The amazing Marsheda Ewulomi: English teacher and lawyer

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Former English teacher Marsheda Ewulomi now works as a lawyer specializing in police accountability and expanding higher education for Chicago prisoners.

I love to share stories about educators who have also enjoyed successful careers in fields other than the classroom. One of these is Marsheda Ewulomi, a former high school English teacher who now works as a lawyer. Her specialty? Police accountability and expanding higher education for Chicago prisoners.

Marsheda was born in Lansing, Michigan. As a young woman, she attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree with a major in English and a minor in African and AfroAmerican Studies in 2012.

Once she earned her degree, Marsheda accepted a position with Teach for America. She was hired as a high school English teacher in Washington, DC. In addition to her classroom duties, Marsheda led a team of four teachers in diverse content areas to create cross-curricular assignments, provided support in classroom management, and identified students at risk of failing academically and behaviorally. She also generated action plans for specific students that led to 100% of the students promoting up to the next grade. The young teacher served in this capacity from 2012 to 2014.

When she completed her obligation with Teach for America, Marsheda returned to her home state of Michigan. There she worked as a Behavioral and Academic Interventionist at her alma mater, the Mid-Michigan Leadership Academy. During her tenure there, Marsheda provided professional support for new teachers. She also founded a club to support 7th and 9th grade girls and supervised an after-care program for kindergartners and first graders. As if all that wasn’t enough, she also worked as a floating substitute and coached dance!

After some years at the academy, the former teacher enrolled at the Northwestern Pritzker School of law. She graduated from law school, cum laude, in 2018. She now works in Chicago where she specializes in police accountability and expanding higher education for prisoners.

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this link to her resume.

Gladys Kamakuokalani Brandt: A champion of Native Hawaiian Culture

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Gladys Kamakuokalani Brandt: A Chalkboard Champion for Native Hawaiian culture.

Many hardworking educators dedicate themselves to social causes of importance in addition to their classroom responsibilities. One of these is this beautiful lady, Gladys Kamakuokalani Brandt, a Native Hawaiian teacher.

Gladys is old enough to have attended the funeral services in 1917 of Queen Liliuokalani, the last reining monarch of Hawaii, and still young enough to witness the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 which precipitated World War II.

When Gladys began her career as a teacher, she worked in public schools. Eventually she became an instructor at the prestigious Kamehameha Schools, a private institution set up to educate Native Hawaiian students.

As a youngster, Gladys was deeply ashamed of her Hawaiian heritage, so much so that she rubbed her face with lemon juice to lighten her complexion. By the time she became the principal of Kamehameha Schools, however, she had resolved to fight tirelessly for the inclusion of courses to preserve Native Hawaiian culture. She supported instruction in Hawaiian language, song, and the controversial standing hula dance which had been forbidden by the school’s trustees. The story of her work is an inspirational one.

Equally inspirational is the story of the dedication and sacrifice of Hawaii’s teachers in the days and weeks following the bombing of Pear Harbor. From serving as ambulance drivers, setting up shelters for survivors, teaching their students how to use gas masks, taking their students into the sugar cane fields to harvest the crops, and re-establishing some semblance of order for their students when school resumed, their deeds are truly remarkable.

You can read about Gladys and her fellow Hawaiian teachers in my book, Chalkboard Champions:  Twelve Remarkable Teachers Who Educated America’s Disenfranchised Students.

Wilbur Richardson: Music educator and World War II military hero

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Former music teacher and World War II military hero Wilbur Richardson of California.

When Wilbur Richardson stepped into his classroom for the first time, he was already a veteran. During World War II, Wilbur served in the US Army as a member of the 331st Bomb Squadron, 94th Bomb Group.

Wilbur was born in Long Beach, California, on November 17, 1922. He was only 21 years old when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in the midst of the second World War. While in the Army, Wilbur manned the ball turret as part of the crew of a four-engine B17 bomber. He flew 30 dangerous missions in 79 days, two of them on D-Day. The intrepid airman sustained wounds on his 30th mission over Munich, Germany, in July of 1944. He spent the next five weeks recovering in the hospital. Before the war was over, the future educator earned the Purple Heart, five Air Medals, the Presidential Citation, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Croix de Guerre Avec Palm. He earned the latter for dropping supplies to French Resistance fighters.

Once Wilbur was discharged in 1945, he enrolled in college., earning a Bachelor’s degree in Music from Brigham Young University in Utah. He earned his Master’s degree in Education from Cal State Long Beach in California. The the former bombadeir then secured a position teaching music, instruments, and history in the Los Alamitos School District. He worked as an eighth-grade teacher at Oak Middle School. His career as an educator spanned 33 years.

Once he retired from teaching, Wilbur moved to Chino Hills. As a retiree, he became active in a number of veterans groups, the Kiwanis Club, the Chino Valley Community Chorus, and the San Bernardino County Senior Affairs Commission. He also did volunteer work for the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino. The heroic educator was named the Chino Valley Outstanding Citizen in 2012.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on March 1, 2020, in Winchester, Virginia. He was 97 years old. To read more about Wilbur, see this link to The San Bernardino Sun.

Educator Sue King: History teacher and founding member of DKG

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High school History teacher Sue King helped colleagues become better educators through the organization Delta Kappa Gamma.

Many talented classroom teachers are also devoted to assisting their colleagues to become better educators. One of these was Sue King, a high school  history teacher from Texas. Sue worked to provide professional training and support to fellow women teachers through the organization Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG).

Sue was born January 8, 1886, in Pilot Point, Texas. After she graduated from high school, she enrolled at North Texas State Normal School in Denton. There she earned a reputation for a proficiency in languages and history.

After completing her courses at Denton, the novice educator taught history in high schools in Denton and Mineral Wells. Later she taught history in Fort Worth. By all accounts, her students found her inspiring.

During vacation periods Sue read widely for her own pleasure as well as to select supplementary materials for the school library. At one point in her career she served as the Chair of the History Department at the University of California in Berkeley.

In 1929, Sue was one of 12 educators who founded the Delta Kappa Gamma International Society (DKG) in Texas. Because of a long-standing custom in those days, women were prohibited from meeting together professionally. Nevertheless, the group of women believed there was a need for an organization in which women educators could assist each other in their efforts to become better teachers. The 12 co-founders extended membership in their newly-formed organization to rural and urban teachers; preschool, elementary, high school, college, and university teachers; librarians; and school administrators. Today, DKG members still work together to improve professional preparation, to recognize women’s work in the teaching profession, and to fund scholarships to those who need support to improve their professional skills.

Sadly, Sue King passed away May 4, 1930. To read more about this amazing educator, see this biography on the website of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society. To read more about the organization, click on this link: DKG.