Science teacher Chanda Jefferson: South Carolina’s 2020 Teacher of the Year

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Science teacher Chanda Jefferson, South Carolina’s 2020 Teacher of the Year.

I always enjoy sharing stories about exceptional classroom teachers who have earned recognition for their work in the classroom. One of these is Chanda Jefferson, who has just been named South Carolina’s 2020 Teacher of the Year.

Chanda teaches at Fairfield Central High School in Winnsboro, South Carolina. She serves as the Chair of the Science Department, the STEM Lead teacher, and a science teacher there.

“Teaching is in my DNA,” Chanda once declared. “My mother stressed the importance of education, and I developed a love for school and learning — especially science,” she continued. “I discovered I loved getting kids excited about science, sharing my passion with them. I realized that my true calling was to become a teacher. Teaching would allow me to help create opportunities for many children,” she concluded.

In the classroom, this outstanding educator is known for using real-world science experiences to engage her students and inspire them to become future leaders in STEM fields. When Chanda designs her lesson plans, she uses inquiry-based and culturally-relevant teaching strategies, STEM practices, and emotional intelligence strategies. “The first moment I walk into the classroom I try to figure out my students’ likes and dislikes. I learn about their families. I tell them about my family,” Chanda once explained. “As I learn about them, I use that information in the classroom. So if they like football, I try to incorporate sports into the lesson or music – whatever it is that piques their interest, including pop culture,” she continued.

In addition to being named South Carolina’s 2020 Teacher of the Year, Chanda has garnered many other accolades. She earned the South Carolina Educational Policy Fellowship, in which she works with the legislature to develop solutions to promote diversity and access in education. She also received the South Carolina Outstanding Biology Teacher Award and the Phi Beta Sigma Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, she was selected as a participant in the Princeton Molecular Biology Teacher Institute.

Chanda earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 2009 and her Master’s degree in Teaching Secondary Sciences in 2011, both from the University of South Carolina. She also earned a Master’s of Educational Leadership from Columbia University in New York City in 2019.

To read more about this amazing educator, see this link at Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement, also known as CERRA.

Coronavirus claims life of Special Ed teacher and varsity baseball coach Ben Luderer

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Special Education teacher and varsity baseball coach Ben Luderer of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, succumbs to coronavirus.

Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of numerous beloved educators and coaches. One of these is Ben Luderer, a middle school special education teacher and baseball coach from Cliffside Park, New Jersey. Ben was only 30 years old, and healthy, when he contracted the coronavirus and then passed away on March 30, 2020.

Ben was a New Jersey native, having been born on September 29, 1989, in River Vale, New Jersey. As a high school student, Ben was a star baseball player at Don Bosco Preparatory High School, a private Catholic school located in Ramsey, New Jersey.  In 2008, his team logged a record of 33 games undefeated, a nearly impossible achievement, and earned the state championship. Local news outlets dubbed the team the Ironmen. “That team was invincible,” recalls Ben’s former coach, Greg Butler, in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “They felt they couldn’t be beaten, and they weren’t.”

As a result of his high school successes, Ben earned a baseball scholarship to Marist College in New York. There he hit .263 with two home runs and 35 RBI.

OnceBene graduated from college, he inaugurated his career as a special education teacher at School #6 in the Cliffside Park School District. He also began coaching varsity baseball. “I think he realized the power you have and the influence you have,” Butler commented. “I think he wanted to give back.”

“He touched so many lives,” remembers Ben’s wife, Brandy Luderer. “Whether it be a co-worker or an administrator or a player or a student, he always went out of his way to help people. He was a stand-up guy, a stand-up man,” she remarked.

To learn more about this chalkboard champion, see the online article published by BuzzFeed.

Beloved fourth grade teacher Fatima Schmidt succumbs to coronavirus

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Beloved fourth grade teacher Fatima Schmidt of New York City succumbed to the coronavirus on April 13, 2020.

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of many talented educators. One of them was Fatima Schmidt, a beloved elementary school teacher from New York City. Fatima passed away April 13, 2020. She was 57 years old.

This tireless educator devoted 18 years to New York Public Schools, where she worked at PS 152 and PS 335. Most recently she taught fourth grade at PS 333 in the Hunt’s Point section of the Bronx.

“She went above and beyond to meet her students’ needs, ” recalls colleague Jeana Ferraro. “She took the time to provide extra help and support to those that needed it, while still treating every student equally. She encouraged her students to work hard and be independent.”

Other teachers at PS 333 agree. “She was loved by many and was fueled with this strong-willed determination to show her students that failure was not an option,” remembers colleague Lissette Santana. “She had low tolerance for misbehavior and made it clear what her expectations were. In a world where anything goes, Ms. Schmidt made sure that was not the case in her classroom,” concluded Lissette.

In addition to her classroom duties, Fatima was active in the PTA, supervised numerous class trips, and attended countless sporting events. Friends and family describe Fatima was an adventurer. She loved to travel, visiting many countries abroad and venturing on numerous cruises. She enjoyed  trying new foods, exploring new cities, and immersing herself in various cultures.

To read more about  this amazing educator, read her obituary published on Ever Loved, Inc.

Former middle school teacher Ben Cannon also served in the Oregon House of Reps

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Ben Cannon, an Oregon middle school Humanities teacher, has also served in his state’s House of Representatives.

Professional educators often make excellent politicians. This is true of Ben Cannon, a former middle school teacher who has also served in the Oregon State House of Representatives.

Ben was born in 1976 in Springfield, Illinois. As a teenager, he graduated from West Linn High School in West Linn, Oregon. That was in 1994. After his graduation, Ben earned his Bachelor’s degree at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. While there, he served as the editor of the college newspaper. In 1999, Ben garnered a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University in England. There he completed courses in Economics, Politics, and Philosophy. He also earned a Master’s degree in Comparative and International Education.

Once he completed his studies, Ben returned to Oregon to accept a position as a Humanities teacher at the Arbor School of Arts and Sciences in Tualatin. Located in Washington County, the Arbor School is a private K-8 institution situated on 21 acres of wooded farm land. The facility also houses the Arbor Center for Teaching, a two-year teacher residency program offering an innovative teaching apprenticeship in a laboratory school setting. Ben taught at the Arbor School from 2003 to 2011, a period of eight years.

In 2006, Ben was elected on the Democratic ticket to the first of three terms he served in the Oregon House of Representatives. He represented the 46th District. Before completing his third term, however, Ben gave up his seat to accept a position as the Education Policy Adviser to Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber. He left that position in 2013 when he was appointed to lead the state’s newly created Higher Education Coordinating Commission. In this capacity, Ben oversees state funding allocations, policy-setting, and coordination for the state’s higher education system. 

During the time Ben worked in these political positions, the former teacher worked to secure Oregon’s waiver from the No Child Left Behind laws. He also overhauled Oregon’s system of higher education.

To learn more about Ben, see his website at this link: The Evolllution.