Jeanne Manford: The teacher with a social agenda

Posted on by
Reply

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. Jeanne Manford: A true Chalkboard Champion.

NM teacher and coach Andie Gudbegsson Redemann named Pepsi Teacher of the Month

Posted on by
Reply

There are many outstanding educators who have earned recognition for their work with young people in our nation’s pubic schools. One of these is Andie Gudbegsson Redemann, a middle school Language Arts and English as a Second Language teacher and track coach in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has been named the Pepsi Teacher of the Month in April, 2026. View the YouTube video below to learn more about Andie.

Texas educator and community activist Leona Washington

Posted on by
Reply

Many talented educators also work to improve the lives of the people of their city through community activism. Leona Washington of El Paso, Texas, was one such educator. Photo credit: El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs

Many talented educators also work to improve the lives of the people of their city through community activism. Leona Washington of El Paso, Texas, was one such educator.

Leona was born in 1928 in El Paso. As a young woman, she attended Prairie View  A&M University. There she earned both her Bachelor’s and her Master’s degrees. Once she earned her degrees, Leona taught for two years in  Las Cruces schools. Later, Leona became a teacher in Douglass School, a segregated school in the El Paso Independent School District. Her career there spanned 39 years.

In addition to her classroom duties, Leona founded the McCall Neighborhood Center in El Paso. There she worked as the first Executive Director of the facility, which served both the African American and Mexican American communities in the city. In addition, she was a co-founder and principal organizer of the annual Miss Black El Paso Southwest Scholarship Pageant. She also served as President, Vice-President, and Treasurer of the Phillis Wheatley Chapter of El Paso, an organization that provided a food bank for needy families and the elderly. She was also a member of the NAACP, the El Paso Community Foundation Advisory Board, the Arts and Resources Board of El Paso, and the Planned Parenthood Board of El Paso.

As if all this were not enough, Leona accepted the responsibilities of publishing The Good Neighbor Interpreter, a newspaper that provided news about the African American community to the residents of El Paso. In addition, she composed the song “The City of El Paso,” which was adopted as the city’s official song in the 1980’s.

For her many works of community activism, Leona earned many accolades. She was inducted into the El Paso County Democratic Hall of Fame in 1984, and in 1991, she was inducted into the El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame. She was given the city of El Paso’s Conquistador Award in 2000. She also received Woman of the Year Award in 2002 and the Myrna J. Deckert Lifetime Achievement Award by the YWCA in 2007, the last honor posthumously.

Leona passed away on August 5, 2007. To learn more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion, see this article about her published in the Texas State Historical Association.

America celebrates Juneteenth!

Posted on by
Reply

For the African American community, June 19 marks the annual observance of an important holiday: Juneteenth. Many teachers are aware of the significance of this event, and, if school for them is still in session, they may be planning an observance of the occasion with their students.

Juneteenth marks the 1865 arrival of Federal troops under the command of US General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas. Their military mission was to take control of the state following the Civil War, and to ensure that all enslaved people living there had been freed. Until that day, 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were unaware that slavery had been declared officially ended. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

The year following Granger’s arrival, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of “Jubilee Day” on June 19. In the decades since, Juneteenth commemorations featured music, barbecues, prayer services, and other holiday activities. As Black people migrated from Texas to other parts of the country, the tradition of celebrating Juneteenth spread.

Juneteenth is considered the longest-running African American holiday in US history. In 1979, Texas became the first state to declare Juneteenth an official holiday. Efforts to make the celebration a national holiday have, so far, stalled in Congress, but as of this year, 47 states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday.