Covid-19 claims Georgia Special Ed teacher Wendi Rhodes
Special Education teacher Wendi Rhodes of Springfield, Georgia, passed away from Covid-19 on March 9, 2021. She is shown here with her son Davin Rhodes. Photo credit: GoFundMe.
With great sadness, we report that yet another beloved educator has succumbed to Covid 19. Wendi Rhodes, a high school Special Education teacher in Springfield, Georgia, passed away on March 9, 2021. She was only 48 years old.
As a youngster, Wendi attended high school in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. After graduating in 1990, she enrolled at Georgia Southern University located in Statesboro, Georgia. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education with an emphasis on Special Education in 1995. In 2012, Wendi graduated from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, with her Master’s Degree in Special Education.
As a neophyte educator, Wendi began her career as a first through third grade self-contained Specific Learning Disability teacher Chatham County, Georgia. Later she moved to Lexington, Kentucky. There she taught high school special education for two years, splitting her time between collaborating in the regular education math classes and working with self-contained students who were learning life skills. She then moved to Manassas, Virginia, and worked as a Transition Coordinator for the Manassas City School System. While there, she assisted with job internship placements and facilitated on-the-job training for students with disabilities.
Upon returning to Georgia in 2001, Wendi has worked with students with disabilities at the high school level at Jenkins High School in Savannah, and at both South Effingham High School and Effingham County High School. Her students were the severe and profoundly intellectually disabled.
During her leisure hours, Wendi enjoyed reading novels, crafting projects, bargain shopping, going to concerts, and traveling, especially to the mountains.
To learn more about Wendi Rhodes, see this brief biography published by Effingham County High School.
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Educator, Civil Rights activist Ida B. Kinney honored by NAACP
California educator Ida B. Kinney and other Civil Rights activists were honored by the NAACP with stamps issued by the US Postal Service. Photo credit: US Postal Service.
Throughout our country’s history, there are many examples of classroom teachers who have also worked tirelessly for the Civil Rights of African Americans. One of these is Ida B. Kinney, a 20th-century educator from Southern California, who was among those who were honored by the NAACP with special stamps issued by the US Postal Service.
Ida was born on May 25, 1904, in Lafayette County, Arkansas. She was raised by her grandparents, who were former slaves. In 1920, when Ida was only 16 years old, she moved to California, where she lived with her mother in Santa Monica. Following her graduation from Santa Monica High School, young Ida returned to Arkansas where she attended Philander Smith College. After one year, she returned to California, where she enrolled in the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). It was there she met and married Carl Minion. The couple settled in the San Fernando Valley in 1940, where Ida completed the requirements for her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at San Fernando Valley State College. The institution is now known as Cal State Northridge.
Because she was an African American, Ida’s application for her teaching credential was denied. She sent a petition to then California Governor Pat Brown, who ordered a credential be issued to her. She received the coveted document within ten days. Ida inaugurated her career as an educator as a substitute in Kern County. Later she worked in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
In addition to her work in the classroom, Ida became dedicated to improving conditions for African Americans. She was influential in securing access to medical treatment for Black women which had been denied them by a hospital in Van Nuys. She inaugurated a local Head Start program for children. She also worked tirelessly to secure the rights for Black workers to join the union at Lockheed Aerospace. During the remainder of her life, she joined such Civil Rights giants as Medger Evers, Rosa Parks, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to participate in marches, protests, and other activist practices.
After her retirement from the classroom, Ida was appointed to the Commission on Aging for the County of Los Angeles. She served in this position for 12 years. She was also instrumental in establishing a senior center in Pacoima, California. The facility opened in 1971. In addition, Ida played a key role in creating the Pacoima Boys & Girls Club.
On her 100th birthday, Ida B. Kinney was honored with other Civil Rights activists for her work in securing rights for African Americans. When she passed away from natural causes in Lake View Terrace, California, on Jan. 1, 2009, she was 104 years old. To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this obituary published by the Los Angeles Times.
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Maine’s Bill Diamond: Educator and state politician
Maine’s Bill Diamond: Former teacher, school superintendent, and state politician. Photo credit: The Bridgton news.
Many fine educators have also made a name for themselves in politics. One of these is Bill Diamond, a former teacher who also served in both the Maine State House of Representatives and the Maine State Senate.
Bill was born on Feb. 19, 1945, in Gardiner, Maine. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Gorham State Teacher College in 1968. He earned his first Master’s degree from the University of Main, Port/Gorham in 1972. He earned a second Master’s from the University of New England in 1964, and completed post-Master’s courses at the University of New England in 1998.
Once he earned his degrees, Bill worked for 20 years in the field of education, including in positions as teacher, principal, and superintendent. From 1968 to 1986, Bill taught in Windham Public Schools. He later served as the Superintendent of Public Schools in Raymond, Maine.
Bill was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Maine House of Representatives in 1976, where he served until 1982. That was the year he was elected to the Main State Senate, where he served until 1986. In 1989, he was selected to be Maine’s Secretary of State, and he was re-elected four yeas later. In 2004, the former educator was re-elected to the Maine State Senate. In 2014, he was elected to serve in Maine’s State Senate representing the 26th District in Cumberland County. During his lengthy political career, Bill has served several terms on the Transportation Committee, he was Senate Chair of the Criminal Justice Committee for four years, and he served for two years as Senate Chair of the Appropriations Committee.
For most of his political career, Bill has focused on balancing the state budget and protecting children placed in the care of the state system. His concern for the welfare of children is something he carried from the classroom into the legislature. “We must pass laws to protect our children from sexual and physical abuse, especially children under state care, which includes supporting our foster care program,” declared Bill in a 2020 interview published by Bridgton News.
Bill Diamond: A true Chalkboard Champion.
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Texas teacher Phuong Kathy Nguyen succumbs to Covid-19
With great sadness we report the passing of middle school teacher and coach Phuong Kathy Nguyen of Dallas, Texas. She succumbed to Covid-19 on Feb. 13, 2021. Photo credit: Twitter.
With great sadness we report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Phuong Kathy Nguyen, a teacher and coach in Dallas, Texas, succumbed to the disease on Feb. 13, 2021, in Richardson, Texas. She was only 37 years old.
Kathy was born on July 12, 1983, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her maiden name was Cipriano. She graduated from Lakeview Centennial High School in 2001. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mulit/Interdisciplinary Studies in 2006 from the University of Texas at Dallas. She completed the requirements for her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of North Texas in 2022.
The fallen educator taught and coached at a middle school in the Dallas Independent School district. Her career there spanned 15 years. During those years, Kathy gained a reputation for being a passionate teacher who did her utmost to give her students a better education for a brighter future. She dedicated countless hours and even her personal time and finances to see to it that her students succeeded, both in the classroom or on the field.
Kathy will definitely be missed by her family, friends, colleagues, and students. I knew Kathy as Mrs. Cipriano when I first started teaching at Lee,” remembers colleague Yasmin Cardenas. “We were both on the fourth grade team. She was always so positive and had a colorful smile that was contagious,” Cardenas said. Friend Alain Castillo agrees. “Kathy was a great person that impacted the lives of whoever she met,” he asserts. Friend Julie Trujillo also had positive memories of Kathy. “She was an amazing teacher. Always with a smile on her face. Her passion lives on through … all the students she taught and coached,” Trujillo declared.
To read more about this beloved educator, click on this link to read her obituary.
