Coronavirus claims life of NYC PE teacher David Behrbom

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Coronavirus claims the life of New York City Physical Education teacher David Behrbom. He was 47 years old.

With great sadness we report the loss of yet another beloved educator to the coronavirus. David Behrbom, a physical education teacher at New York City’s PS 55, passed away on April 5, 2020. He was only 47 years old.

David’s career at PS 55 spanned 15 years. The school is located in the Bronx area of the New York City. In addition to physical education, David taught math and health education. David is remembered by everyone for the annual  Spring event he organized. The event was an Olympic Field Day, which brought together students and staff for a fun day of friendly athletic competition.

As a youngster, David was recognized as a talented athlete, particularly on the baseball diamond.

Outside of the classroom, David also coached Little League baseball and soccer in his home town of Ardsley in Westchester County. He enjoyed old-school hip-hop and was a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees.

“As an educator, Behrbom was an amazing individual,” remarked PS 55 Principal Luis Torres. David’s co-workers shared the sentiment.  “I will always remember David as a great teacher and colleague,” expressed retired teacher Maria Arroyo. Fellow educator Nalda Munroe agreed. “David was a pleasant, friendly, and encouraging teacher and co-worker,” she recalled. “His presence in my classroom will never be forgotten….the way he interacted with the students…He will surely be missed,” she said.

In March, David was diagnosed with leukemia and began undergoing chemotherapy. Shortly thereafter he was diagnosed with COVID-19, and was awaiting the go-ahead to use an experimental treatment that involved platelets when passed away at White Plains Hospital Center in White Plains, New York.

You can read more about David Behrbom at this link to his memorial at the  United Federation of Teachers.

Iris Stevenson: The choir director who inspired Sister Act 2

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California’s Iris Stevenson , The choir director  whose story served loosely as the basis for the movie Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.

I am always intrigued by stories about educators who have caught the attention of Hollywood. One of these is Iris Stevenson, a Los Angeles music teacher whose story is, loosely, the basis for the hit movie Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. The movie starred Whoopi Goldberg

Iris was raised in public housing in Buffalo, New York. Her father earned his living as a blue-collar worker and part-time musician. Her mother worked as a domestic. At an early age, Iris demonstrated an extraordinary talent for music. As a young girl, she attended Villa Maria Institute, a program for talented young musicians. When she was 15, Iris earned a four-year scholarship to attend the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. Once she graduated from Oberlin, Iris began teaching courses at Canisius College. She also earned her Master’s degree in Fine Arts  from the State University of New York, Buffalo.

In 1985 Iris relocated to southern California, where she accepted a position as a music teacher at Crenshaw High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District. There she serves as the Chair of the Music Department. She also teaches piano, choir, music theory, and practical application of music at Crenshaw High School. Crenshaw has a student population that is a predominantly African American.

Under the expert leadership of Iris, Crenshaw’s choir students have performed on several national television specials. In 1992 and 1993, she escorted her students to Nice, France, to perform in the Worldwide Music Festival. Her choir also garnered first place in the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival four years in a row. In 2011, the group traveled to China to compete in the World Choir Games, where they earned a Gold Medal. In 2014, this amazing educator took her choir to the White House to perform with Jennifer Hudson for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. 

To read more about this amazing educator, see this story printed in the Los Angeles Times.

Minnesota’s Hannah Kempfer: Teacher and politician

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Minnesota’s Hannah Kempfer: The teacher and politician who championed the causes of children. (Photo credit: Minnesota Good Age)

Many teachers enter the profession because they experienced unhappy childhoods, and when they grow up, they want to do whatever they can to brighten the lives of other children. This could be said of Hannah Kempfer, a well-known educator from Minnesota.

Hannah Jensen Kempfer was born on December 22, 1880, on a ship in the North Sea, the daughter of a sailor and an unwed mother who was working as a stewardess. Shortly after her birth, she was abandoned by her mother and placed in an orphanage in Norway. Hannah was adopted the next year by a Norwegian family who immigrated to America in 1885. The family settled in Minnesota. There Hannah grew up in abject poverty.

When Hannah was only twelve years old, she took a train to Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where she was taken in by the family of a local milkman. There Hannah attended Fergus Falls High School. Once she graduated, she enrolled at Park Region Luther College, where she graduated at the age of 17. After she earned her teaching certificate, Hannah taught from 1898 to 1908 at a small rural schoolhouse. She married farmer Charles Taylor Kempfer in 1903, and although the couple never had any children of their own, they fostered eleven orphans.

In 1923, Hannah was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, where she served from 1923 to 1930 and 1933 to 1942. She was one of four women elected to the Minnesota House following the passage of women’s suffrage, and she was the first woman elected to office from rural Minnesota. She is best known for championing the causes of children, the conservation of natural resources, and the official selection of the Showy Ladies’ Slipper as  Minnesota’s state flower.  In 1923, Hannah and her fellow female legislators co-authored legislation that guaranteed children born out of wedlock would receive inheritance rights. The bill also required that fathers to give their children their last name.

Hannah Kempfer is remembered today as a true Chalkboard Champion. To learn more about this trailblazing woman, see her entry at the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.

Florida teachers turn students’ desks into little jeeps

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First grade teachers Patricia Dovi and Kim Martin from DeLand, Florida, turn their students’ desks into little jeeps to help their kids adjust to safe face-to-face instruction during the pandemic. (Photo credit: CNN)

Educators all around the country are scrambling to find ways to keep their students safe when face-to face instruction resumes. Two first grade teachers from DeLand, Florida, have come up with a unique strategy to create social distancing in their classroom. They have transformed their students’ desk chairs into little jeeps!

Patricia Dovi and Kim Martin, who teach at St. Barnabas Episcopal School, fashioned headlights,tires, front grills, and license plates from construction paper, Between each jeep they placed three-sided plexiglass dividers that serve as windshields and side windows. The dividers serve double duty as coronavirus barriers.

“We had a little meet-the-teacher session and we gave them keys to their car and told them just like in a motor vehicle, you have to stay in your car at all times and wear a mask when you get out in case you come across hazardous conditions,” explained Kim. “So we’re playing on this vehicle concept to turn social distancing fun and more kid friendly.” Many students said they could hardly wait to take their desks for a test drive, the two teachers revealed.
Paul Garcia, principal of St. Barnabas, said the plexiglrass shields were purchased by the school, but the teachers will be reimbursed for the $200 they spent on the other materials they used to transform the desks into vehicles.
Patricia and Kim said an Instagram post from Jennifer Birch Pierson, an elementary school teacher from Texas, served as the inspiration for the project. To read more about these innovative educators, see this link to CNN.

First grade teachers Patricia Dovi, lfet, and Kim Martin, right, from St. Barnabas Episcopal School in DeLand, Florida. (Photo credit: CNN)