Elizabeth Duncan Koontz: Gifted teacher and talented political advocate

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Elizabeth Duncan Koontz

Gifted teacher Elizabeth Duncan Koontz made her mark in the political landscape.


There are many examples of talented educators who have also made important contributions to our country’s political landscape. This is the case with Elizabeth Duncan Koontz, a special education teacher from North Carolina.

Elizabeth Duncan was born June 3, 1919, Salisbury, North Carolina, the daughter of two educators. She was the youngest of their seven children. Elizabeth was only four years old when she was enrolled in elementary school, but she had already mastered the ability to read and write. Young Elizabeth excelled as an elementary school student, even helping her mother with the lessons of illiterate adult learners that her mother was tutoring in reading. ”I knew then that teaching was for me,” she related years later.

In 1935, Elizabeth graduated as the salutatorian from Salisbury’s segregated Price High School. Three years later, in 1938, she graduated from Livingstone College with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Elementary Education. In 1941, she earned her Master’s degree from Atlanta University. She also completed courses from Columbia University, North Carolina College, and the University of Indiana.

Elizabeth inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position as a fourth grade teacher in North Carolina. Particularly interested in helping children with disabilities, she became a special education teacher at Price High School in Salisbury, North Carolina. She spent her entire career championing equal rights and better opportunities for African Americans, women, and the working poor. In 1968, this dedicated educator became the first African American president of the National Education Association.

In 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed her to be an adviser to the US Secretary of Labor. She also served as the director of the Women’s Bureau. At the end of President Nixon’s first term, Elizabeth returned to North Carolina to coordinate the nutrition programs for the Department of Human Resources. From 1975 until her retirement in 1982, she served as Assistant State Schools Superintendent.

Elizabeth’s many contributions did not go unnoticed. She was given the North Carolina Award for Public Service in 1977, and in 2006, Elizabeth Duncan Elementary School in Salisbury was named in her honor.

Teacher Librarians are Chalkboard Champions, too!

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Teacher Librarians are chalkboard champions, too! These invaluable resource teachers are so important as support personnel for the classroom teacher’s instructional program.

Teacher Librarians support all curricular content areas, and work side-by-side with classroom teachers to collaboratively plan, teach, and assess subject area content. Teacher Librarians are instrumental in teaching information literacy skills, addressing state standards and frameworks, and developing lessons in resource-based learning. They help ensure that students become effective users of ideas and information.

The Teacher Librarian is also expected to teach students how to access information from a variety of sources, information literacy strategies, reading strategies, and best practices using information technologies to enhance learning. In addition, they teach both students and their colleagues the laws and guidelines related to the ethical, legal, and fair use of information. Teacher Librarians teach and advocate the principles of intellectual freedom, foster independent thinking, and collaborate with the learning community to foster a positive school climate.

As if all this wasn’t enough, Teacher Librarians also advocate for a strong library program and work with students, parents, and the community to develop an understanding of library goals, policies, and procedures.

Because of all these responsibilities, many states require a teacher to earn an additional credential authorizing service as a library media teacher. Kudos to our nation’s Teacher Librarians, for they are chalkboard champions, too!

Paul Howard recognized as District of Columbia Teacher of the Year, 2018

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Paul Howard

Chalkboard champion Paul Howard, a middle school social studies teacher from Washington, DC, was selected the 2018 District of Columbia Teacher of the Year

Chalkboard champion Paul Howard, a middle school social studies teacher from Washington, DC, was selected the 2018 District of Columbia Teacher of the Year. Paul teaches 7th and 8th grade at LaSalle-Backus Education Campus. His career as an educator has spanned six years.

LaSalle-Backus, part of the Washington DC Public School system, describes itself as a diverse community school united to inspire global thinkers, creators, and world leaders by honoring and developing the whole student.

Paul brings a unique, and pragmatic, perspective to his career as an educator. “It is impossible for a teacher to satisfy all the needs of all their students. No one person can pass on enough wisdom, knowledge, and love to children to prevent all of them from suffering,” Paul asserts. “While most people understand this conceptually at a societal level, teachers experience this first hand. At some point you will fail as a teacher, and that failure will impact a child. Your failures will have names and faces attached to them,” he continues. “A teacher is not the sole reason for a student’s success, nor is a teacher the sole reason for their failure; however, young teachers should know that they will experience both and they both shape you as an educator,” he concludes.