Nominate a Chalkboard Champion for this blog

Posted on by

There are so many talented educators out there that by myself I cannot possibly find out about them all. How about some help? Do you know a remarkable teacher? Someone everyone looks up to: students, parents, and administrators alike? Someone who serves as a model for the profession? A true Chalkboard Champion? This teacher could be someone who is already retired, or even someone from history that you admire.

You can nominate that educator to be the subject of a blog post on this web site. Simply use the contact form to send me the name of your nominee, the email information for the teacher you would like to nominate, and maybe a couple of sentences about why you are nominating them. I’ll do the rest!

Hope to hear from you soon!

Deelah Jackson named a finalist for 2023 Florida Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

Exceptional educator Deelah Jackson of Manatee County, Florida, has been named one of five finalists for her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Florida Department of Education

There is a classroom of fourth grade students at Samoset Elementary School in Manatee County, Florida, that are fortunate to have Deelah Jackson as their teacher. This exceptional educator engages her students with high-quality lesson plans, and incorporates singing and movement into her curriculum. And she is especially passionate about teaching math.

Deelah has worked at Samoset Elementary since 2015. In addition to her classroom responsibilities, she is a member of the Samoset School Advisory Council, and the school’s emergency response team. She is also the Site Director for the Extended Day Enrichment Program (EDEP) and helps coach the school’s VEX Robotics competition team.

Deelah originally hails from Indiana. After graduating from high school, she first attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, on a scholarship. However, she completed the requirements for her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. After earning her degree in 1995, she worked with at-risk youth

For her work in the classroom, Deelah has been named one of five finalists for 2023 Florida Teacher of the Year. The other four finalists were Jennifer Jaso, a social studies teacher at Sarasota Middle School in Sarasota County; Melissa Matz, a seventh-grade math teacher at Lakeside Junior High School in Clay County; Trinity Whittington, a fourth-grade English Language Arts and Social Studies teacher at Bell Elementary School in Gilchrist County; and Seema Naik, a fourth-grade teacher at Eagle Ridge Elementary School in Broward County.

Congratulations, Deelah!

Connecticut teacher Kristen Record inducted into the NTHF

Posted on by

Dr. Kristen Record of Stratford, Connecticut, has been inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Photo credit: Kristen Record

Hearty congratulations are due to educator Dr. Kristen Record of Stratford, Connecticut. She has been inducted into the 2023 Class of the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF).

The honored educator teaches Honors Physics to juniors and seniors at Bunnell High School in Stratford. She also serves as the Senior Class Advisor. She also participates on her District’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Team. Further, she is active ion her local teachers’ union, service as the Secondary Vice President and the Chairperson of the Contract Negotiations team. Her career as an educator spans 23 years, all of them in Stratford Public Schools.

She was just a little girl when Kristen’s passion for teaching started. “When she was four years old, she would line up her stuffed animals like they were in a classroom, and she would teach them,” recalls Daniel Record, Kristen’s father, who was also a physics teacher. Her mother, Carolyn, and her brother and sister-in-law are also teachers.

Kristen’s advice for a beginning teacher? “Observe. Visit as many classrooms as possible. Observe what to emulate and what to avoid,” Kristen advises. “Great students at the door. Observe the energy they bring, and learn what’s going on beyond academics,” Kristen continues. And one more thing: take time to recreate, she advises. “Vacations are vacations. Observe them as such so you can recharge and be your best self at school,” she concludes.

Her induction into the NTHF is not the only recognition Kristen has earned. In 2022 she was involved in the 100K in 10 Teacher Forum. The Nation Education Association Foundation honored her with their California Casualty Award for Teacher Excellence in 2020. She earned a Global Learning Fellowship in 2015, and she became a Fellow of the National STEM Policy Institution at MIT/George Washington University. In 2011, she was named Connecticut’s State teacher of the Year. In 2009, she garnered a Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Kristen earned her Bachelor’s degree in Science Instruction and Study from Southern Connecticut State University in 2006. She earned her Master’s degree in Teaching and Learning from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2000.

To learn more about Dr. Kristen Record, click on this link to the NTHF.

NC teacher Leah Carper named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

English teacher Leah Carper has been named the 2023 North Carolina Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

There are many exceptional educators in our country who have earned accolades for their work with young people. One of these is Leah Carper, an English teacher from North Carolina. She has been named as her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Leah Carper teaches at Northern Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. In her classroom, she designs curriculum that not only teaches the skills and standards of the course, but also teaches her students how to be empathetic, contributing members of a global community. “They’re students of humanity, and they’re learning how to be good people, and they’re learning that in our classrooms every day,” declares Leah.

Since her selection as North Carolina’s Teacher of the Year, Leah has shared stories about the many of the educators who influenced her. These teachers taught her about being accepting of new people or appreciating different cultures and countries. She even recalled a third grade teacher who bought her new shoelaces because she didn’t have any. These are things, she remarked, that cannot be measured on a standardized test.

In addition to her recognition as North Carolina’s Teacher of the Year, Leah garnered the title of 2022 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year. She was also named the 2021 Guilford County Schools Teacher of the Year and the Guilford County Schools PTA Outstanding High School Educator Award in both 2020 and 2018. She was named the Guilford County Schools Rookie Teacher of the Year in 2007.

Leah earned her Bachelor’s degree in Secondary English Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2006. She earned her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Queens University of Charlotte in 2017. Her career as an educator spans 18 years.