Melissa Matz named Florida’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

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Melissa Matz, a junior high school math teacher from Florida, has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Florida Education Foundation

Congratulations are due to Melissa Matz, a junior h high school math teacher from Florida. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, which includes her designation as Florida’s Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for Education. This role will allow her to elevate and celebrate the teaching profession by promoting the contributions of Florida educators, while visiting classrooms and serving as a keynote speaker.

In a career that has spanned 20 years, Melissa currently teaches mathematics to seventh graders at Lakeside Junior High School in the Clay County School District in Orange Park. She says she is committed to building a strong relationship with each of her students. In fact, she makes it a point to speak with each student as they enter her classroom. Her philosophy is that when an individual steps outside of his comfort zone and takes positive risks, that is how extraordinary gains are achieved.

“Middle school is a big transition,” Melissa observes. “There is more stress, more challenges. They are becoming much more independent,” she continues. “As a teacher, we set them up for success in high school by making sure they have test-taking and study strategies. And giving kids the tools to navigate through that time in their life is just so important to me,” she concludes.

Melissa also strives to include hands-on, real-world projects as part of her curriculum. Clay County Schools Superintendent David Broskie recognized this when he presented the honored educator with her award. “Melissa Matz’s students see firsthand that the skills they acquire in her classroom can be applied to a broad spectrum of fields, and therefore, they can become well-rounded members of our community,” he says.

Melissa also serves as her school’s Math Department Chair, she is the Chairperson for the Lakeside’s School Advisory Committee, and she is a part of the school’s Leadership Team. She helped develop her district’s curriculum map for algebra, and she served on the math textbook adoption committee. And as if all this were not enough, she participates in a mentoring program that supports students as they transition to high school. And Melissa’s passion for teaching math goes well beyond her classroom. Within her community, she raises awareness for water conservation.

Melissa learned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Northern Iowa.

As the 2023 Teacher of the Year, Melissa will receive $20,000 from the state education department and a tuition waiver to pursue a graduate degree from Florida State University’s College of Education. She will also be able to provide a student of her choice with a two-year scholarship to a Florida college.

Isaac Scott Hathaway: Outstanding art teacher and renowned sculptor

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Outstanding art teacher and renowned sculptor Isaac Scott Hathaway of Kentucky. {photo Credit: University Museum and Cultural Center, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Many Chalkboard Champions have distinguished themselves in fields other than education. This is certainly the case with Isaac Scott Hathaway, a high school teacher and university professor who was also an accomplished artist. Isaac is probably best recognized for the masks and busts he created of important African American leaders, and as the designer of the first two US coins to feature black Americans.

Isaac was born on April 4, 1872, in Lexington, Kentucky. Following his high school graduation in 1890, he began his formal academic studies at Chandler Junior College in Lexington, and attended classes in art and dramatics at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. While in Boston, he sculpted his first bust, using as his subject Bishop Richard Allen, the first bishop of the African American Episcopal Church. Isaac’s first formal training in ceramics came from Cincinnati Art Academy.

At the conclusion of his studies and training, Isaac returned home to Lexington to teach at Keene High School. There he worked from 1897 to 1902. He also opened his first art studio, where he made plaster parts of human anatomy for schools and medical uses. In 1907 Isaac relocated to Washington, DC, where began making sculpture busts, including those of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, university president Booker T. Washington, poet Paul L. Dunbar, and scholar W.E.B. Dubois.

In 1912, this accomplished teacher and talented artist married Ettic Ramplin of South Boston, Virginia. Sadly, she died early in their marriage from complications in childbirth. Following Ettic’s death, Isaac established a course in ceramics at Branch Normal College, now known as the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff. He taught there and at a high school in Pine Bluff until 1937. In 1926, Isaac married his second wife, Umer George Porter. The couple moved to Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1937 to inaugurate the ceramics department at Tuskegee University. Shortly thereafter, Umer earned a degree from Tuskegee and became Isaac’s assistant.

The remarkable educator made an important contribution to the art world in 1945 when he developed Alabama kaolin clay as a medium, and he became the first artist on record to “make the clay behave.” The following year, Isaac was commissioned by the Fine Arts Commission of the United States Mint to design a half dollar coin using Booker T. Washington as the face and subject. In 1950 he was commissioned to make another coin, this time combining the images of both Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver.

During the summer of 1947, Hathaway broke a significant racial barrier when he introduced ceramics at the all-white Auburn Polytechnic Institute, now known as Auburn University. In 1947, Isaac and Umer relocated to Montgomery, Alabama, where Isaac became the director of ceramics at Alabama State College. He worked there until his retirement in 1963.

Throughout his life, Professor Hathaway received many awards, including honorary degrees, doctorates, or fine arts awards from various colleges and universities where he helped introduce ceramics as a field of study. This Chalkboard Champion and amazing artist passed away at his home in Tuskegee, Alabama, on March 12, 1967.

Oregon’s Ron Antlitz named a 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year

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Special Education teacher Ron Antlitz from the North Clackamas School District in Clackamas, Oregon, has been named a 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Oregon Teacher of the Year

There are many fine educators who work in American public schools, and their dedication and hard work has not gone unnoticed. In fact, one of them, Ron Antlitz of Clackamas, Oregon, has just been recognized as a 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year for the North Clackamas School District.

Ron has dedicated the majority of his 26-year career to working with middle and high school students that have been diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disabilities. For the past ten years, he has taught in the structured learning center at Alder Creek, where he developed a comprehensive program to help students overcome behavioral issues and make rapid academic progress.

He’s helped advance more equitable practices in schools, such as restorative justice programs that replace traditional discipline approaches. Above all, he is known as a strong advocate for students, working tirelessly to meet the needs of the whole child. “Ron approaches his work with compassion and a deeply held belief that each of his students deserves a high-quality school experience that includes access to academics as well as positive peer interactions,” declares Kelli Rhea, Principal of Alder Creek Middle School.

Larry Didway, Superintendent of Clackamas Education School District, agrees. “Our selection panel was particularly impressed with Ron’s career-long commitment to addressing the holistic needs of each of his students, and his strong advocacy for more equitable practices in education,” Midway says. “He is an outstanding representative of the countless Clackamas County teachers who are making an immense difference in the lives of students every single day.”

Ron was one of 16 teachers chosen by Education Service Districts throughout the state of Oregon to receive a regional honor. Regional winners were identified through a local nomination, application, and selection process facilitated by Education Service Districts. Applicants were selected on the attributes of leadership, instructional expertise, commitment to equity, community involvement, understanding of educational issues, and professional development. Each Regional Teacher of the Year receives a $1,000 award from the Oregon Lottery.

GA teacher Natasha Berry recognized as outstanding educator

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Elementary school teacher Natasha Berry has been recognized for her outstanding work in the classroom. Photo Credit: Valdosta Daily Times

It is always a pleasure to share the story of an outstanding teacher working in public schools. One of these is Natasha Berry, an exceptional STEM teacher from the state of Georgia.

Natasha inaugurated her career as a professional educator in 2003 after earning her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Valdosta State University. She also earned certification in Gifted and Talented Education. She currently works as a STEM Lab teacher for Henry County Schools in Henry County, Georgia. Prior to that, she taught third graders at Sallas Mahone Elementary School in the Valdosta City School District, and before that, she taught in the Lowndes County system for 14 years. In all, her career as an educator spans 20 years.

The daughter of a military veteran, Natasha was forced to relocate several times as a child, but she spent most of her life in Valdosta. Despite her moves, Natasha had strong support for education in her childhood home. “I come from a family of educators. My mother and many of my aunts and uncles are in the education profession,” she reveals. “I grew up watching and admiring the countless hours my mom spent using her creative talent to make learning exciting and engaging for the students inside her classroom every single day.”

For her work in the classroom, Natasha garnered a 2023 Gale Samuels Award from the Georgia Teachers of the Year Association.  The honor is bestowed in memory of Gale Samuels, a beloved educator at the Georgia Department of Education who contracted leukemia and passed away in 1998. Samuels was considered instrumental in promoting excellence in teaching in her state.

The Gale Samuels Award is not the only recognition Natasha has earned. In 2022, she was named a finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year. In 2019, she was honored as the Sallas Mahone Teacher of the Year, and that same year this Chalkboard Champion was named the Valdosta City Schools Co-Teacher of the Year.