Happy Labor Day!

Posted on by

Labor Day celebrates the workers who have made America the country it is today. And all throughout the country, our public schools are full of some of the hardest-working people I have ever met. Teachers, administrators, support staff, custodians, counselors, teachers’ aids—they all work some of the longest hours of any professionals around. They invest countless hours in our kids, including long days, weekends, even summer and winter vacations. Most educators are driven by one driving mission: Making sure students get access to the education and life skills they need to succeed. Happy Labor Day, Teachers!

Natalia Benjamin named Minnesota’s 2022 Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

ESL and ethnic studies educator Natalia Alvarez Benjamin has been named Minnesota’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: BYU Magazine

I always enjoy sharing stories about exceptional educators who have earned recognition for their work in the classroom. One of these is Natalia Alvarez Benjamin, a high school English teacher who has been named Minnesota’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year.

Natalia teaches high school English as a Second Language and ethnic studies at Century High School in Rochester, Minnesota, to students in grades 9-12. She has taught there since 2015. In her work as an educator, she is passionate about increasing the opportunities for her minority students, and she dedicates her considerable energies to important issues such as pedagogy, cultural identity, and heritage speakers.

In her work with students, Natalia is a passionate advocate for her students of color. In fact, she is a member of the program known as Facing Inequities and Racism in Education – Racial Equity Advocates (FIRE-REA). Through this program, the honored educator has worked on cultural competency training. In addition, she is a member of several organizations that support teachers and students, including Education Minnesota’s League of Latinx Educators and Rochester Schools’ employees of color resource group. She also represents her district in the Rochester Education Association and serves on the Women’s Issues Committee for the National Education Association.

Natalia was born and raised in Guatemala. Spanish is her first language, but as a young girl, she attended a French school, so she learned to speak, read, and write in French. “My personal experiences with languages created a passion and appreciation for multiple languages and cultures,” reveals Natalia. “Many of my students are navigating new cultures and places. I hope that I can be a small part of their journey in succeeding as they follow their dreams,” she continues.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and her Master’s degree in Language Acquisition, both from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

 

Teacher and activist Julia Flisch fought for equity for women

Posted on by

History teacher and social activist Julia Flisch fought for equal education for girls in the late 19th century. Photo Credit: Georgia College

In my opinion, teachers are among the most dedicated proponents of social change in American society. Julia Flisch a Georgia teacher who fought for equal education for girls in the late 19th century, is a fine example of this.

Julia was born on Jan. 31, 1861, in Augusta, Georgia, the daughter of immigrants from Switzerland and Germany. She was raised in Athens, Georgia, where her father operated a candy store and ice cream parlor, and her mother was a homemaker. As a young girl, Julia had always dreamed of attending the all-male University of Georgia, but when she applied in 1869 she was denied admission because of her gender. Instead, she enrolled at Cooper Union New York City, where she studied secretarial skills. But it was the rejection from the University of Georgia that inspired her life-long campaign for women’s rights and higher education, as an educator and scholar, and also as a journalist and author.

While still a student, Julia spend her summers working as a school teacher. Eventually she was able to take courses at both Harvard University and the University of Chicago. In 1905, she opened a school at the University of Wisconsin, where by 1908 she had earned both a Bachelor’s and a Masters degree in History. After earning her degrees, Julia accepted a position at Tubman High School in August, where she taught for 17 years. Until the 1950s, Tubman was the area’s only public high school for girls. Later Julia served as the first female instructor at the Junior College of Augusta.

Throughout her years in the classroom, Julia was a hardworking teacher dedicated to the success of her students. During this period, she advocated for collective bargaining rights for teachers, which had been unheard of before her time. She also actively lobbied for women’s suffrage and state grants to pay for women’s higher education. Her rallying cry was “Give the girls a chance!”

To advance her campaign for women’s education, Julia published an anonymous letter to the editor in 1882 in the Augusta Chronicle which called for opportunities for women to pursue financial and social independence. She also spread her message through fiction, and her first novel, Ashes of Hopes, which depicted the story of three young women searching for independence, was published in 1886. The effort earned wide acclaim.

Julia Flisch passed away on March 17, 1941. After her passing, this Chalkboard Champion was described as having accomplished “more than than any other person to advance the cause of women’s education in the state of Georgia.” In 1994, she was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement.

To read more about Julia Flisch, see this article about her published in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

AZ Special Ed teacher Kareem Neal inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame

Posted on by

Congratulations to Special Education teacher Kareem Neal of Phoenix Arizona, who has been inducted into the 2022 National Teachers Hall of Fame. Photo Credit: AZEDNews

It is always a pleasure to share the story of an exceptional teacher who has been honored for his work in the classroom. One of these is Kareem Neal, a special education teacher in Phoenix, Arizona. He has been inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF). In fact, he is the first educator from Arizona to be so honored.

Kareem teaches grade ninth through twelfth students with severe cognitive delays at Maryvale High School in Phoenix. In a career that has spanned 23 years, 15 of them has been spent at Maryvale. Prior to accepting his job at maryvale, he worked for six years at The Children’s Center for Neurodevelopmental Studies in Glendale, Arizona. Before moving to Arizona, he worked at The Developmental Learning Center of New Providence, New Jersey, a school that provided services for students with autism. He has also created and developed all of the curricula across all content areas used in self-contained Special Education classes within his district.

Kareem takes his work with young people very seriously. “When students leave my class, I want them not to have to rely on other people to do everything for them. That is number one,” declares Kareem. And his efforts are paying off. “Our work in my class is validated by the number of students who are currently working in the community near school or are doing sheltered employment rather than living in a group home, staying at home, or attending day programs,” he reveals. “My classroom community and structure allow for the students to thrive in roles that they wouldn’t traditionally thrive in,” he concludes.

In addition to being named in the NTHF, Kareem was named the Arizona state Teacher of the Year in 2019. In 2018, he garnered an Arizona Education Association Diversity Award, in 2017, he was named the Phoenix Union High School District Teacher of the Year. He has also earned The Educator Excellence Award by the Maryvale Revitalization Committee.

Kareem earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Seton Hall University in 1996 and his Master’s degree in Special Education from Jersey City University in 1999.

The National Teachers Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization founded in 1998 in Emporia, Kansas. Nominees must be certified public or non-public schoolteachers, active or retired, with at least 20 years of experience in teaching grades preK-12. Since the inaugural induction ceremonies in 1992, 140 educators from 40 states and the District of Columbia have been inducted. Kareem is one of five inductees to be honored in 2022.

To learn more about Kareem Neal, click on this link to the Council of Chief State School Officers.