Beloved Detroit educator and coach Dwight Jones succumbs to Covid-19

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Beloved educator and coach Dwight Jones (front row, left) with the Mumford High School girls basketball team and their 2017 championship trophy. Dwight passed away from Covid-19 on March 29, 2020. Photo credit: Mumford High School

Sadly, Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Dwight Jones, a retired basketball coach from Mumford High School in Detroit, Michigan. He was 73 years old when he succumbed to the disease on March 29, 2020.

Dwight first made a name for himself as a teenager in the early 1960s. He was one of the very few African Americans enrolled at Holy Redeemer High School, a private Catholic high school located in southwest Detroit. At 6’5″ and 230 pounds, he was unparalleled at rebounding. In fact, he earned the nickname “Hawk” throughout the Catholic League. In those days, he was involved in football, baseball, and track and field in addition to basketball. At the same time, he earned top grades.

The well-rounded student earned a full-ride scholarship to Tennessee State in Nashville. There he played on the basketball team. He pledged to the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

Dwight returned to Detroit, and in 1970 he accepted a position at Mumford High School. There he taught physical education and coached both girls and boys basketball. He also coached track and field, cross country, and tennis, and he served as the school’s Athletic Director. His career there spanned nearly five decades.

In addition to helping his young players develop their athletic talents, Dwight also worked hard to get them into college, whether it was a Division I or II school, or a historically Black college. “When he took over as Athletic Director, he was all about grades,” remembered Mumford colleague and former student Kevin Jackson. “Words can’t express what he meant to us.”

To read more about this legendary local hero, read this online story published by Detroit News.

Edney Apulu of American Samoa named 2020 Territorial Teacher of the Year

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Educator Edney Apulu of American Samoa, who has been named 2020 Territorial Teacher of the Year.

I love to share stories about outstanding educators who have earned accolades for their work. One of these is Edney Apulu, a high school social studies teacher in American Samoa. He has been named 2020 Territorial Teacher of the Year.

This is the second year in a row that a teacher from Tafuna has been named Territorial Teacher of the Year. Last year’s winner was math teacher Jordanna Maga.

As a young man, Edney attended Tafuna High School, where he graduated in 2004. Once he graduated, he enrolled in American Samoa Community College, where he earned his Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts. He continued his education at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in both Social Studies and History. In addition, he earned a Master’s degree in Curriculum Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Once he completed his education, Edney returned to his home island. There he accepted a position as a social studies teacher at his alma mater, Tafuna High School. He has taught there for the past 11 years. In addition to his classroom responsibilities, Edney serves as the Head of the Social Studies Department and as an official with the American Samoa High School Athletics Association. He also serves as the Chair for the Lumana’i Chapter of the National Honor Society, and he is the faculty advisor of both the History Club and the Junior Statesman of America.

To read more about this amazing educator, view this online article about him published by the American Samoa Department of Education.

Educator, librarian, lecturer, and Civil Rights activist, Pauline Young

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Educator, librarian, lecturer, and Civil Rights activist, Pauline Young.

Often have I marveled at how much America’s teachers contribute to the social betterment of society as a whole. One teacher who made such contributions was Pauline Young, an African American educator, librarian,  lecturer, and Civil rights activist from Massachusetts.

Pauline was born on August 17, 1900, in West Medford, Massachusetts. Her father was a caterer and her mother was an English teacher. After her father’s death, Pauline’s mother moved with her children to Wilmington, Delaware. Pauline often said that her Delaware childhood home was a “wayside inn and an underground railroad for visiting Negroes and white literary friends, who wouldn’t go to the hotel, you know, since the hotel wouldn’t admit Negroes.” WEB DuBois, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, and James Weldon Johnson were among the guests who visited her home.

As an adolescent, Pauline attended Howard High School, the only school in Delaware that admitted Black students. Both her mother and her aunt, who was married to poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, were teachers at the school. After her graduation from high school, Pauline enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania. She was the only African American student in her class. At this school Pauline earned a Bachelor’s degree in History and English in 1921.

Once she earned her degree, Pauline accepted a position to teach social studies and Latin at Huntington High School, a school for Black students in Newport News, Virginia. Later she was hired to be the librarian at her alma mater, Howard High School. During her tenure there, Pauline also taught History and Latin. Her career spanned 36 years, from 1919 to 1955.

During her years as a teacher at Howard, the indefatigable educator accomplished a myriad of other achievements. In 1935, Pauline completed the requirements for a graduate degree from the Columbia University School of Library Service. She also traveled to the Southwest, where she taught courses at the University of Southern California. This amazing educator next went to Alabama, where she completed courses in pilot training at the Coffey School of Aeronautics in Chicago, Illinois, and flight instruction at Temple University. Pauline then taught  courses in pre-flight at Howard High School. In addition to these pursuits, the intrepid educator also worked actively for the NAACP and the United Service Organizations (USO), and collaborated on writing projects with WEB DuBois.

Pauline’s career at Howard spanned 36 years, from 1919 to 1955. After her retirement from Howard High School, Pauline helped to found the American Federation of Teachers. She also traveled to Jamaica, where she served as a teacher for the Peace Corps from 1962 to 1964. While there, she helped train librarians and library staff members. She also served as a librarian of the Jamaican Scientific Research Council. She worked on the Jamaican library’s first indexing system, where over 80,000 books were cataloged.

Once Pauline returned to the United States, she accepted speaking engagements and substitute teaching assignments. In 1968, she instructed a course in Afro-American history at the Central YMCA in Wilmington, Delaware.  She also became active in the Civil Rights Movement. She even met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and participated in his 1963 March on Washington. She also took part in King’s March for Equality from Selma to Montgomery, as well as other peaceful protests.

This remarkable educator passed away on June 26, 1991, in Wilmington. She was 91 years old. For her lifetime achievements, Pauline was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women in 1982. She also garnered recognition from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Association of University Women.

To read more about Pauline A. Young, see this link by historian Judith Y. Gibson at the University of Delaware.

Washington teacher Annie Pintler shares unusual classroom pet with students

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Teacher Annie Pintler of Ridgefield, Washington, shows her fifth grade students their new classroom pet, an axoltl. Axolotls are a type of salamander native to Mexico.

Many elementary school teachers have enriched their learning environments with classroom pets that provide invaluable interactive experiences for their students. One teacher who has a very unusual classroom pet is Annie Pintler, a fifth grade teacher at Sunset Ridge Intermediate School in Ridgefield, Washington.

When Annie came across a post on Facebook from an individual who had an axolotl they could no longer care for, she instantly knew this was the classroom pet for her. An axolotl is a type of salamander, native to Mexico. The creature is an endangered species. “I knew I could build a whole curriculum around him,” Annie recalled. “What are axolotls? What do they like to eat?”

Annie adopted the unusual creature, and then gave her students the task of researching the species. The students named their classroom pet Creepy Buddy Aztec after learning that his species name derived from an Aztec word. Then they worked their way through the lessons designed by the creative teacher. The kids learned what an axolotl is, what they eat, and the origin of the species’ name. They also worked to create a satisfactory living environment for their shared pet. After the students concluded their study, Annie asked them to write a story about their research.

You can read more about this amazing educator in this online article from Katu on Your Side.

Students of fifth grade teacher Annie Pintler observe their new classroom pet, an axolotl.

Math educator, soccer coach, and outstanding athlete Lorraine Fitzhugh

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High school math educator and coach Lorraine Fitzhugh of Minden, Nevada, has also earned acclaim as a women’s soccer player.

There are countless examples of outstanding athletes who have gone on to successful careers as educators. One of these is Lorraine Fitzhugh, an outstanding soccer player who went on to coach and teach in Minden, Nevada.

After her high school graduation, Lorraine attended Washington State University, where she played soccer for her college team. Her position was defender. Between 1985 and 1987, she trained with the Western Regional team of the US National program. later, she played for a soccer club based in Seattle. That club won an over-30 national championship. In 1986, Lorraine competed with the US team in a play-off match against Canada for the North American Cup title. In that match, the US team emerged victorious.

In 1999, Lorraine accepted a position as a mathematics and technology teacher at Pau-Wa-Lu Middle School in Gardnerville, Nevada. The next year, she transferred to Douglas High School in Minden, Nevada. There she served as the coach of the boys’ junior varsity soccer team. The following year, she became Head Coach of the girls’ soccer team. Over the next eight years, she led her girls to two state titles, two regional championships, and three Sierra League titles. She retired from coaching in 2013.

Lorraine’s career as an educator has spanned 20 years. She continues to teach math, AP Computer Science, and Computer Science Principles. She also serves her school as a STEAM leader. To read more about this amazing athlete and educator, see this link at the Record-Courier.