Lee Perez named 2022 Nebraska State Teacher of the Year

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Congratulations to middle school educator Lee Perez, who has been named the 2022 Nebraska State Teacher of the Year!

Lee currently teaches English as a Second Language to students in grades 5 through 8 at Alice Buffet Magnet Middle School in the Omaha Public School system. He inaugurated his teaching career in 2008 at Marrs Magnet Middle School in Omaha. There he taught a seventh grade World Studies-Dual Language Program until 2019.

Lee employs a comprehensive approach to reach his students. He combines culturally responsive teaching and language learning engagement strategies,. His goal is to teach his students a new language while celebrating his students’ own backgrounds and cultures in the classroom. “It is important to embrace diversity. We should acknowledge that being different is special and these differences should be showcased during learning,” Lee asserts. “Good teaching isn’t always about effective lesson planning, data, assessments, or observations with administrators. It’s about empowering our students to strive to be the best versions of themselves socially, emotionally, intellectually, and academically,” he continues.

In addition, Lee uses the power of his own childhood experiences to guide his approach to his students. “I just want my students to know that I had a tough life growing up, and just because you have a hard life growing up doesn’t mean you can’t reach your dreams,” reveals Lee.

In addition to his work in the classroom, Lee is an active member in the community. He is a member of the Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee, the Omaha Education Association Metro Board, the Nebraska State Education Association, and the English Learner Curriculum Pathway Committee for Omaha Public Schools.

Lee is an alumnus of the University of Nebraska, Omaha.

The Teacher of the Year program recognizes the contributions of classroom teachers who are exceptionally dedicated, knowledgeable, skilled and who have the ability to inspire students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn.

 

Idaho’s former First Lady: Teacher, author, and beauty queen

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Former Idaho First Lady Lori Otter is a one-time teacher and administrator, an author of children’s books, an athlete, and a former Miss Idaho USA. Photo credit: Cour d’Alene/Post Falls Press.

Many Chalkboard Champions have earned recognition for successes outside of the field of education. One such educator is Lori Easley Otter, the former First lady of Idaho. This teacher and administrator is married to former Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter.

Lori was born in Pensacola, Florida, in 1967, the youngest of four children in a military family. In the 1970’s, her family moved to Idaho when her father retired from the U.S. Navy. Lori graduated from Kimberly High School, and then enrolled in Boise State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education and Physical Education, with minors in Health and English. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. In addition, she completed coursework in Educational Administration from Northwest Nazarene University in 2004.

Lori taught physical education, health, and English at both the elementary and secondary levels for the Meridian School District in Meridian, Idaho. She also coached girls basketball and volleyball at the junior high and high school levels for thirteen years. She spent two years as an administrator. This athletic educator also runs marathons, plays tennis, and is an accomplished equestrienne.

In 1991, Lori entered the Miss Idaho USA Pageant, winning the title and representing Idaho in the Miss USA 1991 pageant the same year. During her reign as Miss Idaho USA, Lori was introduced to Butch Otter, who was then serving as Lieutenant Governor of Idaho. After some time teaching and coaching in Arizona, Lori returned to Idaho in 1995. In 2006, Lori and Butch were married, and later that year, Butch was elected Governor of Idaho on the Republican ticket. She served as Idaho’s First Lady during Butch’s terms, from January 1, 2007 to January 7, 2019

Combining her love of Idaho and her passion for education and literacy, this gifted educator has written three children’s books. She penned Little Clyde – Horsing Around in Sun Valley, and two history books, Ida Visits the Capitol and Ida Tours the 44: A Book of Idaho Counties. Lori’s character Ida Jones is a young barnstorming pilot who seeks adventure and teaches Idaho history to fourth graders as she flies her airplane through the state.

Arkansas teacher Carol Rasco once served as president’s assistant

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Former Arkansas teacher Carol Rasco has spent her entire professional life as an advocate for children, working towards improving education, promoting early literacy, and supporting children with disabilities. Photo credit: Hendrix Alumni Association.

Many excellent classroom teachers also serve in positions in the government. One of these is Carol Rasco, a former elementary teacher and school counselor that once served as an Assistant to the President under President Bill Clinton.

Carol was born on January 13, 1948, in Columbia, South Carolina. Later her family moved to DeWitt, Arkansas. As a young woman, she skipped her senior year in high school and enrolled at Hendrix College in 1965. There she first majored in Drama, although she later changed her major to Psychology. After transferring to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Carol earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 1969. She earned her Master’s degree in Elementary Counseling and Psychology from the University of Central Arkansas in 1972.

Carol began her career in education as an elementary school teacher, and later became a counselor at the middle school level. After she earned her Master’s degree, she used her expertise to set up a psychological counseling program in the public school system.

In 1983, this Chalkboard Champion accepted a position in the Arkansas Governor’s Office. She served Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton in this position for ten years. Later, when Clinton was elected to the presidency, Carol followed Clinton to Washington, DC, where she worked as an Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy from 1997 to 2000. She spent the next four years in the US Department of Education in the America Reads Challenge program. During 2001, she worked as a consultant on Government Relations for The College Board, and from 2001 to 2016, she served as the President and CEO of Reading is Fundamental. For the past five years, Carol has worked as a child advocate for Three Boys with Books.

Carol has spent her entire professional life as an advocate for children, working towards improving education, promoting early literacy, and supporting children with disabilities. She is currently 73 years old.

New York educator Amanda Breheny honored in Time Magazine article

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Amanda Breheny, a Spanish teacher from Queensboro, New York, was honored in an article in Time Magazine published last September. Photo credit: Time Magazine.

When Covid-19 forced her students into distance learning, educator Amanda Breheny created new and exciting learning experiences to meet the challenges of teaching during a pandemic.

Amanda teaches Spanish to seventh graders at Queensbury Middle School, located about 215 miles north of New York City. The innovative teacher invited guest speakers from Mexico and Honduras to speak to her class via GoogleMeet. The speakers shared information with the students about the importance of access to clean water. Amanda says the speakers helped many of her students understand the challenges of not having easy access to clean water. “For them to learn that there are kids that go home and they can’t wash their hands during a pandemic, that just, I think, it really hit home with them,” she says.

As a result of the speakers’ presentations, students in Amanda’s classes launched an awareness campaign, creating videos in both English and Spanish about the importance of clean water. In addition, they partnered with Pure Water for the World, a nonprofit in Vermont to raise nearly $100 to purchase a water­-filtration system for a family in Honduras.

For her work in the classroom, Amanda Breheny was featured in the Time Magazine article entitled “Educators who Saved a Pandemic Year” published in September, 2021.

Analyn Palugod of Guam honored as Guam’s 2021 Teacher of the Year

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Elementary school teacher Analyn Palugod has Baan named the 2021 Teacher of the Year for the US territory of Guam. Photo credit: The Guam Daily Post.

I enjoy sharing stories about exceptional educators who have been honored for their work. Among them is Analyn Palugod, an elementary school teacher from Mangilao, Guam. She has been named the territory’s 2021 Teacher of the Year.

Analyn teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) to third, fourth, and fifth graders at Adacao Elementary School in Mangilao. She also serves as the school’s ESL Coordinator. She has spent the last four years of the twelve years she has worked for the Guam Department of Education at the school. Prior to teaching ESL, she taught a variety of elementary grade levels as a regular classroom teacher.

Analyn employs a number of strategies to help her students acquire language. “Instead of words, I always try to do it through action,” she says. “So I would incorporate images. Having them summarize the story through drawing pictures, I can still be able to see that they mastered the concept. From there, I always try to incorporate the common core standards and try to make it at their own level,” she continues. In addition, her teaching methods include incorporating current events into the curriculum, which she says helps benefit her students even after they move on from her classroom.

Analyn is known to be an advocate for cultural education. She strives to help students take pride in their cultural diversity, unique backgrounds, and ways of knowing and learning. “By empowering students, I can engage their learning further while showing them that they can make an impact no matter what age they are,” asserts Analyn.

Analyn earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Guam, where she graduated in 2006 magna cum laude. She earned her Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the University of Southern California in 2014.