RI teacher and coach Meaghan McGonagle succumbs to Covid-19
Teacher and coach Meaghan McGonagle of Cranston, Rhode Island, succumbed to Covid-19 on Dec. 16, 2021. She was only 41 years old. Photo credit: Providence Journal.
Sadly, Covid-19 continues to claim the lives of dedicated and beloved educators. One of these was Meaghan McGonagle, a popular teacher and coach from Cranston, Rhode Island. Only 41 years old, she succumbed to the disease on December 16, 2021.
Meaghan’s career as an educator in Cranston Public Schools spanned 15 years. For the past eight years, she taught Business courses at Cranston High School East. She also coached the girls and boys volleyball teams, leading both teams to state titles. In addition to working at Cranston she was the Entrepreneurship Program Instructor at Cranston Area Career and Technical Center, where she had worked for six years, and a Business Teacher at Guilderland Central School District, where she had worked for four years.
Meaghan’s absence will be keenly felt by her students, asserted Ken Hopkins, Mayor of Cranston. “[She] coached them through some championship seasons. The kids loved her,” he said. Hopkins recalled that he worked with the fallen educator for several years at Cranston East before he was elected mayor. “She was well-loved. She wasn’t one of those fly-by-night teachers that come and go. She was there, after school, with the kids, and very much a part of the Cranston East community,” he remembered.
Meaghan graduated from Pilgrim High School in Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1998. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Management from Siena College, New York, in 2002. There she was a two-time team captain on the women’s basketball team.
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Former teacher Susan Holmes also served in Georgia State House of Reps
Former teacher Susan Holmes has also served her community in the Georgia State House of Representatives. Photo credit: Ballotpedia
Many fine teachers also serve as competent politicians. One of these is Susan Holmes, a teacher from Jasper County, Georgia, who also served in the Georgia State House of Representatives.
Susan was born on Oct. 8, 1942, on a large cotton farm in northern Jasper County. She represents the seventh generation in her family to live in Jasper County. As the years went by, Susan’s family farm was transformed into a dairy business. As a member of a farming and dairy family, Susan grew up with a deep appreciation and love for rural Georgia.
After her graduation from Monticello High School in Jasper, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Education at the University of Georgia. Later she completed courses in administration and leadership from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.
After earning her degree, Susan taught school, both public and private, served as a postmaster, a legal assistant, and also served as the CFO of a family-owned insurance company. As if all that were not enough, she is a licensed real estate agent.
In 1998, Susan was elected to the office of Mayor of Monticello, a position she kept for 12 years. She was the first woman to serve her community in this role. In 2007, Susan was appointed by President George W. Bush to the position of State Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency for Georgia.
In 2010, the former teacher was elected to the Georgia State House of Representatives on the Republican ticket. There she represented first District 125 and then District 129. While there, one of her most significant pieces of legislation was to provide grants and scholarships to students to help pay for their tuition.
For her service to the community, Susan has earned many accolades. She was selected Monticello Jasper County Citizen of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians by Georgia Trend Magazine and one of the five most outstanding women in Middle Georgia by the Girl Scouts Council. In addition, she garnered recognition as Northeast Georgia’s Most Outstanding Citizen and she earned the Georgia Downtown Association’s Outstanding Leadership Award.
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NY teacher Julia Richman worked tirelessly for immigrant children
Teacher, principal, and social reformer Julia Richman worked tirelessly on behalf of immigrant children in New York City. Photo credit: Public Domain
Just about everyone agrees that a teacher can profoundly influence the lives of the students in his or her classroom. But Julia Richman, an educator, philanthropist, author, and social reformer from New York City, influenced the lives of students in an entire city.
Julia was born October 12, 1855, in New York City, the daughter of German-speaking Jewish immigrants from the Czech Republic. At a young age, Julia made some important decisions about her own future. “I am not pretty…and I am not going to marry,” she once declared, “but before I die, all New York will know my name.”
Julia was determined to become a teacher, a decision her very traditional father vehemently opposed. In the late 1800’s, an eighth grade education was considered sufficient for girls. However, after a protracted battle royal, Julia convinced her father to allow her to pursue her goal of becoming a professional educator. In 1872, Julia realized her dream when she graduated from Hunter College.
Over the next four decades, Julia worked tirelessly as a classroom teacher, principal, school superintendent, and social reformer. Inside the classroom and within her community, she improved the lives of countless newly arrived immigrants, special needs students, and delinquents: the children 19th-century society typically considered “throwaway kids.” This innovative educator tossed away the conventional methods of instruction of her day, and designed model programs that educators from all over the world came to observe. She instituted numerous progressive practices that are still used in public schools today.
When Julia passed away in 1912, the New York City Board of Education ordered the flags of all NYC public schools be flown at half mast in her honor. It appeared that Julia’s prediction as an eleven-year-old had come true: all New York City knew her name.
Want to learn more about Julia Richman? I’ve written an entire chapter about this amazing educator in my book, Chalkboard Champions, available on amazon or bn.com. Available in print or ebook versions.
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Chicago Cubs player Victor Aldredge also known as the “Hoosier Schoolmaster”
Hoosier Schoolmaster Victor Aldredge taught in Indiana schools before becoming a pro baseball player with the Chicago Cubs. Photo credit: Times Mail.
There are many examples of capable educators who have also established themselves as talented athletes. One of these is teacher Victor Aldridge, who was also an accomplished pitcher for Major League Baseball.
Vic was born on October 25, 1893, in the small town of Crane, Indiana. He attended Tempy Primary School, just a short walk from his home. In high school, the teenaged Vic attended nearby Trinity Springs, and following his graduation, the young athlete enrolled in Central Normal College in Danville, Indiana.
From 1914-1915, Vic taught school at the Pea Ridge School in Trinity Springs, Indiana. He also taught in Miami County, Indiana.
Dubbed the “Hoosier Schoolmaster,” Vic was drafted in 1916 as a right-handed pitcher by the Chicago Cubs. Before his career was over, he also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Giants, and the Los Angeles Angels. Vic earned a reputation for a sharp, breaking curve ball, one of the three best pitches on any diamond in his day. In 1918, the former educator played only three games, pitching a total of only twelve innings, before joining the US Navy during the final year of World War I. After returning from the war, Vic played for the Los Angeles Angels, an affiliate of the Cubs, then returned to the Cubs for the 1922 season. He played the next three years for Chicago, delivering consistent performances. But his most notable performances occurred during the 1925 World Series, when Vic pitched and won games two and five, only to pitch a disastrous first inning in the seventh game. He played his last game on August 29, 1928.
After he retired from baseball, Vic attended law school at the Voorhees School of Law. He also served in the Indiana State Senate from 1937 to 1948. He was first elected on November 4, 1936, on the Democratic ticket.
This distinguished educator and talented athlete passed away in Terre Haute, Indiana, on April 17, 1973, at the age of 79, and is buried in the New Trinity Springs Cemetery. For his work in baseball, he was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame on January 19, 2007, as its 131st member.
