Whitney Aragaki named Hawaii’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year

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High school science teacher Whitney Aragaki from Hilo, Hawaii, has been named her state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: University of Hawaii, Hilo

I always enjoy sharing stories about educators that have earned recognition for their work in the classroom. One of these is Whitney Aragaki, a high school science teacher who has been named Hawaii’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year.

Currently, Whitney teaches Biology and Environmental Science at Waiakea High School in Hilo, Hawaii. Her skill as an educator has been praised at the highest levels of the state’s Department of Education. “Whitney’s innovative approach to teaching offers students meaningful cultural and place-based learning opportunities that are both rigorous and relevant to our young learners,” asserted Interim Superintendent Hayashi. “Science can be an intimidating subject for students, but Whitney successfully engages her students in exciting and empowering ways,” he continued. Whitney’s principal, Kelcy Koga, agreed. “Mrs. Aragaki’s commitment to excellence goes far beyond her teaching and the four corners of her classroom,” he remarked. “She sees the benefits that a sound education can provide, and is willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to not only serve her students but her colleagues and school community as well,” he said.

In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Whitney has taught AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, and AP Computer Science Principles for the statewide Hawaii Virtual Learning Network’s E-School since 2013. She is the lead teacher of the Waiakea High Public Services Academy, which was recognized as a National Model Academy under the National Career Academy Coalition in 2018.

Whitney earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Swarthmore College, and her Master’s in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science from the University of Hawaii, Hilo. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Whitney is a National Board certified teacher in Adolescence and Young Adulthood Mathematics, and she is a Google-certified educator. In addition, she is an alumna of the Hawaii State Teacher Fellowship and the National Education Association Teacher Leadership Institute. In 2019 and 2021, she was named a state finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in mathematics and science teaching.

 

Stacey Bess: Teacher in the School with No Name

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Former elementary school teacher Stacy Bess, who taught in the School with No Name located in a homeless shelter in Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo credit: Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.

Here is a teacher who is truly inspirational: Stacey Bess of Salt Lake City, Utah.

As a first-year teacher, Stacey landed in a classroom set up in a storage shed in an area homeless shelter. The facility was literally referred to as the School With No Name. As you can imagine, her students wrestled with a variety of issues, including unstable living arrangements, domestic abuse, poverty, and alcohol and drug-abusing parents. Not the most desirable circumstances for learning. But this remarkable teacher created a safe and loving classroom environment for her kids. She went to battle with the local school board for a more suitable teaching space and better resources. And, oh, yeah, she raised her own family and defeated cancer at the same time.

When Stacey can, she travels throughout the country sharing her story and offering inspiration to new and veteran educators. “We are in the best business in the whole world,” she tells her audiences. “We are in the kid business.”

You can read the story of the dynamic Stacey Bess in Beyond the Blackboard,available through amazon.com.

We celebrate MLK: A towering figure in American history

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a towering figure in American history. In May, 2021, author Terry Lee Marzell visited the memorial erected to honor this Civil Rights icon, erected in Washington, DC. Photo credit: Hal Marzell

The annual celebration of Martin Luther King Day is always a somber day for me. As a child of the 1960’s, I was just 13 years old when the icon was assassinated in 1968.  Before his death, I remember watching televised speeches from the beloved minister and revered Civil Rights leader, who called for the fair and equitable treatment of all American citizens, regardless of skin color. As a speaker, MLK was mesmerizing.

Like many young teenagers, I was at an age when I was developing an acute sense of fairness and justice—not just for myself, but for all people—and an awareness that as a society there was a great deal of work to be done in this area, even in a country so great as America. I was becoming a socially conscious being. MLK’s message of resonated, not only with me, but also for millions of people of all ages. Like millions of American citizens throughout our country, his murder hit me hard.

As an educator, I was often given the opportunity to lead my students in a study of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. His employment of repetition, metaphor, simile, and analogy are as wonderful as his oratorical skills. This speech is a delight to the English teacher.

MLK was a towering figure in American history, and the memorial erected in Washington, DC, to honor this amazing historical figure depicts this. I visited the monument in May, 2021. I love this monument, which concretely shows the unfinished nature of MLK’s work. There is still a great deal of work to be done.

NYC’s Deborah Meier is the founder of the modern “small schools” movement

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Former New York City kindergarten teacher Deborah Meier is well-known as the founder of the modern “small schools” movement. Photo credit: deborahmeier.com

Many excellent classroom teachers go on to initiate important reforms in the field of education. One of these is Deborah Meier, a former kindergarten teacher who is well-known as the founder of the modern “small schools” movement.

Deborah began her work as a public school teacher, principal, writer, and advocate in the early 1960s, after graduation from the University of Chicago. Her first teaching position was as an early childhood teacher in Chicago. Later, when her family moved to New York City, she taught kindergarten in Central Harlem.

For the next 20 years, Deborah helped revitalize public schools in New York City’s East Harlem District 4. In 1974, she founded Central Park East Elementary School, a highly successful public school that served primarily African American and Hispanic families. During the next dozen years, Deborah opened two other Central Park East elementary schools in District 4, as well as an acclaimed secondary school.

In 1995 she moved to Boston to establish Mission Hill, a K-8 school in Roxbury, Massachusetts. This schools was part of a network Deborah created that helped initiate new small schools, both elementary and secondary, in New York and Boston. At the schools she established, Deborah fostered democratic communities, giving teachers greater autonomy in the running of a school, giving parents a voice in what happens to their children in schools, and promoting intergenerational connections. She has always been an advocate of active, project-based learning, and of graduation through a series of exhibitions of high quality work.

In addition to her work in the classroom and as an administrator, Deborah is the author of numerous books and articles, including The Power of Their Ideas, Lessons to America from a Small School in Harlem, and In Schools we Trust. She is an outspoken critic of state-mandated curriculum and high stakes standardized testing and has written extensively on their unreliability and class/race biases.

For her work in the field of education, Deborah has earned many accolades. In 1987,  she garnered a MacArthur “genius” Award. During the 1990s, she served as an Urban Fellow at the Annenberg Institute. In addition, she is a member of the Boards of FairTest, Save Our Schools, the Center for Collaborative Education, and the Association for Union Democracy. She is also a member of the editorial board of The Nation, The Harvard Education Letter, and Dissent magazines.