Educator, jazz musician, and Tuskegee Airman LeRoy Battle

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Educator, jazz musican, and Tuskegee Airman LeRoy Battle with his 1995 autobiography, Easier Said.

I always enjoy sharing stories about superb educators who have also distinguished themselves in areas outside the sphere of education. One of these is LeRoy Battle, a high school music teacher who was also a fine jazz musician and a heroic Tuskegee Airman.

LeRoy was born Dec. 31, 1921, in the Harlem section of New York City, New York. His father owned a candy store, and his mother worked as a beautician and cook. While a youngster, LeRoy expressed an interest in music. He was able to take music lessons through both the Boy Scouts and the YMCA, where it was obvious he was a natural. By the time he was in the seventh grade, young LeRoy owned his own drum set. After years of learning and practice, the youthful musician was proficient enough to give music lessons as a private tutor.

As a teenager, LeRoy attended Alexander Hamilton High School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. There he played drums in the marching band and the school orchestra. He also performed in New York’s All-City Orchestra, the Harold Cabbell Orchestra, and the Al Bounds Orchestra. By the time LeRoy was a senior, he played with legendary singer Billie Holiday at the Three Deuces Jazz Club. He also worked with Pearl Bailey. After his graduation, the youthful musician joined a traveling band and went on the road.

Educator LeRoy Battle shown during World War II, when he served in the prestigious Tuskegee Airman group.

During WWII, Leroy was drafted. He served in the United States Army Air Corps from 1945 to 1947. Once he earned his silver wings and bars, LeRoy volunteered to join the Tuskegee Airmen. “I can’t say that I ever had any previous aspirations to be a pilot,” he once confessed. “But it sounded like a much better opportunity than anything else that was likely to come along.”  After completing the Tuskegee program at Tuskegee University, gunnery training at Tyndall Field, and bombardier training at Midland Air Force Base, LeRoy joined the 616th Squadron of the 477th Bombardment Group stationed at Freeman Army Air Force Base. For his heroism during WWII, LeRoy garnered the Congressional Gold Medal.

When the war ended, the former pilot continued his studies in music. He returned to New York City and enrolled at the Juilliard School of Music.Then Morgan State University, a historically Black college located in Baltimore, Maryland. There he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Musical Education. He also earned a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Maryland, College Park.

In 1950, LeRoy accepted a position as a music teacher at Douglass High School in Washington, DC. That year he established a stage band for his students. Over the next eight years, The Douglass High School Band placed garnered first place in 14 competitions. In 1958, the students became the first African American band featured in the prestigious yearbook First Chair of America. Jet Magazine  also printed a spread on the outstanding young musicians. Before LeRoy retired in 1978, he also served as a guidance counselor and assistant principal. For 17 of those years, he also served as a drummer in the Washington Redskins Marching Band.

Post-retirement, LeRoy continued to make music. From 1992 to 1996 he did session work with jazz musicians Eva Cassidy and Chuck Brown.In addition, he worked as a motivational speaker for the Tuskegee Airmen’s Speaker’s Bureau. And, as if all that wasn’t enough, he authored an autobiography entitled Easier Said, published in 1995.

Sadly, LeRoy passed away on March 28, 2015, in Harwood, Maryland. He was 93 years old. To read more about this remarkable Chalkboard Champion, see his obituary published in the Capital Gazette.

Tabatha Rosproy garners 2020 National Teacher of the Year title

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Tabatha Rosproy of Winfield, Kansas, is the first early education teacher ever to garner National Teacher of the Year. (Photo credit: The Collegiate)

Congratulations to Tabatha Rosproy, an educator from Winfield, Kansas, who has just been named the 2020 National Teacher of the Year! This talented and dedicated educator is the first early childhood teacher to garner the national honor in the program’s 68-year history.

Tabatha teaches at Cumbernauld Village, a public school located within Winfield retirement village and nursing home. Her classroom is an intergenerational program. This means her students interact daily with nursing home residents. Elderly members of the retirement community visit her classroom as grandparent volunteers. They read to the children one-on-one and assist with other classroom tasks.

Tabitha’s  program serves at-risk, special education, and typically developing preschoolers. Amazingly, Tabatha’s students have the highest preschool literacy and math scores in the school district. Since the program was inaugurated, Tabatha has noted a marked increase in her students’ literacy skills. In fact, her classroom boasts the highest preschool literacy and math scores in the district.

“It is the most joyful experience that you can imagine,” Tabatha told interviewers on the television show CBS This Morning. “They are connected to people who are older than them, who have different abilities, and it has built so much empathy in their hearts.”

Tabatha was selected from among four outstanding national finalists The other three finalists were Chris Dier, a Louisiana high school history teacher who engages students around identity and culture; Leila Kubesch, an Ohio middle school Spanish teacher who advocates for foster youth who age out of the system; and Linda Rost, a high school science teacher in rural Montana whose students have excelled in national and international competitions.

To read more about this amazing chalkboard champion, see the story published online by The Collegiate. Below, see the full interview CBS This Morning recorded with Tabatha.

English educator Andee Reilly earns success as a novelist

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Andee Reilly, an instructor of composition at University of Hawaii and former high school  English teacher, has earned success as a novelist.

There are many examples of talented educators who have earned accolades in arenas outside of the classroom. One of these is Andee Reilly, an instructor of English who has earned success as a novelist.

Andee was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Following her graduation from Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights, California, in 1988, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies at California State University, Northridge. She earned a Master’s degree in English with a Creative Writing Option from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1999. In 2010, she completed the requirements for a second Master’s degree in Creative Writing from the University of California, Riverside, located in Riverside, California.

Educator and author Andee Reilly

After earning her teaching credential, Andee inaugurated her career as an educator as an English teacher at Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades, California. Her secret to teaching? “Be patient, be kind, and know what you’re talking about!” Andee advises.

After a few years at the high school level, Andee was hired to teach a course at Moorpark College. She taught additional courses at Pierce College and the College of the Canyons, until securing a position at California State University, Channel Islands (CSUCI). While at SCUCI, Andee garnered a Maximus Award for outstanding teaching.

“I love being able to show my students that effective writing can be learned,” Andee confesses. “Most of us aren’t born with some mystical ability to string sentences together in an inspiring and exciting way on our first try. It’s a skill that takes hard work, patience, and perseverance,” she declares.

When Andee relocated to Hawaii, she accepted a position at the University of Hawaii, Maui College, where she currently teaches composition. “Many of my students are fresh from high school,” reveals Andee. “I constantly try to remind myself that the transition to college can be a little scary for some.,” she continues. “I do my best to be patient and understanding of their needs,” she concludes.

In addition to her classroom successes, the honored educator also enjoys success as a published novelist. Andee says that ever since she was a teenager, she has been a fan of the rock group the Rolling Stones, and their music has long served as an inspiration to her writing. In 2015, Andee published her first novel, Satisfaction. This entertaining book tells the story of Ginny Martin, a recent divorcee, who embarks on a road trip to attend every concert on the Rolling Stones’ North American tour. Along the way, Ginny learns more about herself than she expected.

You can find Andee’s book on amazon.com by clicking this link: Satisfaction. To visit her website, click www.andeereilly.com.

NYC’s Paul Zindel: Chemistry teacher, author, and playwright

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New York City’s Paul Zindel was a high school chemistry teacher. But he was also a celebrated author and playwright.

Many fine educators distinguish themselves in other fields. Such is the case with Paul Zindel, a high school chemistry teacher who is also a celebrated author and playwright.

Paul was born on May 15, 1936 in Tottenville, on Staten Island in New York. His father was a policeman, and his mother was a nurse. When Paul was still a child, his father abandoned his family, and his mother struggled to support the family alone. It was, by his own account, a difficult childhood.

Upon his high school graduation, Paul enrolled in Wagner College on Staten Island. Although he majored in chemistry, he took a creative writing course from celebrated playwright Edward Albee. Albee encouraged and nurtured Paul’s writing talent.

After Paul earned his college degree, he accepted a position as a technical writer for Allied Chemical. He was employed there for six months, but did not enjoy the work. Pursuing a passion for helping young people, Paul decided to go into teaching. For the next ten years, he taught chemistry and physics at Tottenville High School.

While still teaching, Paul wrote the book he is probably most famous for, The Pigman (1968). It was so successful that in 1969 he left teaching to write full-time. “I felt I could do more for teenagers by writing for them,” Paul once explained. “I started reading some young adult books, and what I saw in most of them had no connection to the teenagers I knew. I thought I knew what kids would want in a book, so I made a list and followed it,” he continued. “I try to show teens they aren’t alone. I believe I must convince my readers that I am on their side; I know it’s a continuous battle to get through the years between twelve and twenty — an abrasive time. And so I write always from their own point of view,” he concluded.

Paul’s other signature work includes The Effect of Gamma Rays on the Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, which received an Obie Award in 1970 for best American play. He garnered a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1971.

Sadly, Paul contracted lung cancer and passed away on March 27, 2003. He is interred in Moravian Cemetery in Staten Island.

To learn more about this extraordinary educator and author, visit his website at www.paulzindel.com.