Indiana’s Mark Snodgrass garners Amazon Future Engineer Teacher of the Year Award
Ten exceptional educators from around the country have garnered a Future Engineer Teacher of the Year Award from Amazon. One of these is Mark Snodgrass, a computer science teacher at Southport High School in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Mark was recognized for his work helping students in under-served and under-represented communities build skills in computer science. “Computer science skills will be of vital importance as we take on and solve the challenges of the future,” declared Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer. This is the first year Amazon has offered the prize.
“Mr. Snodgrass is a shining example of innovative instruction,” declared Brian Knight, principal of Southport High. “He recognizes that education doesn’t happen only inside of the classroom. Instead, Mr. Snodgrass builds meaningful relationships with community partners who have vast resources that engage students and take their learning to the next level.”
A graduate of the University of Indianapolis, Mark’s career as an educator has spanned 18 years. He has worked at Southport High School for four of those years. Mark is committed to providing his students with new learning experiences. He inaugurated a “Girls that Code” program into his curriculum to encourage more girls to pursue STEM careers. In addition, Mark encourages every student to join the FIRST Robotics team.
Each of the ten award-winning teachers received a prize package valued at over $50,000 to be used to benefit his or her school and students.The package included Amazon Fire HD 8 Tablets, classroom essentials from AmazonBasics, and additional items from Amazon Essentials. Award recipients also received one full year of Amazon Music Unlimited and a 12-month Audible.com Gold Gift Membership. Mark and his fellow award-winners also received a $200 Amazon gift card to celebrate their hard work on behalf of computer science students across the country.
To learn more about all the winners of the award, see this link at Amazonblog.
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On Labor Day, let’s celebrate teachers and school personnel
Labor Day celebrates the workers who have made America what it is today. And all throughout the country, our public schools are full of some of the hardest-working people I have ever met. Teachers, administrators, support staff, custodians, counselors, teachers aids—they all work some of the longest hours of any professionals around. They invest countless hours in our kids, incliuding long days, weekends, even summer vacations. Most educators are driven by one mission: Making sure students get access to the education and life skills they need to succeed. The infographic below from Busy Teacher was designed to illustrate just how hard our nation’s teachers work.
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Chalkboard Books make great inspirational gifts for teachers, others
When contemplating just the right inspirational gift to buy for a teacher you know, consider gifting copies of Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes. Each volume is packed with inspirational stories about remarkable educators in American history, and the historical implications of their pioneering work. These books make great gifts for individuals in the teaching profession and those aspiring to become teachers some day. They are also appealing to history buffs and social scientists.
Among the captivating stories in Chalkboard Champions is the story of Charlotte Forten Grimke, an African American born into freedom who volunteered to teach emancipated slaves as the Civil War raged around her. Read the eyewitness account of the Wounded Knee massacre through the eyes of teacher Elaine Goodale Eastman, and educator Mary Tsukamoto, imprisoned in a WWII Japanese internment camp. Read about Mississippi Freedom Summer teacher Sandra Adickes who, together with her students, defied Jim Crow laws to integrate the Hattiesburg Public Library. Marvel at the pioneering work of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher of Helen Keller, the efforts of teacher Clara Comstock to find homes for thousands of Orphan Train riders, and the dedication of Jaime Escalante, the East LA educator who proved to that inner city Latino youths could successfully meet the demands of a rigorous curriculum.
In Chalkboard Heroes, read about dedicated educators who were heroes both inside and outside of the classroom, including WWI veteran Henry Alvin Cameron and Civil War veteran Francis Wayland Parker. Learn about teachers who were social reformers such as Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights activist Robert Parris Moses, suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, and Native American rights advocate Zitkala-Sa, all of whom put themselves at risk to fight for improved conditions for disenfranchised citizens. Discover brave pioneers who took great risks to blaze a trail for others to follow such as Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space; Willa Brown Chappell, the aviatrix who taught Tuskegee airmen to fly; Etta Schureman Jones, the Alaskan teacher who was interned in a POW camp in Japan during WWII; and Olive Mann Isbell, who established the first English school in California while the Mexican american War raged around her.
All these remarkable stories and more can be shared with someone you know this Fall.
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Mississippi teacher and coach Nacoma James succumbs to Covid-19
Sadly, we announce that Covid-19 is believed to have claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Nacoma James, a teacher and coach at Lafayette County Schools in Lafayette, Mississippi, passed away on August 6, 2020. He was only 42 years old. He succumbed during the first week of the new school year, while self-quarantining for symptoms that are associated with Covid-19.
Nacoma was born on October 13, 1977, in Webster County, Mississippi. As a teen, he attended Eupora High School in Webster County School District, where he graduated in 1996. After his high school graduation, he enrolled at the University of Mississippi. He earned His Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics in 2000.
After graduating college, Nacoma accepted a position at Humphrey’s County High School. There he taught math and was an Assistant Football Coach from 2000 to 2003.
Since 2004, James worked as a middle school teacher and coach for Lafayette County School District in Oxford, Mississippi. Over the span of his 16-year career at Lafayette, Nacoma served as an Assistant Football Coach. He also served as the Boys’ Head Basketball Coach from 2012 to 2015. He was also named recently as an Assistant Coach for the Girls’ Powerlifting team.
“He was a great mentor for these young men around here and always had a smile on his face,” declares colleague and Head Football Coach Michael Fair. “We won a state championship together in 2016, and he had so much pride for Lafayette and loves this place so much,” Fair continued. “Just to see that look on his face of accomplishment, I probably won’t forget that, Fair concluded.
To learn more about this beloved educator, see this link to Mississippi Today.
