Retired high school and college football coach Alan Weddell

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Alan Weddell

Retired high school and college football coach Alan Weddell reacts to a win for his team from La Marque High School in La Marque, Texas.

There are many fine examples of high school athletic coaches. I love to share those stories! One such story is that of Alan Weddell, a retired high school and college football coach from Texas.

Alan was born on March 12, 1950, in Lake Jackson, Texas. While a youth in high school, Alan made a name for himself playing football for Brazosport High School in Freeport, Texas. After his high school graduation in 1969, Alan enrolled at Texas A&M, where he played the position of offensive lineman for the Longhorns. He played there from 1970 to 1972, and during this time, his team was named a National Championship team.

Alan earned his Bachelor’s degree in Production Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1973. He later earned his Master’s degree in Education and Administration from the University of Houston, Victoria.

Alan inaugurated his coaching career as a Junior Varsity and Varsity Assistant Coach at Angleton High School in Angleton, Texas, where he worked from 1973 to 1977. Then he transferred to Victoria High School in Victoria, Texas, where he coached for the next 12 years, the last seven of those as Head Coach. In 1984, the Victoria Stingarees lost every game. Two years later, they went undefeated in the regular season, won District, and made it to the playoffs for the first time. Under Coach Weddell, the Stings also made the playoffs in 1988 and 1989. Twice Alan was named Coach of the Year.

In 1990, Alan moved to La Marque High School in La Marque, Texas, where he worked until 1997. During this period, the gifted athletic coach led his team to five consecutive appearances in the Texas state title game. In three of those years his team took the championship title. Six times he was named District Coach of the Year, and three times he was named Galveston County Coach of the Year. In addition, he served as the Head Coach of the South Squad Texas High School Coaches Association All-Star game in 1997.

In 1998, the highly successful high school football coach was hired by Texas A&M to the position of Assistant Defensive Coordinator. While there, the team participated in the Sugar Bowl (1998), the Alamo Bowl (2000), the Independence Bowl (2001). From there he worked for a short while as the Defensive Coordinator at his Brazoswood High School in Clute, Texas, and then he joined the staff at the University of Houston in 2005. It was from there that Alan retired in November of 2014.

In addition to the accolades already mentioned, in 2018 Alan was honored by the Texas High School Coaches Association when they inducted him into their Hall Of Honor.

 

Nationally recognized educator Brigitte Tennis of Washington

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Brigitte Tennis

Nationally recognized educator Brigitte Tennis of Washington state

I truly enjoy sharing stories about terrific classroom teachers. That’s what this blog is all about! Today I’m sharing the story of Brigitte Tennis, a multi-subject teacher from Redmond, Washington.

Brigitte earned two Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Washington in 1981, one in Violin Performance and the other in Teaching. She attended the university on an academic scholarship. She earned her Master’s degree in Education from City University in Redmond. In 2006 she earned her National Board Certification.

Brigitte inaugurated her career teaching a full time program for gifted students second, third, and fourth graders at Mark Twain Elementary School. She worked in that position from 1981 to 1985. She spent the next year teaching third and fourth grade at the same school, and then transferred to Ben Franklin Elementary School, where she taught sixth grade for four years from 1986 to 2000. She then established and became the headmistress of Stella Schola Middle School, located in Redmond, Washington. There she teaches Latin, history, science, algebra, and English. In all she has devoted 36 years to the profession of teaching.

Brigitte has collaborated with the Department of Neurosensory Engineering at the University of Washington for the past four years, designing lessons for students and teaching a summer workshop for educators in the area of neuroscience. In addition, this chalkboard champion takes her high school students to Italy each year as the culminating experience after four years of Latin.

Brigitte has earned many awards for her work in the classroom. In 2004 she was named a Disney Hand American Teacher honoree. In both 2008 and 2009 she earned Sylvan Learning’s Teachers Who Make a Difference Award. And in 2015, this amazing educator was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas.

Elementary teachers help meet their kids’ clothing, hygiene needs

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Here are two chalkboard champions from Tennessee that you just have to admire. They are Vanessa Bateman and Heather Malick, kindergarten teachers at Niota Elementary School located in the McMinn County School District in Niota.

Because their students come primarily from low-income families, the two teachers often noticed that their little ones came to school in need of clothes that fit property or basic hygiene items such as tooth brushes or deodorant. “When families have to prioritize basic needs, food will be at the top, and hygiene items will move further down or even off the list,” remarked Tonya Broyles, a local registered nurse. “Simply put, this means there are children (who) go to school every day (who) have had to compromise or not meet basic hygiene practices that most of us take for granted.”

At first, Vanessa and Heather and others on the Niota school staff spent their own money to buy clothing and hygiene necessities they could give to their neediest students. Countless educators around the country do the same. Then the two kindergarten teachers got the brilliant idea to establish a “Comfort Closet” in an unused locker room that had previously been used for storage. To stock the closet, they collected donations from local businesses and organizations, such as the nonprofit SUDS for Students, where Tonya Broyles works.

Now children in need can be escorted discreetly to the closet to select the items they need. They place the items in their backpacks, and no one needs to know.

To lean more, view the three-minute video below. I’m sure you’ll be inspired.

English teacher and Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Alan Diaz

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Alan Diaz

Former English teacher and Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Alan Diaz

I always enjoy sharing stories about teachers who have exhibited talents in addition to those they use in their classrooms. One teacher like this is Alan Diaz, a former English teacher who has also won a Pulitzer Prize for photography.

Alan was born and raised in New York City. He was the son of Cuban immigrants, who decided to return to their native island in 1964 when Alan was a teenager. When he grew to adulthood in Cuba, Alan became a school teacher, while at the same time studying photography.

In 1978, Alan returned to the United States, where he continued his career as an English teacher. He also pursued his passion for photography. In 1994, Alan worked as a freelance photographer for the Associated Press, and in 2000 he became one of their staff photographers.

Alan is best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of armed federal agents seizing a terrified Cuban refugee child, six-year-old Elian Gonzalez. The little boy’s mother had drowned off the coast of Florida as the two struggled to reach American shores. In the months preceding the seizure, Elian’s Miami-based relatives had been fighting for asylum for the child and his right to remain in the United States, despite the fact that his father in Cuba wanted him returned home. It was a battle the relatives ultimately lost, so the little boy was taken at gunpoint and sent back to Cuba. The gut-wrenching picture Alan took on that day earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography.

After a career for the Associated Press that spanned 17 years, Alan decided to retire in 2017. The former teacher still lives in the Miami area.

You can view his award-winning photograph and read more about this amazing educator and photographer at the Washington Times.