New York English teacher and celebrated author Frank Nappi

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New York English teacher and celebrated author Frank Nappi.

Many excellent teachers have earned accolades in fields outside of the classroom. One of these is Frank Nappi, a high school English teacher from New York who has earned national fame as an author.

Frank was born in Bay Shore, Suffolk County, New York, on Feb. 27, 1967. As a young boy, he attended Farmingdale High School in Farmingdale, New York. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University, a private university located in Hampstead, New York.

After he earned his degrees, Frank taught English and Creative Writing at Oceanside High School, a public school located in Oceanside, New York. His career as an educator there spanned 31 years.

Frank published his first novel, Echoes from the Infantry, in 2005. The tale, a story about a World War II veteran, earned national attention. Frank garnered a silver medal for outstanding fiction from the Military Writers Society of America for the effort. His second novel, The Legend of Mickey Tussler, a story about baseball, earned high reviews, too. A movie adaptation entitled A Mile in His Shoes was based on the story. He has also published Sophomore Campaign (2012) and the dark thriller Nobody Has to Know (2012), both of which have earned accolades.  He also wrote Welcome to the Show, published in 2016.

Probably the book that Frank wrote that is most intriguing for teachers, though, is I Became an Elementary School Outlaw, published in 2019. The tale is a delightful memoir of a little boy who becomes a teacher when he matures. The story depicts the angst of growing up and fitting in, and is told with humor and insight.

Today Frank lives on Long Island, New York. To read an interview with this amazing educator, see this link to a 2013 interview with Sandra Bornstein.

The remarkable Emma M. Cramer: Teacher and Ohio politician

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The remarkable Emma M. Cramer: Public high school teacher and member of the House of Representatives for her home state of Ohio.

Often talented educators make their mark in the political arena as well as in professional teachers’ circles. Such was the case of Emma M. Cramer, a public high school teacher who was also a member of the House of Representatives for her home state of Ohio.

Emma was born on June 21, 1859, the daughter of Albert C. and Louise (Crone) Cramer. Born and educated in Portsmouth, she later went on to teach at Portsmouth High School. She attended college during the summers, earning degrees from both the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Chicago. She started teaching at the age of 20, and her career spanned 54 years, until her retirement in 1933. Her students described her as thorough and exacting, but also patient, persevering, and sympathetic.

During her lengthy teaching career, Emma was also involved in many civic organizations. She was a member of the Portsmouth City Council (1912-1925), Chairperson of the Republican Women of Scioto County (1922-26), and member of the Portsmouth Board of Education (1934-37). After she was elected to the state House, she continued to teach while occupying her seat in the legislature. Her colleagues often said she was an individual of stalwart character and tireless in her efforts to serve others.

Emma donated her time and energy not only to the legislature and to education, but also to other organizations, including the Ohio League of Women Voters, the National Council of Teachers of English, the Portsmouth Public Library Board of Trustees, the Ohio Library, the National Municipal League, the State and National Education Associations, the Council of Republican Women of Ohio, the Women’s City Club, and the Business and Professional Women’s Club.

This remarkable educator passed away on June 15, 1952, at the age of 92. To read more about Emma, see this link at Ohio Statehouse.

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.