Carol Comeau: The noon supervisor that became District Supervisor

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Retired teacher and District Superintendent Carol Comeau of Alaska was once a noon supervisor at her school. Photo credit: University of Oregon Alumni Association.

Ever since Alaska became part of the United States, so many outstanding teachers have gravitated to the vast territory. One of these amazing educators is Carol Comeau, who once worked as a noon duty supervisor in an Anchorage school, became a teacher there, and eventually retired as the District Superintendent 38 years later.

Carol was born in Berkeley, California, in 1941, although she was raised in Iowa. When she was young, she wanted to be an investigative reporter, so after her high school graduation she enrolled at the University of Oregon to persue a Bachelor’s degree in journalism. In her sophomore year, however, she discovered her passion for teaching and changed her major to elementary education.

In 1960, Carol met her future husband, Denny Comeau. The pair married in 1962. His father owned a grocery store in Anchorage, so the couple decided to spend the summer following their marriage in Alaska. Although they returned to Oregon in the Fall so her husband could complete his degree, a love for the state sprang from her summer experience there. For the first year the couple spent in Oregon, Carol taught elementray school in Spokane. In 1974, the Comeaus returned to Alaska permanently. By then, Carol and Denny had three children, and Carol had been a stay-at-home-mom for ten years. Once her children were all of school age, and enrolled at Ocean View Elementary School in Anchorage, Carol took a job at their school as a part-time noon duty supervisor.

Carol earned her Master’s degree in Public Administration and Education from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. She resumed her teaching career in 1975 when she was hired to teach second grade at the Ocean View School. In 1984, she was named president of the Anchorage Education Association, and by 1993, she was promoted to Superintendent for the Anchorage School District. She became Head Superintendent in 2000. “I laugh because I think if my sixth grade teacher could know that I was a Superintendent, she would turn over in her grave,” Carol once said of her favorite teacher. She recalled the sixth-grade teacher was always telling her to work harder and stop being so chatty.

As an administrator, Carol worked to get Jewish and Islamic holidays added to the school calendar, and to include sexual orientation as part of her district’s anti-harassment policy. At 48,200 students, Anchorage is the state’s largest and most diverse district.

Carol was named Alaska Superintendent of the Year in 2004. In 2007, she was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. In 2012, she was named an Alumnus of Distinction and given the Alumni of Achievement Award by the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Also, an endowment specifially for education at the Alaska Community Foundation is named after this remarkable educator. Carol was inaugurated to the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame in 2009. She retired on June 30, 2012, and today makes her home in Bellingham, Washington.

NJ’s Carole Graves: Teacher, labor leader, and politician

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Retired Special Education teacher, labor leader, and politician Carole Graves of New Jersey labored during the Civil Rights Movement to improve working conditions for her fellow teachers. Photo credit: Ballotpedia.

There are many fine educators in our country who have labored diligently to improve the lives of others, not only the lives of their students, but also the working conditions of their colleagues. One of these is Carole Graves, a New Jersey teacher who also made great improvements for Newark public school teachers.

Carole was born on April 15, 1938, in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey. After her graduation from Arts High School in her home town, she enrolled at Newark State Teachers College, where she earned her degree in 1960. After college, Carole, accepted a position as a special education teacher at the Dayton Street School in Newark.  Later she earned a certificate in Labor and Management Relations from New Brunswick.

In 1971, Carole gained national recognition when she led the Newark teachers in a highly controversial strike that lasted 13 weeks. During the job action, over 200 teachers were jailed, and Carole herself served six months in the Essex County Jail. Her sacrifice was not in vain. The contract settlement that resulted in her efforts contained unprecedented contract gains, recognition of teachers’ rights, and improved working conditions for teachers, aides, and clerks in the Newark Public Schools. Carole went on to serve as the full-time President of the Newark Teachers Union, a position she held for 27 years.

Once she completed her work for the teachers’ union, Carole was elected on the Democratic ticket to serve as the Essex County Registrar of Deeds and Mortgages. She held this position for three terms, from 1995 to 2010. For a time she also served as a commissioner on the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) and an adjunct professor of Labor Relations at Essex County College and Rutgers Institute of Labor and Management Relations.

Now 83 years old, this Chalkboard Champion currently lives in Newark.

Wyoming teacher and politician Matilda Hansen

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High school teacher Matilda Hansen also served her community in the Wyoming House of Representatives. Photo credit: Wyomingnews.com

Many fine educators have also served their community as capable politicians. One of these is Matilda Hansen, a high school teacher who also served in the Wyoming House of Representatives.

Matilda was born on September 4, 1929, near Paullina, Iowa. As a young girl, she attended one-room schools in northwest Iowa. As a teenager, she graduated from Scattergood Friends High School in 1948.

After her high school graduation, Matilda earned her Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1963. She earned her Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Wyoming in 1970. She then taught high school at Englewood High School in Colorado from 1963 to 1965, and served as the Director of the Albany County Adult Learning Center in Laramie, Wyoming, from 1966 to 1978.

Later, Matilda was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent District 13, Albany County, in the Wyoming House of Representatives. She served there from 1975 to 1995. While there, she served on various committees, including Juvenile Affairs; Children, Families, and Social Services; Health and Human Resources; Rules; Judiciary; Administrative Rules; Lien Laws; and Appropriations. Matilda’s most notable legislative work addressed education and women’s issues. In addition, she was the driving force for the creation of the Wyoming Territorial Park in Laramie, Wyoming. She was the first woman to serve 20 consecutive years in the House, completing her term as Assistant Minority Floor Leader in 1994.

For her work in the classroom and in the community, Matilda earned several accolades. In 1963, she was named a General Electric Fellow in Economics for High School Teachers. She also garnered the award for Public Citizen of Year by the Wyoming Association Social Workers for 1980-1981.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on August 19, 2019, in Laramie, Wyoming, at the age of 89.

Jeanne Manford: The teacher with a social agenda

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Elementary school teacher Jeanne Manford gained notoriety when she marched next to her son, Morty Manford, in a 1972 gay rights parade in New York. Later she founded PFLAG, which earned her a Presidential Citizens Medal in 2012. Photo credit: SFGATE.

Many American schoolteachers have worked diligently on social causes near and dear to their own heart. One of these was Jeanne Manford, a New York elementary school teacher who worked diligently to advance the acceptance of gay and lesbian people in this country.

Jeanne was born on December 4, 1930 in Flushing, Queens, New York. After earning her Bachelor’s degree from Queens College in the late 1930’s, Jeanne accepted a position as a teacher at PS 32 in Queens. She taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grade there for 26 years.

Following a vicious attack in 1972 on her gay son, Morty, Jeanne and her husband, Jules, founded a local support group for parents of gays and lesbians. “She never thought twice about it. She fought for him,” recalled Jeanne’s daughter, Suzanne Swan. “This was a 5-foot-2, thin, blond woman who had a spine of steel. She just did what she knew to be right,” Swan continued.

Over time, the group Jeanne founded grew into the international organization known as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, or PFLAG. It now boasts more than 350 chapters and more than 200,000 members and supporters in the United States.

Jeanne’s work on this social cause was so appreciated that she was named the Grand Marshal of New York City’s Gay Pride March in June, 1991. She was also the Grand Marshal of the first Pride Parade held in Queens, New York in 1993. President Barack Obama honored the Chalkboard Champion with a Presidential Citizens Medal in 2012.

After nearly three decades in the classroom, Jeanne retired in 1990 at the age of 70. She passed away on January 8, 2013, in Daly City, California at the age of 92.

Texas PE teacher and coach Joey Rodriguez succumbs to Covid-19

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Sadly, beloved Texas PE teacher and soccer coach Joey Rodriguez succumbed to Covid-19 on Oct. 17, 2021. He was only 43 years old. Photo credit: The Dallas Morning News.

We are sad to report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Joey Rodriguez, and teacher and coach from Arlington, Texas, succumbed to the disease on Sunday, Oct. 17.

At the time of his passing, Joey was a Physical Education teacher and soccer coach at Sam Houston High School in the Arlington Independent School District. Joey Rodriguez devoted 12 years of his professional life to the school.

Former student Selena Saldana, class of 2013, says she will greatly miss her former teacher. “He was my high school PE teacher, and he was always pushing me to do much more,” she remembered. “Every time we had to run on the track and I would stop to take a break, he would yell, ‘Come on, Selena. You can do it. Don’t stop now.’ He was really supportive,” she said.

In addition to teaching physical education, Joey worked as the school’s soccer coach since 2009. “Twice, he led his soccer teams to the state championship,” recalled  Marcelo Cavazos, Superintendent of Arlington Schools. “He grew the program so rapidly that the district had to hire more coaches so that all of the kids who wanted to learn from Coach Rodriguez could have the opportunity,” Cavazos noted.

Coach Rodriguez’s Sam Houston team made their first state tournament appearance in school history in 2015.That year, the student athletes reached the Class 6A semifinals and finished 23-3-2. In 2017, the Sam Houston team was the state runner-up, losing to Jesuit in overtime in the title game to finish 22-3-2. Sam Houston High School is one of only three schools in the Arlington District to qualify for the state tournament in boys soccer. In addition to coaching, Joey served as the President of the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches.

Joey graduated from Abilene High School in 1995 where he participated in soccer, football, and marching band. After his high school graduation, Joey enrolled at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where he studied and played soccer for two years before transferring to Hardin Simmons University in Abilene. He graduated from Hardin Simmons with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education in 2001.