Educator and basketball coach Arnold Obey succumbs to Covid-19

Posted on by

Educator Arnold Obey, center, coached boys varsity basketball at  Staten Island Academy for eight seasons. (Photo credit: Staten Island Advance)

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of several beloved educators. One of these is Arnold Obey, an accomplished teacher and principal from New York.

Arnold was born on March 5, 1947, in the Bronx, New York. He was the oldest of six children. As a young man, he was a star athlete on his school’s basketball team. He helped lead DeWitt Clinton High School to a 38-1 record, two public school city championship games, and one city title.

His  prowess was so impressive that he earned a basketball scholarship to Wagner College on Staten Island. During the years he attended Wagner, 1965 to 1968, the stellar athlete earned over 1,018 points cumulatively in his basketball games. He also participated in track and field, running the 100 and 200 yard dashes and a leg in the 4×400 yard relay. Also a long and triple jumper, Arnold established a school record in the triple jump with a leap of 44’ 11 ½.”. He held that record for over 30 years. In fact, he was inducted into Wagner’s Hall of Fame in 1991.

After college, Arnold served as an Assistant Basketball Coach at Wagner for three seasons. He also became the Boys’ Varsity Basketball Coach at Staten Island Boys Academy. There he guided his team for eight seasons, from 1977 to 1985.

After earning his college degree in 1968, Arnold inaugurated his career as an educator. He accepted a position as a history teacher in the Mariner’s Harbor neighborhood of Staten Island. Eventually he became the assistant principal at PS 16 in Tompkinsville. He also served as the principal of PS 31 in New Brighton, also on Staten Island. Arnold retired from the teaching professoin in 2002.

During his lengthy career in education, Arnold also established himself as an avid runner. He completed the NYC Marathon an astounding 38 times, even after suffering a stroke in 2012. His personal best time was 3 hours, 31 minutes.

Sadly, Arnold passed away from Covid-19 on March 22, 2020, while on vacation in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with his family. He was 73 years old. You can read his obituary published by the New York Times on March 30, 2020.

Ima Wells: Teacher and member of the New Mexico House of Reps

Posted on by

Ima Wells: Elementary school teacher and member of the New Mexico House of Representatives

Many outstanding educators have also achieved acclaim in political arenas. One of these is Ima Wells, a teacher who was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives.

Ima Lee Greenwood was born on September 23, 1936, in Buffalo, Oklahoma. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NOSU). She earned her Master’s degree in Education from New Mexico State University.

While at NOSU, Ima met and married Del Wells. Once the pair graduated, Ima inaugurated her teaching career in a two-room schoolhouse in Kansas. Both she and her husband taught in southern Kansas for five years before moving to New Mexico in 1963. There Ima taught at Sandia Base in Albuquerque for ten years. She then moved to Loma Heights Elementary in Las Cruces, where she taught for 20 years.

During her lifetime, Ima worked tirelessly for her fellow educators. She served as President of the National Education Association (NEA) in New Mexico from 1987 to 1992. In the late 1990s, Ima moved to Rockford, Illinois, where she worked for NEA Illinois for five years. Then she returned to Las Cruces to work for NEA NM until she retired at the age of 72.

In 1993, Ima was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket. She represented District 37 for one term.

This chalkboard politician passed away on August 10, 2014, in Loveland, Colorado. She was 77 years old. To read more about Ima, click on this link to her obituary published by the Las Cruces Sun News.

Pennsylvania’s Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno: English teacher and award-winning poet

Posted on by

Pennsylvania’s Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno: Talented English teacher and award-winning poet

Sometimes our students (and their parents) forget that teachers are real people. We live, we laugh, we love, and we suffer, just like any other human being. Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno is a remarkable teacher who reminds the entire community that teachers live the full range of human experiences.

Kathleen Bonanno was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. She attended Temple University in Philadelphia, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in English and her Master’s degree in education. She taught at Dobbins High School in North Philadelphia for five years and Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, for 17 years.

Like many educators, Kathleen is multi-talented. She is the author of an award-winning book of poetry entitled Slamming Open the Door ((2009), a volume which Library Journal described as “a stunning first book.” Kathleen wrote the collection of poems following the gut-wrenching murder of her daughter, Leidy Bonanno, an abandoned child from Chile that Kathleen and her husband adopted. Leidy was strangled in 2003 by a former boyfriend, just after her graduation from nursing school. The loss inspired Kathleen to become an advocate for victims’ rights and a member of the Montgomery Country Parents of Murdered Children. For her efforts, this amazing teacher and author was honored with a Women of Courage,Women of Inspiration Purple Ribbon Award from the Lutheran Settlement House in Philadelphia in 2008.

This amazing educator passed away on June 15, 2017. You can read more about this Chalkboard Champion at this link: Chestnut Hill Local.

Chalkboard Champion Lourdes Leon Guerrero of Guam

Posted on by

Chalkboard Champion Lourdes Leon Guerrero of Guam

Many of America’s great teachers served in areas outside of the continental US. One of these was Lourdes Leon Guerrero, a celebrated educator from the US territory of Guam.

Lourdes was born on November 9, 1923, in the village of Merizo, Guam. Her father was a machinist in the US Navy, and her mother was a schoolteacher. As a young girl, Lourdes attended George Washington Junior/Senior High School. In fact, she was the valedictorian for her ninth grade class.

After her high school graduation, Lourdes completed courses in teaching pedagogy at the Normal School of Guam in 1946. She also studied at the Teacher Training Institute at Adelup in Guam. In 1969, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in 1969, cum laude. She earned her Master’s degree in Education in 1975. Lourdes obtained both of her degrees from the University of Guam.

Lourdes inaugurated her career as an educator at Sumay, the location of a settlement of chamorros. Chamorros are the indigenous people of the Mariana islands, of which Guam is the largest and southernmost island. When the Japanese occupied the island chain during World War II, Lourdes continued to teach in Sumay until the war ended in May, 1944.

Over the 57 years that her teaching career spanned, Lourdes worked at a number of other schools in Guam. She worked at Maxwell School, Merizo Elementary School, Sinajana Elementary School, Talofofo Elementary School, and Santa Rita Elementary School. She also worked at John F. Kennedy, George Washington, Oceanview, and Simon Sanchez High Schools. For her work in the classroom and as an administrator, Lourdes earned the Pioneer in Education from the University of Guam in 1996.

This remarkable teacher passed away on February 25, 2010. She was 86 years old. After her passing, she was inaugurated into the Guam Educators Hall of Fame.

To read the resolution published by the Guam legislature about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this link: Resolution No. R298-30.