Educator Joan Bray also served in both the Missouri State House and Senate

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Former teacher Joan Bray also served in the Missouri State House of Representatives and the State Senate.

Many fine educators have also served as able politicians. One of these is Joan Bray, a teacher who has served in both the Missouri State House of Representatives and the State Senate.

Joan was born on September 16, 1945, Lubbock, Texas. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Southwestern University in 1967. She went on to receive her Master’s degree in Counseling and Human Relations from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1970. She also earned a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1971. After earning her degrees, Joan taught first in Colorado and then in Massachusetts.

During the years she worked as an educator, Joan also employed as a journalist. She worked first for the San Antonio Express News, and then with the St. Louis Post Dispatch. During this time she also served as the Vice President of Local 49 of the Newspaper Guild.

The former teacher was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Missouri House of Representatives. She represented the 24th District there from 1993 to 2002. In 2003, Joan was elected to the Missouri State Senate to represent the 84th District. She served there until 2010. As a senator, she served on the committees for Ways and Means, Transportation, and Appropriations. Joan left the political arena when she reached her term limits.

Joan currently lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband, Carl Hoagland. To read more about this Chalkboard Politician, read the Missouri Senate biography Joan Bray.

Victoria Soto: A Chalkboard Champion of Sandy Hook Elementary

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First grade teacher Victoria Soto lost her life while protecting her students from gunman Adam Lanza during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

It is a sad fact that a number of American educators have been put in the unenviable position of protecting their students from active shooters. They are sometimes injured or killed while sheilding their students. One of these teachers was Victoria Soto, a first grade teacher who was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting on Dec. 14, 2012.

Victoria Soto was born on November 4, 1985, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  In 2003, she graduated from Stratford High School located in Stratford, Connecticut. Following her graduation, she enrolled in Eastern Connecticut State University. There she earned a dual Bachelor’s degree in History and Education, with honors. She also took courses towards her Master’s degree at Southern Connecticut State University.

Once she earned her teaching credentials, Victoria accepted a position as an elementary teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. On December 14, 2013, Victoria was engaged in teaching her first grade class when gunman Adam Lanza burst into the school wielding several weapons and looking for victims. He started shooting. Staff and students heard Lanza discharging his weapons over the school public address system. By the time the gunman made his way to her classroom, Victoria had been able to hide her children in a closet. When confronted by Lanza, Victoria told him the students had been sent to the school gym. But some of the children were too afraid to stay hidden. When they ran from their hiding place, the shooter began to fire at them. In a supreme act of heroism, Victoria threw herself between Lanza and the children. In so doing, she sustained a fatal gunshot wound.

Victoria was only 27 years old when she was killed. Her career spanned five years. The Chalkboard Champion was laid to rest in Union Cemetery Stratford in Fairfield County, Connecticutt.

In 2013, President Barack Obama awarded Victoria a Presidential Citizens Medal posthumously. The medal honors Americans who have performed “exemplary deeds of service” for their country or fellow citizens. The medal is is the government’s second-highest civilian award.

Read more about this amazing educator in this online article entitled “The Teacher as Hero.”

Illinois educator Mark Peterson: Superb football coach and teacher

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Mark Peterson of chesterton, Illinois, has earned a reputation as a superb football coach. He’s also a terrific science and physical education teacher.

Many excellent educators also distinguish themselves as athletic coaches. One of these is Mark Peterson of Chesterton, Illinois. Mark is a science and physical education teacher who has earned a reputation as a superb football coach.

Mark asserts that the responsibility of an athletic coach is to inspire the team and make sure the players perform well. “I’m positive about all of our opportunities and being able to succeed in those as the season progresses,” Mark declares. “As a coach, seeing the team succeed is what I want. Everyone wants to win, but I, being the coach, am gonna see to it that we do,” he says.

Mark’s career as a football coach is great, but he is egually impressive as an educator. For the past eight years he has taught at Chesterton High School, a public high school in the Greater Chicago area. Currently he teaches Freshman Biology and Environment Science (2011 – present). Previous to his tenure at Chesterton, he taught physical education at Portage High School (2007 – 2011). Before accepting his position at Portage, he worked at Bishop Noll Institute for three years (2004 – 2007). The school is located in Hammond, Indiana. There he taught health courses and filled the position of Directory of Admissions.

This Chalkboard Champion earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1989 from Iowa Wesleyan College. The college is located in Mt. Pleasant, Henry County, Iowa. He earned his Master’s degree in Liberal Studies from Valparaiso University in 1993. Valparaiso is a private co-educational Lutheran university located in Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana.

Read more about Chesterton HIgh School at this link from ValpoLife.

Elementary teacher Mallory Rivard crowned Miss Michigan 2019

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Educator Mallory Rivard, crowned Miss Michigan 2019, teaches first grade in Bay City, in her home state.

There are many fine educators who have earned recognition in fields outside of the classroom. One of these is Mallory Rivard, an elementary school teacher from Michigan who garnered the beauty pageant title of Miss Michigan 2019.

Mallory graduated from Bay City Western High School in Bay City, Saginaw County, Michigan. Following her graduation, she enrolled at Saginaw Valley State University. There she completed a dual Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education in 2017. Currently she is working toward her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education.

The beauty queen has been teaching first grade at MacGregor Elementary in Bay City, Michigan, for the past two years. “I’ve known I wanted to be a teacher ever since the third grade,” Mallory confessed. “I’m really passionate about educating young people.”

Mallory asserts there is a literacy crisis in Michigan. She declares her goal is to empower parents to ensure that their children develop the tools they need to succeed in school. To achieve this goal, she founded an organization called Raising Readers Academy. “This past year, as Miss Great Lakes Bay, I partnered with the Read Association of Saginaw County and I started a program call the Raising Readers Academy,” Mallory revealed. “It was a 12-week course where I met with parents and their children and we taught them strategies on how to best support their students. For example, we taught them how to blend letters together,” she continued. “The tools that we gave these kids will last them a lifetime,” she concluded.

In addition to competing in the Miss Michigan pageant, and then the Miss America pageant in December, Mallory has been involved in many other fascinating activities. She has taught in India, completed a year of service as an AmeriCorps member, and performed in the 2008 Olympics.

To read more about Miss Michigan 2019, click on this link: Mallory Rivard.

We Rode the Orphan Trains by Andrea Warren

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Have you ever heard anything about America’s orphan trains? Not many have, but orphan trains are a fascinating solution to a problem of homeless children.

During the early years of the 20th century, there were literally thousands of homeless children roaming aimlessly on the streets of New York City. The Children’s Aid Society (CAS), an organization which still exists to benefit children today, developed a method for finding loving and wholesome homes for many of these children. The CAS organized small groups of children to be transported to states in the Midwest and the West. These children were placed in foster homes or adoptive homes on farms and in rural communities. To care for the children, the CAS recruited teachers to escort them, conduct background checks on the prospective caretakers, and make periodic checks on the children’s progress.

Andrea Warren has documented the phenomena of the Orphan Trains very diligently in her book, We Rode the Orphan Trains, available through amazon.com. You can also read a chapter about one of the CAS teachers, Clara Comstock, in my first book, Chalkboard Champions.