Joseph Colone: Teacher, coach, and former pro basketball player

Posted on by

Teacher, coach, and former pro basketball player Joseph Colone.

Many accomplished athletes go on to become exceptional educators once they leave their careers in professional sports. One such teacher is Joseph F. Colone, a former professional basketball player who once played for the New York Knicks.

Joe Colone was born in Berwick, Pennsylvania, on January 23, 1924. He attended Berwick High School in Berwick, Pennsylvania, where he established a reputation as a gifted athlete. Upon his high school graduation, he enrolled in Bloomsburg State Teachers College, now known as Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. There he played basketball. After his college graduation, Joe was not drafted into the NBA, but he still managed to make the Knicks’ roster for the 1948-1949 season.  At 6 feet 5 inches tall and 210 pounds, Joe played the forward position. He played for only one season, but during that season he appeared in 15 games and averaged 5.5 points.

After his brief career in the NBA, Joe moved to Woodbury, New Jersey, and accepted a teaching position at Woodbury Junior/Senior High School, where he taught from 1954 to 1986. There he served as an Assistant Coach for both the basketball and the football teams, and the head coach for the golf team. While at Woodbury, Joseph mentored rising basketball star Dave Budd, who later went on to play for Wake Forest University and then for the New York Knicks.

As a teacher and coach, Joe was described as genuinely nice, fun-loving, and family-oriented. Those who knew him said he had a passion for the art of teaching and a knack for motivating all his kids to do well. “Joe meant everything to me,” former student Dave Budd said in an interview published in nj.com in 2009. “Without him, I’d never have gotten a scholarship to Wake Forest. Without him, I doubt I’d ever have gotten to the NBA,” Budd declared. “He gave me direction, helped me with my temper. Joe was a major person in my life and we remained close over all these years. On the court and off the court, Joe helped many young people in Woodbury,” Budd continued.

Joseph Colone, Chalkboard Champion and professional basketball player, passed away on July 1, 2009, at the age of 85. To learn more about him, see this link at Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame.

Teacher Susan Mills: She founded the first women’s college in California

Posted on by

When we think about women in American history, we can find many examples of extraordinary women educators. One of these was Susan Tolman Mills, a secondary school teacher who established the first women’s college in California.

Susan Mills founded the first women’s college in California.

Susan was born on Nov. 18, 1825, in Enosburg, Vermont. One of eight children, she was the daughter of homesteaders who operated a thriving business. Her father owned a tannery and her mother was a homemaker. Susan’s mother was especially insistent that her six daughters get an education, and after the family relocated to Ware, Massachusettes, all the daughters attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Following her graduation, Susan taught classes in science and theology there for three years.

In 1848, the young educator married Cyrus Taggart Mills, a Presbyterian missionary. The adventurous newlyweds traveled to Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka. Cyrus became the principal of a seminary for boys, while Susan taught domestic skills to girls in the local schools.

In 1860, the couple moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where they took charge of the Punahou School. There Susan taught geography, geology, chemistry, and botany. She introduced physical education to the female students. She also dedicated her energy to improving the food choices and other amenities provided by the school.

In 1864, Susan and Cyrus returned to the United States and landed in California. They had ambitions of establishing a school of their own. Their goal was to provide equal education and opportunities for women. The year after their arrival in the state they purchased a girls’ seminary in Benicia, just east of Vallejo in Solano County. They named their institution Mills Seminary. The couple spent several years improving their school by expanding the number of course offerings and recruiting qualified teachers. In 1871, they sold this property and moved their school to Oakland, on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay. This new facility, with four-story buildings, dining halls, and a high central observatory named Mills Hall, was long considered the most beautiful education building in California. Eventually the girls’ school established by the Mills was transformed into Mills College, the first women’s college in the state. The college still serves young women as a liberal arts college to this day. After Susan’s beloved husband passed away, Susan continued to serve as the principal of Mills College, expertly performing her administrative duties.

In 1901, Susan was awarded an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Mount Holyoke, recognizing her extraordinary contributions to education. At the time, the trustees of Punahou commented that Susan, “met and overcame obstacles with equanimity; she accomplished great work with poor facilities; she drew her inspiration from the dull routine of a busy life.”

Susan Mills retired in 1909 at the age of 84. She passed away three years later, on December 12, 1912, in her home, the Vermont cape house she and her husband had built on the Mills campus. This talented and industrious educator was interred at Sunnyside Cemetery, located on the college grounds.

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this entry for her in the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Mamie Dillard: Kansas teacher and avid suffragist

Posted on by

Mamie Dillard: Kansas teacher and avid suffragist.

Many excellent classroom teachers also work tirelessly to improve society as a whole. One of these is Mamie J. Dillard, an African American teacher and suffragist from Kansas.

Mamie was born Mary Jane Dillard in Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, on September 10, 1874. Although her name was Mary Jane, she always preferred to be called Mamie. Her parents, Jesse and Fannie Dillard, were both born in Virginia. Neither of them could read or write. The family moved to Kansas in 1870.  As a young girl, Mamie was an excellent student. She graduated from Lawrence High School with top grades. In fact, she was the only African American in her graduating class.

The future educator earned her Bachelor’s degree from Kansas University in 1896. Once she earned her degree, she launched her career as an educator at the Pinckney Elementary School in Lawrence. One of her most famous students there was famous Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. In 1909, Mamie attended graduate school at the University of Kansas, where she studied English and special education. Once she completed her courses there, she accepted a position as the principal of the Lincoln School, a local segregated elementary school. In addition to her responsibilities at the school, Mamie was appointed delegate to the Negro National Educational Congress in 1916.

All her life, Mamie devoted herself to improving her community. She was an ardent activist for women’s suffrage. She promoted rights and votes for women and civil rights and leadership for the African Americans in her area. She was active in the African American Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. She was also a member of the Double Six Club, the Home and Garden Club, and the Sierra Leone Club. In addition, she was a patron of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.  in 1933, of the Self Culture Club, a local organization for African American women. In 1933, Mamie became a member of the Self Culture Club, an organization that promoted education and community building among working mothers.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away in her home town of Lawrence on November 24, 1954. She was 80 years old. She was interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence.

To read more about Mamie Dillard, see this article printed online in the Kansaspedia.

Physics teacher and Survivor winner Robert Crowley of Maine

Posted on by

Physics teacher and Survivor winner Robert Crowley of Gorham, Maine.

Once in awhile a dedicated educator earns fame in an arena outside of the classroom. One of these educators is Robert Crowley, who earned fame for winning the reality TV show Survivor.

Robert participated in the 17th season of the popular show. At age 57, he became the oldest winner in the history of the series. At the time of the episode’s airing, he was teaching physics at Gorham High School in Gorham, Maine.

Robert retired from teaching in 2009, but while he was teaching, he held a number of other jobs in addition to his responsibilities in the classroom. He worked as the first mate on a research boat for the Smithsonian Institution in Canada. He also worked as an entomologist for the USDA. In addition, he acted as a skunk relocater. And he served as the President, Vice President, and Chief Negotiator for his local Teachers’ Union. Robert also nurtured various personal interests, including journal writing, storytelling, photography, bone collecting, archeology, and camping.

After Survivor, this remarkable teacher wrote a book, and he later opened a luxury camping company called Maine Forest Yurts. The resort welcomes school groups, active military and veterans, and non-profit groups, like the Special Olympics, to stay in yurts free of charge. He also created a Survivor-based charity event called the Durham Warriors Survival Challenge to financially support the enterprise.

Robert was born February 25, 1951. Robert earned his Bachelor’s degree in forestry from the University of Maine, Orono, and his Master’s degree in Education from the University of Southern Maine.

To read more about this remarkable educator, see this link at the CBS shor Survivor.

Eleanor Roosevelt: Dedicated teacher, social activist, and US First Lady

Posted on by

Beloved First Lady and social activist Eleanor Roosevelt  began her career in public service as a teacher. She is pictured here at the time of her debut in 1902.

It is common knowledge that Eleanor Roosevelt was a popular First Lady who served our county during the presidency of her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He served during the Great Depression and World War II. During that period, Eleanor worked tirelessly to advance her husband’s social and political agenda. But did you know that this great lady was a teacher before her marriage to FDR?

Eleanor Roosevelt was born into an aristocratic family in New York city. Her mother died when Eleanor was quite young, and her father was an alcoholic. As a child, she was socially and physically awkward and starved for attention. When her father also passed away, young Eleanor became a ward of her maternal grandmother.

Eleanor was educated by private tutors until she was 15 years old. Then her grandmother sent her to private finishing school, the Allenswood Academy, in England. There Eleanor flourished under the guidance of the school’s headmistress, Marie Souvestre, who encouraged social responsibility and independence for young women. When Eleanor completed her formal education at age 18, she returned to New York City. There she made her social debut in 1902, according to the customs of her social class. 

After Eleanor’s debut, she shunned the social life of a debutante that her family expected her to follow. Instead, she turned her boundless energy into progressive projects that helped improve the lives and working conditions of immigrants and those living in poverty. She joined an organization known as the Junior League, and helped established a community center known as the Rivington Street Settlement House on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The center specialized in teaching life skills and vocational skills. Many of the center’s clients were children who worked long hours in the confined spaces of sweat shops. These children did not have many opportunities to engage in physical exercise and movement. To help them improve their health, Eleanor worked as a dance teacher and calisthenics instructor.

Because of her work at the Junior League, Eleanor Roosevelt found her voice as a social activist long before she became First lady. Her work at there was the start of a career in public service that extended even after she left the White House.

To learn more about this amazing historical figure, see this link at the National First Ladies Library.