Category Archives: Education

Kimberly Ann Henry: The Chalkboard Champion Who Was Also the First Lady of Oklahoma

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kim-henry[1]Many educators are easily recognizable for their efforts in the political arena. One such chalkboard champion is Kimberly Ann Henry, a high school history teacher who also just happens to be the former First Lady of Oklahoma. Kimberly was born in Norman, Oklahoma, attended Shawnee High School in Shawnee, Oklahoma. After her high school graduation, she attended the University of Oklahoma, where she earned her bachelor of science degree in secondary education in 1986.

Kimberly began her ten-year career as a classroom teacher by joining the staff of her alma mater, Shawnee High School, in 1993. There she taught economics, US government, advanced placement American history, and Oklahoma history. Her talents as an outstanding educator were rewarded when, in 1999-2000, she was one of only five educators across America to receive the Close-Up Foundation’s Linda Myers Chozen Award for Teaching Excellence in Civic Education. In addition to her work as a classroom teacher, Kimberly has been a strong advocate on behalf of troubled youth through her support of the Thunderbird Youth Academy.

When her husband, Brad Henry, was elected governor of Oklahoma in 2003,  Kimberly became the First Lady of Oklahoma. She served in this capacity from 2003 to 2011. While First Lady, Kimberly fought to make education a priority in Oklahoma, and has been particularly instrumental in pushing for increased early childhood educational opportunities in the state.  More recently, Kimberly has launched the MyTakeOnHealth Video Challenge which gives young people and students an opportunity to make video spots about health topics. She has also been actively involved with the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Kimberly is currently serving on board of directors for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum.  She also previously served on the board of directors for Science Museum Oklahoma, Leadership Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Also, Kimberly is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Sarkeys Foundation, a private, charitable foundation dedicated to providing support through gifts and grants to Oklahoma’s non-profit organizations.

Kimberly Henry was honored with the Bill Lowry Library Champion Award for her work in literacy in 2004. The same year by she was named one of the The Journal Record’s 50 Most Distinguished Women. For her tireless efforts on behalf of the people of her state, she was inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 2009.

Ninive Calegari: Dedicated to Improving Teacher Salaries

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ninive_calegari[1]A most remarkable chalkboard champion is San Francisco teacher Ninive Calegari, who has for many years dedicated her extraordinary talents as an educator to creating supportive and innovative learning environments for both teachers and students.

Ninive attended Santa Catalina High School in Monterey, California, where she graduated in 1989. After high school, she enrolled at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in 1993. She completed the requirements for her master’s degree in Teaching and Curriculum from the Harvard School of Education in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1995.

Ninive inaugurated her career as an education at Drake High School in San Anselmo, and also taught at San Francisco’s first charter school, Leadership High School. Her career in the classroom spanned ten years. In addition, Ninive founded 826 Valencia, a writing program for students from six to eighteen years of age. The project has generated 826 national and numerous local 826 chapters. This project earned the Jim Henson Community Honor in 2010.

Ninive says her goal is to raise awareness of the unheralded struggles that many teachers face in simply doing their job. To better the working lives of her colleagues, she serves as the president of the Teacher Salary Project, a nonprofit organization designed to build the political will necessary to transform how American society values effective teachers. The organization publicizes her belief that increasing teachers’ salaries is essential to meaningful school reform and critical to ensuring that American schools can acquire quality teachers. To meet this goal, Ninive has co-authored the book Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers, published in 2005 by The New Press. Ninive has also lent her expertise as the co-producer of the organization’s film, American Teacher, a documentary by Oscar-winning director Vanessa Roth, with narration by Matt Damon.

For her professional achievements, Ninive received Edutopia’s 2007 Daring Dozen award. She also served on the board of Learning Points Associates, and as an advisor to the George Lucas Education Foundation.She has been the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, the William Coe Award for study at Stanford University, and the Andrew Mellon Fellowship.

Ninive currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and two young children.

Pete Chilcutt: NBA Star and Middle School Teacher

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Pete_Chilcutt[1]Many admirable educators were once professional athletes. This is true of former NBA basketball player Pete Chilcutt, who later became a sixth-grade math and science teacher at Folsom Middle School in Folsom, California.

Peter Shawn Chilcutt was born on September 14, 1968, in Sumter, South Carolina. His stepfather was a professor at the University of Alabama, and his mother was a school teacher, too. Pete was raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he attended Tuscaloosa Academy. He was actively recruited by a number of schools, ultimately deciding on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he had won a scholarship. After he graduated, he was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the NBA Draft in 1991.

At 6’10” and 245 pounds, Pete played the position of forward for seven different teams over a professional career that spanned from 1991 to 2000. He won an NBA Championship in the 1994-1995 season with the Houston Rockets, where he played from 1994-1996. He also played for the Detroit Pistons, the Vancouver Grizzlies, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Utah Jazz. His achievements are particularly amazing when one considers this amazing athlete was born with only one kidney.

Isabelle Salmon Ross: A Pioneer Settler and Pioneer of Physical Education for Women and Special Education Students

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Many wonderful teachers were also pioneers in their time. Such is the case of Isabelle Salmon Ross, who was not only a pioneer settler in the Utah Territory in the 1800s, but was also a pioneer of physical education courses for women and special education students during her lifetime.

Isabelle Salmon was born on November 1, 1867, in Perry, Utah Territory. Her parents, William Weir Salmon and Margaret Hay Hunter Salmon, had immigrated from Scotland. Isabelle earned her degree in education at the University of Utah and also attended Harvard University. She became a physical education teacher in the public school system in Salt Lake City, at Brigham Young College, and at the Utah State School for the Deaf and the Blind in Ogden, Utah.

Isabelle was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She served her church in the general presidency of the Primary organization. While working in that capacity, Isabelle met and fell in love with fellow Mormon Charles James Ross. On September 29, 1897, the pair married in the Salt Lake Temple. Her husband was from Ogden and was a member of the general board of the Deseret Sunday School Union. He also served for a time as the manager of Ogden Tabernacle Choir.

In her later life, Isabelle suffered from coronary heart disease, and passed away at the age of eighty on December 28, 1947, in Salt Lake City. She is interred at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Mourning the Loss of Educator Ronald Smith, Murdered in Libya

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It’s always distressing to the academic community when we receive news of the senseless and tragic murder of an American overseas, and especially so when the victim is a distinguished educator. Such was the case yesterday when we learned of the death of Ronald Thomas Smith, II, an American chemistry teacher who has spent more than a year teaching at an international school in Libya. The thirty-three-year-old teacher was shot and killed by Islamic militants Thursday in Benghazi, Libya, as he was taking a morning jog.

Ronald was a member of the faculty of the International School Benghazi. Mr. Peter Hodge, the school’s principal, has described the slain educator as “very much loved” at the school.  On the school’s Facebook page, officials posted, “He was a much-loved teacher who supported students in their learning and always had time to help when asked. Ronnie was a professional who gave his time freely and without question.”

An un-named eighteen-year-old student at the school recalled, “He was the most amazing person, more like a best friend or a family member.” The student added that for teenagers who were trying to cope with the turmoil that has troubled the politically unstable country, the teacher was a motivator, telling them that they would be fine if they focused on their studies. “He wasn’t just a teacher to all the students, though—he was a brother,” recalled Abdulrahman Bader, a sixteen-year-old student, in an email to The Associated Press. “He was the heart of the school.”

Originally from Warren, Michigan, Ronald graduated in 1997 from Woods Tower High  School. He attended Wayne State University in Detroit before  heading to Texas. He graduated in 2006 from the University of Texas, Austin, with a master’s degree in chemistry. During his years in Texas, he was active in the Austin Stone Community Church. Approximately a year and a half ago, Ronald began teaching at the International School, a Libyan-owned institution that offers a British curriculum.

He leaves behind a wife and a young son, who had come home to the United States ahead of him to celebrate the holidays. We’ll all miss this chalkboard champion.