has been named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

Kylie teaches first grade at McKinley Elementary School in Baton Rouge. To enrich her students’ educational experiences, Kylie has applied for and won more than $33,000 in grants. Using these funds, she built a classroom garden, complete with a mobile kitchen. She incorporated virtual reality headsets into her curriculum to boost experiential learning, and she designed an outdoor classroom for her school. “In first grade, the four walls of our classroom are not always the most developmentally appropriate space for children,” asserts Kylie. “I have dyslexia, so I find it important to find ways to make the learning experience personalized to kids’ needs,” she continues. To this end, the honored educator brings experts into her classroom, which has given her students opportunities to interview a New York Times bestselling author, perfect 10-scoring collegiate gymnasts, curators from the Museum of Natural Science, and more.

Kylie has been a leader at every campus she has been a part of, starting an extracurricular garden club, co-founding an after-school reading program where high schoolers mentored emerging readers, spearheading campus-wide reading intervention, and leading professional development.

Louisiana’s Teacher of the Year is not the only honor Kylie has earned for her professional efforts. In 2019, while teaching in Texas, she was named her region’s Teacher of the Year and Mentor Teacher of the Year.

Kylie earned a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Florida State University in 2013. She earned her Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Stephen F. Austin University in 2019.

Colby Burnett: Winner of Jeopardy Teachers’ Tournament Winner 2012

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There are many brilliant teachers working in many American schools, and each year the nation gets to meet several of them on the annual competition known as the “Teachers’ Tournament” featured on the game show Jeopardy. One such educator is Colby Burnett, who garnered first place in both the Jeopardy Teachers Tournament in 2012 and the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions in 2013.

Colby grew up in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. As a teen, he attended Fenwick High School, a prestigious private college preparatory school located in Oak Park, Illinois. Illustrious alumni of Fenwick include Illinois state senators Daniel Cronin and Chris Nybo, NASA astronaut Joseph Kerwin, author Philip Caputo, Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Twomey, Chicago Bears player Mike Rabold, Chicago White Sox player Mike Heathcott, and Olympic gold medalist Ken Sitzberger.

After his graduation from Fenwick, Colby enrolled in Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in both history and political science. Following his college graduation, Colby accepted a position as an Advanced Placement History teacher at his alma mater, Fenwick High School.

After Colby’s success on Jeopardy, he was honored by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, who designated December 18 as “Colby Burnett Day.” In his declaration, Governor Quinn described the talented teacher as, “a dedicated Illinois educator who demonstrated a passion for lifelong learning,” and said that Colby “has represented the State of Illinois admirably, and established himself as a role model to his students.”

Since 2017, Colby has worked as a College Counselor at ITW David Speer Academy in Chicago, Illinois. He also serves as the Scholastic Bowl Coach there.

You can read more about Colby’s Jeopardy win at this Huffington Post article, Colby Burnett Wins Jeopardy. You can also read the transcript of a Jeopardy interview of Colby at this link: J! Archive.com.