Category Archives: Education

Singer Conya Doss: This Queen of Indie Soul teaches special needs children

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Conya Doss

Singer Conya Doss: This Queen of Indie Soul teaches special needs children.

Gifted teachers often find unique ways to connect with their students or convey their curriculum in their classrooms. One teacher who is notable for doing this is Conya Doss, a junior high school teacher from Cleveland, Ohio, who is also well-known as an innovative Indie musician and songstress.

Conya was born on June 13, 1972. As a youngster, she attended the Cleveland School of the Arts. This specialized school offers an interdisciplinary approach to learning and academics which integrates the arts into the curriculum. The institution is recognized for its exceptionally high rate of graduation, and for an unusually large number of graduates going their education in institutions of higher learning. “It’s phenomenal to have a school like that, especially for kids,” Conya once said. “It’s definitely good to have a school where kids can channel their creativity where it needs to be channeled.”

After Conya earned her college degree and teaching credential, she accepted a position as a teacher of children with special needs in the Cleveland Public School system. She started using music in her classroom as a way to connect with her students. “I may have them do what I call a copy tune, where they listen to a song, like, as an example, R. Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly, and then they have to take the title and do creative writing,” she once explained. “It could be a poem or it could be a picture that’s related to that title,” she continued. “I just try to think of innovative ways to keep them motivated. And sometimes I have to stick to traditional teaching, versus progressive,” she concluded.

As a singer, Conya prefers Rhythm and Blues, Funk, and Neo-Soul. In fact, she is known as the Queen of Indie Soul. She inaugurated her career as a professional musician in 2000. Her first album, entitled “A Poem About Ms. Doss,” was released in 2002. The album was inspired by a heartfelt letter she received from one of her young students. Her debut album was quickly followed by two more: “Just Because,” released in 2004, and “Love Rain Down,” released in 2006. Her breakthrough album, entitled “Still,” was released in 2008. In 2010, Conya released her fifth album, “Blu Transition,” which was followed by “A Pocketful of Purpose” in 2012. Conya released her seventh album, “Seven: VII,” in 2015.

Conya’s skills as a singer and musician have earned honors and recognition. In 2007 she was named the Best Female Vocalist at the Ohio Hip Hop Awards, and in 2008 she garnered the Female Vocalist of the Year Award from Soultracks Readers’ Choice.

In addition to teaching and her career in music, Conya is involved in mentoring teenage girls, she tutors, and she is an active philanthropist for breast cancer, AIDS awareness, and mental health issues.

Special Education and ESL teacher Debra Hurst of Austin, Texas

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Debra Hurst

Special Education and ESL teacher Debra Hurst of Austin, Texas

I always enjoy sharing stories about gifted educators. That’s what this blog is all about! Today I’m sharing the story of Debra Hurst, a retired elementary school teacher from Austin, Texas.

Debra earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She earned her Master’s degree at the University of Texas at Austin in 1986, and in 1997, she completed the requirements for her certification in English as a Second Language, also from University of Texas, Austin. In 2011, Debra earned her Master Reading Teacher Certification.

Debra has worked in classrooms for her entire 39-year career. She accepted her first position in Marshalltown, Iowa, where she worked with hearing impaired students from infants to high school students. She worked there from 1977 to 1982. In 1982 she moved to Austin, Texas, where she spent the remainder of her lengthy career. For six years she worked as an early childhood deaf teacher at Casis Elementary. From there, she transferred to Galindo Elementary where she worked as a Pre-K and Inclusion teacher. She stayed in that position for ten years. In 1998, Debra taught at Mills Elementary, and she spent three years as a literacy coach at Widen Elementary. From 2013 to 2015, this chalkboard champion worked at the Uphaus Early Childhood Center.

For her extraordinary work as an educator, Debra has earned many accolades. In 2004 she garnered both the University of Texas Excellence in Teaching Award and the Disney Teacher Award.  In 2005, she was given the national KIND Award, and in 2007 she won the HEB Excellence in Education Award. In 2016 she was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas.

The National Teachers Hall of Fame was founded in 1989 by Emporia State University to recognize dedicated educators throughout the country. The organization conducts an annual induction ceremony to recognize the five teachers selected that year. Located on Emporia State University campus in Kansas, the Hall of Fame honors teachers through a gallery of honorees, a Wall of Fame, a museum, and resource center that tell the history of education through antique textbooks, teacher contracts, and other artifacts. Learn more on their website at nthf.org.

 

Stephen Bowen, the teacher who served as a Maine State Representative

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Stephen Bowen

Stephen Bowen, the teacher who served in the Maine State House of Representatives

Many times excellent educators become successful politicians. This is true of Stephen Bowen, a social studies teacher from Maine who also served in his state’s House of Representatives.

Stephen was born in Portland, Maine, on June 6, 1969. Stephen earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, in 1991. He earned his Master’s degree in Education from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1998.

After earning his degrees, Stephen taught middle school and high school social studies for ten years. He inaugurated his career as a teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools, where he taught from 1997 to 2000. He then returned to Maine, where he taught in Camden from 2000 to 2006. During his tenure there, Stephen was elected to the Maine House of Representatives on the Republican ticket. There he represented the communities of Camden and Rockport from 2002 to 2006.

After completing his term of office, Stephen became the director for the Center for Education Excellence at the Maine Heritage Policy Center. In that position, he wrote reports on education policy, school finance, state spending and debt, government transparency, and welfare reform. In 2011, Stephen was appointed Commissioner of Education by Maine Governor Paul LePage. In that position, the former teacher advised the governor on matters related to education, government reform, budget, and marine resources policy. Two years later, Stephen accepted a position with the National Council of chief State School Officers.

PE teacher Leonard Skinner: The inspired the band Lynyrd Skynrd

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Leonard Skinner

Florida PE teacher Leonard Skinner and the band he inspired, the infamous Lynyrd Skynyrd

Many exceptional educators earn recognition in fields outside of education, but occasionally a teacher becomes known for the accomplishments of his students. This is true of Florida physical education teacher Leonard Skinner, who inspired his former students to name their band after him. The band’s name? Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Forby Leonard Skinner was born January 11, 1933, in Jacksonville, Florida. As a youngster he attended Robert E. Lee High School, where he graduated in 1951. Leonard enrolled in Jacksonville Junior College on a basketball scholarship, but his education was cut short when he was drafted into the US Army. After he was discharged, Leonard enrolled at Florida State University, where in 1957 he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education.

Leonard first taught at Glynn Academy in Glynn County, Georgia, but for most of his career, he was a physical education at his alma mater, Robert E. Lee High School. Among his former students were several members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, including Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and Bob Burns, who were students at Robert E. Lee in the 1960s.

According to legend, Leonard’s strict enforcement of a policy against long hair inspired the members to name their band after him. The gym teacher, a stickler for by-the-book procedures, sent Rossington and others to the principal’s office for violating a school policy prohibiting long hair. Over time, Burns, Rossington, and other band members developed a series of running jokes about their teacher, until ultimately they decided to pay tongue-in-cheek homage to their flat-topped coach by renaming their group Lynyrd Skynyrd. When interviewed in January, 2009, Leonard abashedly told reporters he was just following the district policy. “It was against the school rules,” he said. “I don’t particularly like long hair on men, but again, it wasn’t my rule.” Of his former students, Leonard remembered, “They were good, talented, hard-working boys. They worked hard, lived hard and boozed hard.”

Towards the end of his career, Leonard taught at Jacksonville Technical High School, where he retired in 1970. During his retirement, he became a real estate broker and tavern owner, but he maintained contact with his former students. In 1975, he even allowed the band to use a photograph of his “Leonard Skinner Realty” sign for the inside of their third album, Nuthin’ Fancy. The band also performed at his tavern called The Still.

In January 2009, Leonard’s home town of Jacksonville hosted an event called “A Tribute to Coach Leonard Skinner & Southern Rock” at the National Guard Armory. At the time, the Jacksonville newspaper wrote, “He was just a regular Westside guy, a coach and businessman with a strong code of honor, a disciplinarian at home and at school.”
On September 20, 2010, Leonard passed away at a nursing home in Riverside, Florida. He was 77, and had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for several years. In his obituary, The Florida Times-Union called him “the no-nonsense, flat-topped basketball coach and gym teacher whose name is forever linked with Jacksonville’s legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd.” The New York Times described him as “arguably the most influential high school gym teacher in American popular culture.”

The remarkable Jennifer Williams, Idaho’s art teacher extraordinaire

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Jennifer Williams

The remarkable Jennifer Williams, Idaho’s art teacher extraordinaire

I love to share stories about remarkable educators. That’s what this blog is all about! Today I am sharing the story of Jennifer Williams, a now-retired art teacher who hails from Nampa, Idaho.

As a young woman, Jennifer traveled the world while married to her first husband, an Air Force pilot. She took college classes all over the country, eventually earning multiple degrees in art and secondary education. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Mississippi State University in 1972, and her Master’s degree from Boise State University in 1977.

Following her college graduation, Jennifer accepted her first position as an art teacher at Mountain Home High School in Mountain Home, Idaho, where she worked from 1972 to 1977. The next year she worked as an art instructor at Fort Boise Alternative School in southwestern Idaho. From 1998 to 2004, Jennifer taught art at Skyview High School in Nampa.

In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Jennifer has also volunteered as an art outreach instructor for Project Van Go, a program she inaugurated in 1976. For this project, the innovative art teacher acquired a van and stocked it full of art supplies. Then she traveled to the small, rural town of Prairie, Idaho, which only had kindergarten through eighth grades in a little red schoolhouse with limited resources. “It really took on a beautiful, wonderful life of its own,” Jennifer remembers. Over the years, she has expanded the outreach program to other rural Idaho communities, often paying expenses out of pocket.

In all, Jennifer’s career as an educator has spanned over four decades. During her long career, Jennifer has garnered many awards. In 2000, she earned both the Governor’s Award in the Arts and the National Unsung Heroes Award. In 2002, she won the coveted Teaching Excellence Award from the National Education Association, and she was named the Idaho Teacher of the Year. In 2005, Jennifer was named Idaho Art Teacher of the Year, and in 2012, she was designated the Idaho Retired Art Teacher of the Year. In 2016, Jennifer was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas, the first educator from Idaho to be so honored.