Brianna Ross named Maryland’s 2022 Teacher of the Year

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Sixth grade social studies teacher Brianna Ross has been named Maryland’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Morgan State University

Congratulations are in order for Brianna Ross, a middle school Social Studies teacher who has been named as Maryland’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year.

Brianna teaches World History to sixth graders at Deer Park Middle School in Randallstown, Maryland. She also serves as the Social Studies Department Department Chair and as her school’s Equity Liaison, where she works towards creating culturally inclusive classrooms. In addition, she co-ordinates a summer transition program to support incoming sixth graders in a variety of ways—socially, emotionally, and academically—as they prepare for the expectations of middle school.

“In my classroom, I have created a culture that prioritizes building positive relationships and academic rigor above all else,” declares Brianna. “It is my mission to ensure that when each of my students steps into my space, they feel that they are part of a community that loves them, values who they are, and will protect them no matter what,” she continues. “Taking care of my students will always be my first priority,” she concludes. Brianna’s career as an educator spans six years.

Her designation as Maryland’s 2022 Teacher of the Year is not the only recognition Brianna has earned. She was named a Fellow of the New Leaders Council in 2018 and worked with other educators to identify progressive solutions for a more sustainable and equitable future in Maryland.

Brianna earned her Bachelor’s degree in Applied Development Psychology in 2014 and her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction in 2015, both from the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her certification in Administration and Supervision from Loyola University of Maryland in 2019. Currently, the honored educator is working on her PhD in Urban Educational Leadership from Morgan State University located in Baltimore, Maryland.

Brianna Ross: A true Chalkboard Champion.

Kentucky teacher Stephanie Foster succumbs to Covid-19

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Sadly, we report the passing of Kentucky elementary school teacher Stephanie Foster, who succumbed to Covid-19 on Jan. 11, 2022. Photo credit: Commonwealth Journal

Sadly, the educational community is mourning the loss of yet another beloved teacher. Stephanie Foster, an elementary school teacher from Burnside, Kentucky, succumbed to the disease on Jan. 11, 2022. She was 40 years old.

Stephanie was born on Dec. 30, 1981 in Somerset, Kentucky. As a teenager, she attended Pulaski County High School, where she graduated in 2000. Stephanie earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and her Master’s Degree, both from Eastern Kentucky. She earned a second Master’s Degree from the University of the Cumberlands.

The fallen educator taught first grade at Burnside Elementary in the Pulaski County School System. She had been teaching at that school for 15 years. Prior to her assignment at Burnside, she taught for two years at Shopville Elementary.

The loss has been keenly felt throughout the school community. “Those lower primary grades, you do a lot of one-on-one instruction. You’re on the kids’ level,” said District Superintendent Patrick Richardson Richardson. Dr. Jeni Bolander, also a teacher, agreed that the students and their families have been hard-hit by the loss. “Teachers just have the biggest hearts,” she asserted. “They want to see the world be a better place.”

“She was a leader within our school,” recalled Burnside Principal April Mounce. “She served as a grade level representative for many years, was an instructional technology trainer for our new teachers, served as a mentor for new teachers and student teachers…..and provided professional development to other teachers on various topics and programs, Mounce continued.

 

Thelma Dewitty: First Black educator in Seattle, Washington

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Thelma Dewitty

Thelma Dewitty, the first African American teacher hired by the Seattle Public School System, reading to her second-graders at Cooper School in 1950. Photo credit: The Pride Foundation

Many excellent classroom teachers became pioneering groundbreakers in their time. This is true of Thelma Dewitty, a talented classroom teacher who became the first African American educator in Washington state’s Seattle Public School System.

Thelma was born in 1912 in Beaumont, Texas. As a young woman, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, in 1941. Even before she earned her degree, Thelma inaugurated her career as a teacher in Corpus Christi, Texas, accepting her first position in 1942. She taught there for nine years, and then for another five years in Beaumont, Texas.

In 1947, Thelma moved to Washington State with her husband. There she attended graduate school at the University of Washington, and began writing a book about mathematics for children. When she expressed an interest in teaching in Seattle, she discovered that the city’s school system was not integrated. Although she was an African American, the NAACP, the Seattle Urban League, the Civic Unity Committee, and Christian Friends for Racial Equality encouraged the local school board to break the color barrier and hire her. The school board agreed, and Thelma was hired to teach at Frank B. Cooper School in the Delridge neighborhood of West Seattle. Throughout her long career as a teacher in Seattle, she also taught at several other elementary schools, including John Hay, Laurelhurst, and Sand Point, and she also completed a stint at Meany Junior High School.  After a career as an educator that spanned almost four decades, the dedicated classroom teacher retired in 1973.

In addition to serving as an educator, Thelma worked tirelessly for the Seattle branch of the NAACP, serving as its president in the late 1950s. She also served on the Washington State Board Against Discrimination, and she volunteered on the Board of Theater Supervisors for Seattle and King County.

This amazing educator passed away on August 19, 1976, in Seattle at age 63. She is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Seattle, King County, Washington.

Florida STEM teacher Ryan Smith writes grants, wins awards

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Florida STEM educator Ryan Smith has written grants that have garnered over $60,000 for classroom projects and earned several prestigious awards for developing lessons that employ hands-on projects. Photo credit:

One of the most awesome educators around is Ryan Smith, a STEM teacher from Lake Worth, Florida. Ryan has earned several prestigious awards for developing lessons that employ hands-on projects to draw a direct connection between science concepts and the real world.

Ryan teaches science, math, and STEM courses to elementary students in grades two through eight. He has developed several elective courses for students in his school. These include a class in Environmental Engineering and another in Digital Design & Fabrication. In addition, Ryan co-created the Stiles-Nicholson STEM Inventors Challenge, which has been resulted in the placement of over 70 3D printers in middle and elementary schools in his area.

In 2021, Ryan garnered an Rosenthal Prize Honorable Mention from the National Museum of Mathematics. The honor was earned for his lesson, “Astronaut Explorer: A Measurement Conversion Conundrum,” which allows students to take on the role of astronauts exploring a new planet on which they must learn about the civilization’s measurement system. This activity promotes genuine thinking, decoding, and reasoning, and is designed to help students construct procedures for converting from one unit to another using ratios and unit conversions.  Ryan was awarded a $500 cash prize.

In addition to his Rosenthal Prize honors, Ryan garnered the School District of Palm Beach County Innovative Educator Award in both 2016 and 2015. In 2014, Ryan earned the Palm Beach County Science Educators (PBCSEA) Teacher of the Year Award.

Originally, Ryan planned to be a physical therapist, and for this reason he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from Arizona State University in 2002. But then he changed course and decided to pursue a career in the classroom. He earned a second Bachelor’s degree in Education and Instructional Technology in 2016. He also earned a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Kaplan University in 2012.