CO science teacher and golf coach Colin Prater to play in US Open Championship

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High school science teacher and talented golfer Colin Prater of Colorado will be playing int he US Open Championship this week. Photo Credit: Linked In

Many talented teachers earn notoriety for accomplishments in fields other than education. One of these is Colin Prater, a high school science teacher from Colorado who has qualified to play in the US Open Championship this week.

Colin teaches science at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He has instructed courses in biology, anatomy, environmental science, physics, chemistry, and sports medicine. He also coaches the boys and girls golf teams at his school.

This week, Colin will be playing in the 124th US Open Championship at Pinehurst Resort & County Cub. The teacher successfully navigated the qualifying rounds, including a 3-under-par 141 at the Pronghorn Resort in Bend, Oregon on June 3 to earn the second of the two available spots. Then, he competed against a field of 44 potential competitors at the 36-hole final qualifier. This week, he will be one of a total of 156 players who will meet at Pinehurst for the year’s third major championship. More than 10,000 tried out for a spot.

Since getting into the field, it’s been quite a whirlwind for the former NCAA Division II All-American who posted 14 victories while at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He appeared on “The Gravy & Sleaze” radio show on SiriusXM with two-time USGA champion Colt Knost and Colorado native Drew Stoltz, who also competed in the Four-Ball. Golf Digest and Golfchannel.com wrote profile pieces.

Colin earned a reputation as a talented amateur. He was a four-time Division II All-American when he was a student at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He won the Colorado amateur in 2016 and 2020. Since his graduation he has been named the Colorado Golf Association’s Player of the Year twice—in both 2020 and 2023. He has also garnered five CGA titles. In 2020, he became only the second player to win the Colorado Amateur (stroke play) and Colorado Match Play in the same year. And as if all that were not enough, he also garnered two Colorado Mid-Amateur titles. In fact, he could have chosen to pursue a career as a professional golfer, but decided her preferred a career in the classroom.

Occasionally, says Colin, he will make references to golf or other sports in his classroom. “But at the same time,” he hastens to add, “I want to give kids the opportunity to make their own connections. I think that’s the most important part: fostering their passions, their interests and giving them the freedom to do that,” he concludes.

Best of luck, Colin!

NH teacher Elizabeth Duclos named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year

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Elementary teacher Elizabeth Duclos has been named New Hampshire’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: New Hampshire Department of Education

Students in one New Hampshire town are indeed fortunate to have an outstanding educator working in their school. I’m talking about Elizabeth Duclos, an elementary school teacher from Pembroke. She has been named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

Elizabeth teaches third grade at Pembroke Hill School. In her classroom, she believes the most important thing is to create a caring environment. She says she values and respects her students’ ideas, and she encourages them to take risks and become leaders in the classroom. She also fosters a sense of community and collaboration among her students.

The honored educator says she decided to be a teacher when she was only eight years old. She was raised on a 125-acre dairy farm in Orange County, New York. On this farm, her mom milked the cows, but when Elizabeth tried her hand at it, she decided after only two weeks she didn’t like it. Instead, she fell in love with helping her aunt, a teacher in Nottingham, prepare for the new school year. “I would come up for the summer and help her set up her class,” Elizabeth remembers, “and every time I said, ‘This is where I want to be.'”

Obviously, she made the right decision. Selected from more than 300 nominees, Elizabeth was selected because of her work ethic, insightful thinking, expertise in education, and effort towards making sure that each student receives the support they need to succeed in her classroom.

Elizabeth earned her Bachelor’s degree in Family Studies and her Master’s in Elementary Education, both from the University of New Hampshire. She also earned a certificate from Plymouth State University as a K-12 reading and writing specialist. During her professional career, Duclos has served as the Vice President of the New Hampshire Association for the Education of Young Children. Her career as an educator spans 16 years.

 

Teachers organize classroom Juneteenth celebrations

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For the African American community, June 19 marks the annual observance of an important holiday: Juneteenth. Many teachers are aware of the significance of this event, and, if school for them is still in session, they may be planning an observance of the occasion with their students.

Juneteenth marks the 1865 arrival of Federal troops under the command of US General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas. Their military mission was to take control of the state following the Civil War, and to ensure that all enslaved people living there had been freed. Until that day, 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were unaware that slavery had been declared officially ended. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

The year following Granger’s arrival, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of “Jubilee Day” on June 19. In the decades since, Juneteenth commemorations featured music, barbecues, prayer services, and other holiday activities. As Black people migrated from Texas to other parts of the country, the tradition of celebrating Juneteenth spread.

Juneteenth is considered the longest-running African American holiday in US history. In 1979, Texas became the first state to declare Juneteenth an official holiday. Efforts to make the celebration a national holiday have, so far, stalled in Congress, but as of this year, 47 states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday.

Texas math educator Alene Baker inducted into the AAEAHP

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High school math teacher Alene Baker was inducted into the African American Education Archives and History Program Hall of Fame (AAEAHP) . Photo Credit: AAEAHP

There are many outstanding educators who teach in America’s public schools. One of these is Alene Baker, a respected mathematics teacher from Texas. She has been inducted into the African American Education Archives and History Program Texas Hall of Fame (AAEAHP) in 2023. The organization honors educators who have had a positive role in the African American education experience in Dallas County, Texas.

Alene graduated from high school the valedictorian of her class. She then earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View.She earned her Master’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Commerce.

Once she earned her degrees, Alene inaugurated her career as a high school mathematics teacher at I.M. Terrell High School in Fort Worth in 1969. She went on to teach at L.G. Pinkston, H. Grady Spruce, and the Business & Management Magnet schools in the Dallas Independent School District. In all, her career as an educator spanned 35 years.

As a result of her hard work and expertise, the number of students who passed math courses increased, and their interest in mathematics improved. She is most proud of hearing success stories of her former students.

In addition to working directly with students, Alene served as a curriculum writer, resource person, department chairperson, staff development chairperson, and an alternative certification mentor. She also tutored students to help them master the state’s mandatory tests.

For this work, Alene earned many accolades. In addition to her induction into the AAEAHP, she was named her school’s Teacher of the Year in 1987. She was also named among Who’s Who Among American Teachers.

To learn more about the African America Education Archives and History Program, click on this link to their website.

Teacher Eleanor Murdoch Johnson founded a widely-read children’s newsletter

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Teacher, administrator, and editor Eleanor Murdoch Johnson founded a children’s newspaper to bring nonfiction reading materials to elementary school children. Photo Credit: New York Times

There have been many exceptional educators who have made an indelible mark on the American education system. One of them was Eleanor Murdoch Johnson, an elementary school teacher from Oklahoma who founded the children’s newspaper entitled My Weekly Reader.

Eleanor was born in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland, on Dec. 10, 1892. As a young woman, she studied at both Colorado College in 2012 and the Central State Teachers College in 1913. She earned her Bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from the University of Chicago in 1925 and her Master’s degree from Columbia University in 1932.

Once she completed her formal education, Eleanor inaugurated her career as a first grade teacher in Oklahoma. She also served as Superintendent of Schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

It was while working in Pennsylvania in 1927 that Eleanor came up with the idea of a nonfiction newspaper for elementary school students. “In her work with kids,” says The Weekly Reader editor Terry Borton, “she noticed most of the reading they did was fairy tales and fantasy, which she felt was fine, but she felt they were missing a knowledge and understanding of the real world, which she thought they would like.”

In response, Eleanor proposed a nonfiction weekly newsletter for children that would explain in clear, straightforward prose the newsworthy events of the day. This was when The Weekly Reader was born. The newsletter described such events as the Depression, World War II, assassinations, presidential elections, the Vietnam War, Civil Rights struggles, and the Iran hostage crisis.

Eleanor produced the first issue of the newspaper on Sept. 21, 1928, and remained involved in planning its contents until her retirement from the position in 1978, when she was 85 years old. It has been estimated that The Weekly Reader was read by two-thirds of today’s American adults when they were in elementary school.

Sadly, Eleanor Murdoch Johnson succumbed to cancer on Oct. 8,1987, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. She was 94 years old.