Category Archives: Education

Nationally recognized educator Brigitte Tennis of Washington

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Brigitte Tennis

Nationally recognized educator Brigitte Tennis of Washington state

I truly enjoy sharing stories about terrific classroom teachers. That’s what this blog is all about! Today I’m sharing the story of Brigitte Tennis, a multi-subject teacher from Redmond, Washington.

Brigitte earned two Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Washington in 1981, one in Violin Performance and the other in Teaching. She attended the university on an academic scholarship. She earned her Master’s degree in Education from City University in Redmond. In 2006 she earned her National Board Certification.

Brigitte inaugurated her career teaching a full time program for gifted students second, third, and fourth graders at Mark Twain Elementary School. She worked in that position from 1981 to 1985. She spent the next year teaching third and fourth grade at the same school, and then transferred to Ben Franklin Elementary School, where she taught sixth grade for four years from 1986 to 2000. She then established and became the headmistress of Stella Schola Middle School, located in Redmond, Washington. There she teaches Latin, history, science, algebra, and English. In all she has devoted 36 years to the profession of teaching.

Brigitte has collaborated with the Department of Neurosensory Engineering at the University of Washington for the past four years, designing lessons for students and teaching a summer workshop for educators in the area of neuroscience. In addition, this chalkboard champion takes her high school students to Italy each year as the culminating experience after four years of Latin.

Brigitte has earned many awards for her work in the classroom. In 2004 she was named a Disney Hand American Teacher honoree. In both 2008 and 2009 she earned Sylvan Learning’s Teachers Who Make a Difference Award. And in 2015, this amazing educator was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas.

Elementary teachers help meet their kids’ clothing, hygiene needs

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Here are two chalkboard champions from Tennessee that you just have to admire. They are Vanessa Bateman and Heather Malick, kindergarten teachers at Niota Elementary School located in the McMinn County School District in Niota.

Because their students come primarily from low-income families, the two teachers often noticed that their little ones came to school in need of clothes that fit property or basic hygiene items such as tooth brushes or deodorant. “When families have to prioritize basic needs, food will be at the top, and hygiene items will move further down or even off the list,” remarked Tonya Broyles, a local registered nurse. “Simply put, this means there are children (who) go to school every day (who) have had to compromise or not meet basic hygiene practices that most of us take for granted.”

At first, Vanessa and Heather and others on the Niota school staff spent their own money to buy clothing and hygiene necessities they could give to their neediest students. Countless educators around the country do the same. Then the two kindergarten teachers got the brilliant idea to establish a “Comfort Closet” in an unused locker room that had previously been used for storage. To stock the closet, they collected donations from local businesses and organizations, such as the nonprofit SUDS for Students, where Tonya Broyles works.

Now children in need can be escorted discreetly to the closet to select the items they need. They place the items in their backpacks, and no one needs to know.

To lean more, view the three-minute video below. I’m sure you’ll be inspired.

English teacher and Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Alan Diaz

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Alan Diaz

Former English teacher and Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Alan Diaz

I always enjoy sharing stories about teachers who have exhibited talents in addition to those they use in their classrooms. One teacher like this is Alan Diaz, a former English teacher who has also won a Pulitzer Prize for photography.

Alan was born and raised in New York City. He was the son of Cuban immigrants, who decided to return to their native island in 1964 when Alan was a teenager. When he grew to adulthood in Cuba, Alan became a school teacher, while at the same time studying photography.

In 1978, Alan returned to the United States, where he continued his career as an English teacher. He also pursued his passion for photography. In 1994, Alan worked as a freelance photographer for the Associated Press, and in 2000 he became one of their staff photographers.

Alan is best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of armed federal agents seizing a terrified Cuban refugee child, six-year-old Elian Gonzalez. The little boy’s mother had drowned off the coast of Florida as the two struggled to reach American shores. In the months preceding the seizure, Elian’s Miami-based relatives had been fighting for asylum for the child and his right to remain in the United States, despite the fact that his father in Cuba wanted him returned home. It was a battle the relatives ultimately lost, so the little boy was taken at gunpoint and sent back to Cuba. The gut-wrenching picture Alan took on that day earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography.

After a career for the Associated Press that spanned 17 years, Alan decided to retire in 2017. The former teacher still lives in the Miami area.

You can view his award-winning photograph and read more about this amazing educator and photographer at the Washington Times.

Schoolteacher and Arkansas state flag designer Willie Kavanaugh Hocker

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Willie Kavanaugh Hocker

Schoolteacher and Arkansas state flag designer Willie Kavanaugh Hocker

I truly enjoy sharing stories about dedicated educators who have earned fame for accomplishments outside of the classroom. One of these is elementary school teacher and Arkansas state flag designer Willie Kavanaugh Hocker.

Willie was born the youngest child of a farming family in Crooksville, Madison County, Kentucky, on July 21, 1862. When she was still a young girl, her family moved to Arkansas.

Once she became a young woman, Willlie studied at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1887 she earned her teaching certificate, and then she began teaching at a rural elementary school in Wabbaseka, Arkansas. She taught there for 34 years. Throughout her long teaching career, she always emphasized Arkansas state history. She also wrote short stories and poetry. Her best known poems are “Arkansas” and “Ozark Mountaineer.”

Willie is best known as being the designer of the state flag of Arkansas. This came about when the teacher became a member of the Pine Bluff Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1912, the group decided to present a state flag to the newly commissioned battleship USS Arkansas. To their surprise, they were told that Arkansas didn’t have a state flag. To remedy this, Willie encouraged state legislators to hold a competition to design a new state flag. Willie created an innovative design for a flag which was later adopted as the Arkansas state ensign.

This accomplished educator passed away in Dunnington Township, Jefferson County, Arkansas, on February 6, 1944. She was 81 years old. She is interred at Bellwood Cemetery in Pine bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas.

A mural of this amazing chalkboard champion has been created on Highway 65 near the courthouse. View the photo of this mural below:

Mural

Colorful mural of schoolteacher and flag designer Willie Kavanaugh Hocker located on Arkansas Highway 65.

Meet Dr. Brian McDaniel, 2018 California Teacher of the Year

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As teachers, we all know that some of our students deal with situations at home that are very difficult. Some of them are downright tragic. But here’s a teacher that overcame his own childhood tragedy to become an awesome teacher. Meet Dr. Brian McDaniel, a middle school music educator who has just been named the 2018 California Teacher of the Year.

Despite his turbulent childhood home life, or maybe because of it, Brian developed a strong love for both music and school. As a survivor, he made it his goal to become an inspiration to others, and, against the odds, made that goal a reality. Brian earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from California State University, Long Beach, in 2005. He earned his Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from California State University, San Bernardino. He completed the requirements for his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Redlands in 2011.

Currently, Brian is a teacher and Director of Bands for the Painted Hills Middle School Bands and Choirs in the Palm Springs Unified School District in Palm Springs, California. He has a passion for teaching music that is evident through the transformation of his sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students in his Desert Hot Springs community, where one third of the students choose to be a part of their school’s music program, known as “The Regiment.”

In the four-minute video below, watch this amazing chalkboard champion talk about his journey into the teaching profession, and listen to his students explain what makes him such an inspirational educator.