Retired kindergarten teacher Erma Paloma was active even in retirement
Retired kindergarten teacher Erma Paloma from Corona, California, was active, even in retirement.
Many excellent educators continue their many hours of dedicated service to the community, even after they retire. One of these was Erma Mieko Paloma, a former elementary school teacher from Corona, California, who maintained a very active lifestyle of volunteerism, even in retirement.
Erma was born in Hawaii on August 11, 1942. She worked for many years as a kindergarten teacher at Washington Elementary School in the Corona Norco Unified School District. Her career spanned nearly 34 years.
After Erma’s retirement in 1999, she became very active in her community’s Woman’s Improvement Club. And for more than 20 years she expertly handled the responsibilities of Treasurer for her local division of the California Retired Teachers Association (CalRTA). She also served on that organization’s Scholarship Committee, and attended the annual conventions and workshops to hone her volunteerism skills. For her dedication and many years of service to CalRTA, Erma garnered the coveted Martin Mathieson Award. In addition to her work with CalRTA and the Woman’s Improvement Club, Erma worked with the Girls Scouts for many years. In fact, she served as the president for the San Gorgonio chapter. In her leisure time, she traveled frequently to Hawaii and Japan to visit family.
This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away on March 7, 2020, in Riverside, California. She was 77 years old.
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Joseph Colone: Teacher, coach, and former pro basketball player
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.
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Teacher Susan Mills: She founded the first women’s college in California
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.
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Mamie Dillard: Kansas teacher and avid suffragist
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.
