Chalkboard Champion and Army Veteran Jeremy Heckler

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Educator, Teacher Librarian, US Army veteran, and journalist Jeremy Heckler of Las Vegas, Nevada.

There are many talented teachers who have served our nation in the military before serving their students in the classroom. One of these is Jeremy Heckler, an educator and teacher librarian from Las Vegas, Nevada, who also did stints in Honduras, El Salvador, and Iraq as a member of the US Army.

Jeremy was born in Long Beach, California, and raised in Corona, California. He graduated from Centennial High School in Corona in 1993. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in History from California State University, San Bernardino, in 1997. He completed the requirements for a Master’s degree in Education Administration in 2010, and a Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in 2011, both from Grand Canyon University.

Jeremy Heckler served in the US Army, completing deployments in Honduras, El Salvador, and Iraq.

Once Jeremy completed his student teaching, he was eager to pursue a passion for journalism, so he put a career in education on the back burner and joined the military. Serving as a journalist in the US Army, Jeremy traveled to Honduras and El Salvador. “When I deployed, I finally understood new things about being a teacher,” Jeremy remembers. “I met kids in orphanages who were there because their parents couldn’t afford to take care of them. I talked to missionaries who went into prisons and talked to gang members that made some of the kids I worked with as a student teacher look like boy Scouts,” he described. “I deployed again to Iraq and saw the after effects of kids with no real education. They were the ones sucked into the violence against soldiers and civilians,” he said. “I never wanted that in my own country or my town. I hoped to help as many kids as I could,” he declared.

Once he was discharged from the Army, Jeremy inaugurated his career as an educator when we accepted a position as an Intermediate Resource Room teacher at JT McWilliams Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada. He made the move to the secondary level when he transferred to Marvin M. Sedway Middle School in North Las Vegas. There he taught 7th grade US History. Later he moved to Las Vegas’s East Career and Technical Academy, where he taught US History, Advanced Placement US History, and Journalism. “It was magic how all my crazy lesson worked,” remembers Jeremy. “My favorite was when my 11th graders practiced their own Civil Rights march and talked about the Movement’s needs and issues,” he recalls.

After many years in Las Vegas, the veteran educator decided to move with his family to Clarksville, Tennessee, where Jeremy taught at Fort Campbell High School on the Fort Campbell military installation. There he taught AP US History, World History, Digital Photography, and Journalism.

After completing his teaching assignment in Tennessee, Jeremy and his family returned to Las Vegas, where he accepted a position as a 7th grade history and 8th grade geography teacher at Garside Junior High School. Eager for yet another new adventure, he launched himself into courses on Library Science.

Currently, Jeremy serves as the Teacher Librarian at Robert Lunt Elementary School in Las Vegas. “I love being in the library,” expresses Jeremy. “I see every single student on campus. I help them develop a love of reading and books,” he continued. “My favorite day is Tuesday, because I get to read to my Pre-K students and help them enjoy reading for reading.” In addition to reading aloud to students, Jeremy organizes numerous Maker-Space activities. His projects include guiding students into researching ancient pyramids and building replicas with Legos, and researching and designing marble roller coasters. “I hope I give them inspiration to see the world,” Jeremy confesses.

Jeremy Heckler: a true Chalkboard Champion.

Science teacher Chanda Jefferson: South Carolina’s 2020 Teacher of the Year

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Science teacher Chanda Jefferson, South Carolina’s 2020 Teacher of the Year.

I always enjoy sharing stories about exceptional classroom teachers who have earned recognition for their work in the classroom. One of these is Chanda Jefferson, who has just been named South Carolina’s 2020 Teacher of the Year.

Chanda teaches at Fairfield Central High School in Winnsboro, South Carolina. She serves as the Chair of the Science Department, the STEM Lead teacher, and a science teacher there.

“Teaching is in my DNA,” Chanda once declared. “My mother stressed the importance of education, and I developed a love for school and learning — especially science,” she continued. “I discovered I loved getting kids excited about science, sharing my passion with them. I realized that my true calling was to become a teacher. Teaching would allow me to help create opportunities for many children,” she concluded.

In the classroom, this outstanding educator is known for using real-world science experiences to engage her students and inspire them to become future leaders in STEM fields. When Chanda designs her lesson plans, she uses inquiry-based and culturally-relevant teaching strategies, STEM practices, and emotional intelligence strategies. “The first moment I walk into the classroom I try to figure out my students’ likes and dislikes. I learn about their families. I tell them about my family,” Chanda once explained. “As I learn about them, I use that information in the classroom. So if they like football, I try to incorporate sports into the lesson or music – whatever it is that piques their interest, including pop culture,” she continued.

In addition to being named South Carolina’s 2020 Teacher of the Year, Chanda has garnered many other accolades. She earned the South Carolina Educational Policy Fellowship, in which she works with the legislature to develop solutions to promote diversity and access in education. She also received the South Carolina Outstanding Biology Teacher Award and the Phi Beta Sigma Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, she was selected as a participant in the Princeton Molecular Biology Teacher Institute.

Chanda earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 2009 and her Master’s degree in Teaching Secondary Sciences in 2011, both from the University of South Carolina. She also earned a Master’s of Educational Leadership from Columbia University in New York City in 2019.

To read more about this amazing educator, see this link at Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement, also known as CERRA.

Coronavirus claims life of Special Ed teacher and varsity baseball coach Ben Luderer

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Special Education teacher and varsity baseball coach Ben Luderer of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, succumbs to coronavirus.

Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of numerous beloved educators and coaches. One of these is Ben Luderer, a middle school special education teacher and baseball coach from Cliffside Park, New Jersey. Ben was only 30 years old, and healthy, when he contracted the coronavirus and then passed away on March 30, 2020.

Ben was a New Jersey native, having been born on September 29, 1989, in River Vale, New Jersey. As a high school student, Ben was a star baseball player at Don Bosco Preparatory High School, a private Catholic school located in Ramsey, New Jersey.  In 2008, his team logged a record of 33 games undefeated, a nearly impossible achievement, and earned the state championship. Local news outlets dubbed the team the Ironmen. “That team was invincible,” recalls Ben’s former coach, Greg Butler, in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “They felt they couldn’t be beaten, and they weren’t.”

As a result of his high school successes, Ben earned a baseball scholarship to Marist College in New York. There he hit .263 with two home runs and 35 RBI.

OnceBene graduated from college, he inaugurated his career as a special education teacher at School #6 in the Cliffside Park School District. He also began coaching varsity baseball. “I think he realized the power you have and the influence you have,” Butler commented. “I think he wanted to give back.”

“He touched so many lives,” remembers Ben’s wife, Brandy Luderer. “Whether it be a co-worker or an administrator or a player or a student, he always went out of his way to help people. He was a stand-up guy, a stand-up man,” she remarked.

To learn more about this chalkboard champion, see the online article published by BuzzFeed.