Order these great holiday gifts for the teachers you love!

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This season, when you’re contemplating just the right holiday present to buy for your friends and family, consider gifting copies of Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes. Each volume is packed with inspirational stories about remarkable educators in American history, and the historical implications of their pioneering work. These books make great gifts for individuals in the teaching profession and those aspiring to become teachers some day. They are also appealing to history buffs and social scientists.

Among the captivating stories in Chalkboard Champions is the story of Charlotte Forten Grimke, an African American born into freedom who volunteered to teach emancipated slaves as the Civil War raged around her. Read the eyewitness account of the Wounded Knee massacre through the eyes of teacher Elaine Goodale Eastman, and educator Mary Tsukamoto, imprisoned in a WWII Japanese internment camp. Read about Mississippi Freedom Summer teacher Sandra Adickes who, together with her students, defied Jim Crow laws to integrate the Hattiesburg Public Library. Marvel at the pioneering work of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher of Helen Keller, the efforts of teacher Clara Comstock to find homes for thousands of Orphan Train riders, and the dedication of Jaime Escalante, the East LA educator who proved to that inner city Latino youths could successfully meet the demands of a rigorous curriculum.

In Chalkboard Heroes, read about dedicated educators who were heroes both inside and outside of the classroom, including WWI veteran Henry Alvin Cameron and Civil War veteran Francis Wayland Parker. Learn about teachers who were social reformers such as Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights activist Robert Parris Moses, suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, and Native American rights advocate Zitkala-Sa, all of whom put themselves at risk to fight for improved conditions for disenfranchised citizens. Discover brave pioneers who took great risks to blaze a trail for others to follow such as Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space; Willa Brown Chappell, the aviatrix who taught Tuskegee airmen to fly; Etta Schureman Jones, the Alaskan teacher who was interned in a POW camp in Japan during WWII; and Olive Mann Isbell, who established the first English school in California while the Mexican american War raged around her.

All these remarkable stories and more can be shared with someone you know this season. Happy holidays to you and yours!

Sharing a childhood memory of the assassination of President Kennedy

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I was an 8-year-old school child when Persident John F. Kennedy was assassinated. On that day, my third grade teacher made everyone in our class go to the window to watch the school’s flag lowered to half-mast in solemn remembrance. My view of the flag from the classroom window looked very much like this.

Today, once again we observe the anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As an individual old enough to remember this historical event, this observance triggers a strong and vivid memory of that painful day.

As an eight-year-old, I spent that day in my third grade elementary class. My fellow classmates and I had gone out to lunch. The school yard rang with the happy outbursts of girls playing hopscotch and boys playing dodge ball. We girls were all dressed in our little 60’s dresses with fitted bodices, puffed sleeves, defined waists, flared skirts, and peter pan collars. In those days, girls never wore pants to school. Most of us swept our hair up into pony tails; the boys sported buzz cuts. In the innocence of the hour, we enjoyed our play. Then the bell rang signalling our free time was over, and we reluctantly returned to our academic labors.

Once inside the classroom, however, a sight I had never seen before confronted us. My teacher was weeping, and this frightened me, because I had never seen a teacher cry before. We children counted on adults to be always strong and brave, to guide us and protect us in every circumstance. Through her tears, my teacher told us the president had been shot, and that he had died as a result of his injuries. Then she instructed us to go to the window, as the flag was to be lowered to half-mast. She wanted us to witness this. Perhaps her true motivation was to momentarily direct our eyes and attention away from her grief-ravaged face. As she intended, I have never forgotten the slow and deliberate descent of our country’s fabric emblem, the lowering of which symbolized the depth of despair at our nation’s loss.

In the 36 years that I spent in the classroom as an educator, several catastrophic historical events occurred during school hours—the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, September 11th, Columbine. On these occasions it has been my duty to shepherd my students safely through a tumultuous day in our nation’s history. I cannot in all honesty say that I did this with better control of my grief than my third grade teacher did, but I did my best. When the signalling bell of history rings, that’s all any of us can ever do.

Teacher Caroline Hallisey-Kepka is also a Winter Olympic speed skater

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Fifth grade math and science teacher Caroline Hallisey-Kepka is also a three-time Winter Olympic speed skating competitor.

There are many examples of talented classroom teachers who have also experienced successful careers as athletes. One of these is Caroline Hallisey-Kepka, a three-time Olympic speed skater who now teaches elementary school in Massachusetts.

Caroline Hallisey was born on September 24, 1980. She was raised in Natick, Massachusetts. “I was an average kid, though I did a lot of sports growing up — basketball, soccer, swimming, horseback riding,” Caroline remembers. “I grew up doing everything active kids do, but around the seventh grade I wanted to see how I could do.” She left home in eighth grade to move into an Olympic training center. There she dedicated herself to her Olympic speed skating dream.

And she did very well. Caroline competed on the United States team in the Winter Olympics three times. She participated in the short track speed skating event 1998 in Nagano, Japan; in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah; and in 2006 at Turino, Italy.

Once she retired from speed skating in 2006, Caroline enrolled at the University of Colorado. Later she married J.P. Kepka, a US bronze medalist in 2006. The couple lives in Exeter, New Hampshire, with their 15-month-old daughter.

Caroline now teaches fifth grade math and science at the Glen Urquhart School, an independent school for grades K-8 located in Beverley, Massachusetts. As a teacher, Caroline says she strives to provide her students with the motivation to succeed and achieve their goals.”I chose teaching this grade because my middle school years were really challenging for me,” Caroline confides. “So I wanted to teach that middle school age to try and give these kids the tools I learned when I was training as an athlete — how to overcome challenges they will face,” she continued.

To read more about Caroline’s post-Olympic career, see this article published by the Boston Globe.

Bette Cato: Teacher and former member of the Alaska House of Representatives

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Bette Cato: Retired teacher and former member of the Alaska House of Representatives.

Many excellent educators also serve as competent politicians. One of these is Bette Cato, a teacher who served in the Alaska House of Representatives.

Bette Maxine Cato was born on May 9, 1924, in Odessa, Washington, District of Columbia. She was the daughter of William Dallas and Ann (Reimer) Millhorn. As a young girl, she attended Eaton Rapids High School in Eaton Rapids, Michigan. After her graduation, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Eastern Washington College in 1960. She also completed postgraduate coursework at Alaska Methodist University and Lawrence University.

In 1957, Bette relocated to Alaska, where she accepted a position as a teacher at Kenai High School. She worked there from 1960 to 1963. She also taught at East High School in Anchorage from 1965 to 1969, and Valdez High School from 1969 to 1979. In Valdez, her colleagues elected her president of the local division of the American Federation of Teachers.

In 1980, Bette was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket. She served there from 1981 to 1989. While in the House, the former educator served as the Chairperson of the House Transportation Committee.

From 1943-1944, when WWII was in full swing, Bette was with United States Navy. Later she joined the American Legion, where she held the position of Deputy Vice Commander in 1955. She was also the Commander of Post 2 in Valdez from 1972-1982.  In addition, Bette was a member of Beta Sigma Phi.

Bette resigned from her seat when she was diagnosed with diverticulitis in 1989. She passed away from complications due to cancer on Jan. 18, 1996. 

To learn more about this chalkboard champion, see this link to 100 Years of Alaska’s Legislature.