Preparing for back to school by reading stories of inspirational teachers
The end of summer is fast approaching, and it’s time to start thinking about going back to school. When contemplating how to be the best teacher you can be this year, it helps to have some really great role models. There are many gifted educators in our history, and also in our present time, that can serve as excellent examples of the profession. Recognizing and honoring them is what this blog is all about! Each week I endeavor to share stories about wonderful teachers that can serve as a source of ideas, inspiration, and pride for us all.
You can learn more about some remarkable teachers in my books, Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes. Each volume is packed with insightful stories about remarkable educators in American history, and the historical implications of their pioneering work. These books make great sources of inspiration 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 stories in Chalkboard Champions is that of Charlotte Forten Grimke, an African American born into freedom who taught 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. Learn about educator Mary Tsukamoto, imprisoned in a WWII Japanese internment camp. Read about Mississippi Freedom Summer teacher Sandra Adickes who defied Jim Crow laws to help her students 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 Orphan Train riders, and the dedication of Jaime Escalante, the educator who proved that inner city Latino youths could succeed on the rigorous AP Calculus exam.
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. 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 of these stories about remarkable educators can remind you of why you chose to become a teacher in the first place, affirm your faith in the value of the profession, and ignite your passion for a new school year. Order your copies from amazon.com today! And be sure to subscribe to the blog for your daily dose of inspiration. Above all, have a great year!
Share this:
Michael Hughes: Riverside County’s 2019 Teacher of the Year
Meet educator Michael Hughes, a kindergarten teacher at Parkridge Elementary School in the Corona Norco Unified School District in Southern California. He’s just been named Riverside County’s 2019 Teacher of the Year.
Michael’s students know him as the teacher who walks around in superhero costumes. A champion of creativity, Michael advocates learning through purposeful self-expression. Michael strongly believes that lessons should immerse the students in creative and playful learning. This is especially important during such an impressionable stage of development as early childhood, asserts Michael.
Michael says young students should not just read, but should become a part of the story by acting it out. Michael’s students learn to read by acting out books in front of a green screen. In this way, they are taught to find creative solutions to problems. “Lessons may be forgotten, but experiences are remembered,” expresses Michael.
School pride is also important to Mr. Hughes. He works hard to build a school environment where students can thrive. He builds community support by bringing fun programs for students, such as the Parkridge Pumpkin Patch and the Taco Shop Day. Michael’s colleagues describe the honored educator as a “teacher of teachers who is exceptionally knowledgeable in all subject areas.”
Michael earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from California State University, Fullerton.
Well done, chalkboard champion Michael Hughes!
Share this:
Teacher Elsa Mendoza Marquez: One of 22 victims of El Paso mass shooting
Teacher and Mexican national Elsa Mendoza Marquez was one of the 22 victims of the mass shooting which took place in El Paso, Texas, last Saturday.
Once again a school community is mourning the loss of an outstanding educator, this time in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Mexican national and elementary school teacher Elsa Mendoza Marquez was one of the 22 victims of the mass shooting which took place in El Paso, Texas, last Saturday.
“The Mexican education community is in mourning for the irreparable loss of Maestra Elsa Mendoza Marquez in the deplorable events in El Paso, Texas,” expressed Mexico’s education minister, Esteban Moctezuma Barragan. Maestra is the title of honor that Mexicans use for teachers.
Elsa crossed the border on Saturday to visit family and do some shopping at Walmart. El Paso is about five miles from the main border checkpoint with Ciudad Juarez. Many Mexican citizens cross the border legally each day to work and shop in the city of 680,000 full-time residents, and the population of El Paso County is more than 80% Latino, according to the latest census data. Elsa was one of eight Mexican nationals who perished in the attack last Saturday.
Elsa was 57 years old, married, and had two grown children. To read more about her and the other victims of this, shooting, read this story published in the LA Times.
Share this:
Florida teacher collects school supplies for needy students instead of traditional wedding gifts
Florida teacher Kelli Cameron and hew new husband Matt collected school supplies for needy students instead of traditional wedding gifts.
I have often said that school teachers are the backbone of our communities. Here is another example that proves this is true. Kelli Cameron, a first grade teacher, who just happens to be a new bride, and her husband Matt, asked their wedding guests to donate school supplies to needy students instead of buying them traditional wedding gifts.
Kelli teaches at Roland Park K-8 Magnet School in the Hillsborough County Public School District located in Tampa, Florida. When she and Matt got engaged last summer, the couple decided they didn’t really need anything to begin their married life together. Since the students at her school weren’t in need of supplies, she reached out to nearby Booker T. Washington Elementary School. Teachers there gave Kelli a list of items that would benefit their students. The list included everything from notebooks and glue sticks to socks and underwear. Kelli and Matt then created a registry on Amazon, and the donations began rolling in.
“It wasn’t much different than going online and making a [wedding] registry,” Matt Cameron remarked. “Instead of crock pots, it was Sharpies and T-shirts and khaki shorts,” he said. “I’m not surprised at all that she thought of this and went into it so passionately, because that’s what she does every day.”
By the time the couple married on June 8 at the Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club in Tampa, Florida, Kelli and Matt had filled 70 donated backpacks with school supplies to distribute to Washington Elementary’s students for the new school year.
“Being a teacher, I put my heart and soul into the kids, and you try and give and give to them,” Kelli expressed. “How wonderful it was that we were able to do that, take something that was about us and help others,” she continued. “The kids who get the backpacks will be excited for that first day of school, and excited that they have that new backpack and new supplies, and are ready to start the school year,” she concluded.
