Teacher Loren Spears: Working towards appreciation for Native Americans

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Loren Spears

Teacher Loren Spears: Working towards appreciation for Native Americans

I enjoy sharing stories about talented and dedicated educators who work diligently to foster an appreciation for the cultures of under-represented ethnic groups. One such educator is Loren Spears, a teacher, essayist, artist, and tribal council woman of the Narragansett Tribe in Rhode Island.

As a young girl, Loren attended Chariho Regional High School in her home town of Charleston, a rural village in southern Rhode Island. After she earned her high school diploma, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Teaching at the University of Rhode Island, graduating in 1988. She earned her Master’s degree in Education at the University of New England in 2002.

Once she earned her degrees, Loren accepted a position as an elementary school teacher in the Newport Public School System. Her teaching career spanned two decades and included twelve years as a first grade and fourth grade teacher working with at-risk children. Throughout her professional career, Loren has always been a strong advocate for integrating more Native American history and experiential learning into the school curriculum. Loren says she remembers, “being in a history class during my elementary days and actually reading that I supposedly didn’t exist, that my family didn’t exist, that my people didn’t exist.” She has spent much of her adult life correcting that misrepresentation.

In addition to her professional accomplishments as a teacher, Loren works as the executive director and curator of the Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum in Exeter, Rhode Island. The museum was the site of a private, state-certified school, the Nuweetooun School, which this talented educator directed from 2003 to 2010. Nuweetooun, which translates as “Our Home” in the Narragansett language, was founded by Loren with the help of the Narragansett community and generous donations, including monies from a local charity, the Narragansett Tribe, and the Rhode Island Foundation. Though Loren is Narragansett, the school is not connected to any specific tribe. As the school’s director, Loren made sure that the Nuweetooun School provided Native American children from kindergarten through the eighth grade an experiential, collaborative curriculum based on Native American traditions and culture, as well as standard academic subjects including mathematics, language arts, social studies, science, and health.

In June, 2005, Loren received the Feinstein Salute to Teachers, Teacher of the Month. In 2006, she earned the Native Heritage Gathering Award, and in 2010, Loren was chosen as one of eleven educators who were name Extraordinary Women honorees for Rhode Island. Today, this chalkboard champion lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and uses her vast energy to focus on educating the public on indigenous issues, arts, culture, and history through cultural arts programming, lectures, art classes, inter-generational programming, grant writing, exhibit development and design, curriculum development, school design, Native American education, and educational consulting.

Outstanding high school science teacher Susan Rippe

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Susan Rippe

Outstanding high school science teacher Susan Rippe from Olathe, Kansas

I always enjoy sharing inspirational stories of outstanding educators. One of these is Susan Rippe, a high school science teacher from Olathe, Kansas.

Susan earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, in 1981. She earned her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, in 1991.

Susan inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position at Wilbur Junior High School in Wichita in 1983. There she taught eighth grade science for five years. In 1988, she transferred to Wichita Northwest High School, where she taught biology, anatomy and physiology, and chemistry. In 2003, she made an exciting change when she accepted a position as an teacher of Aerospace and Engineering Chemistry at Olathe Northwest High School. Since 2008, she has taught college biology at Olathe. She currently works for the Kansas State Department of Education conducting workshops for teachers. In all, Susan has devoted more than three decades to the profession.

For her stellar work in the classroom, Susan has garnered many accolades. In 2000, she earned Wichita State University’s STAR Alumnus Award. The same year she was named Kansas State Teacher of the Year. In 2005, she was named the Missouri State Teacher of the Year from the Air Force Association. In 2006, Susan garnered the national Teacher of the Year and the Christa McAuliffe Memorial Award. In 2015, Susan was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas.

Susan believes that excitement breeds excitement, says the National Teachers Hall of Fame. She is passionate about teaching science and wants her students to become  mini scientists, life-long learners and hypothesizers who understand the process of science.

Tennessee school teacher and politician William Feilds

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Williams Feilds

Tennessee teacher and politician William Feilds

Often talented educators also become accomplished politicians. Such is the case with Tennessee school teacher William A. Feilds.

William A. Feilds was born into slavery near Fisherville in the county of Shelby located in west Tennessee in circa 1846. Although many records spell his surname as “Field” or “Fields,” William himself seems generally to have used the “e-i” combination, normally adding a final “s.”

Through years of hard work and close application to study, William earned his teaching certificate which qualified him to teach in the public schools. He started his career as a classroom teacher, and by 1883, he had become the principal of Shelby County’s 5th District school, at that time located on Waldran Avenue just beyond the Memphis city limits, not far from where Memphis Central High School stands today.

In addition to his career as a schoolteacher and principal, William served one term in the Tennessee House of Representatives as a member of the Republican party. He served from 1885-1886. During his years of service in the legislature, William was particularly interested in efforts to educate Black children and to give African Americans greater control over the schools in their communities. He urged passage of his bill, HB 119, which would require parents and guardians to enroll children aged 7-16 in school for 120 days per year. After he left the legislature, William was also elected a member of the Shelby County County Court, a legislative body, and he served as a justice of the peace.

On December 29, 1874, William A. Feilds married Elizabeth Feilds. The couple had three children: Mary, Cyrus William, and Stella. He is also purported to be the great-great-grandfather of actress and recording artist Vanessa Williams.

This remarkable chalkboard champion passed away on September 9, 1898.

Elementary teacher Wade Whitehead shares his expertise with Virginia’s student teachers

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Wade Whitehead

Elementary teacher Wade Whitehead shares his expertise with Virginia’s student teachers

I always enjoy sharing stories about gifted educators. Today I’m sharing the story of Wade Whitehead, a fifth grade teacher from Roanoke, Virginia.

Wade earned his Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Elementary Education from the College of William and Mary in 1994. In 2009 he earned his Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Virginia.

This chalkboard champion inaugurated his career as an educator when he accepted a position as a second grade teacher at Westside Magnet School for the visual and Performing Arts. He taught there until 1997. Since then, he has taught third and fifth grades at Crustal Spring School. His teaching career has spanned a total of 22 years.

Wade is a fourth-generation teacher. Both his parents were elementary teachers. “As a youngster, I spent countless summer days in my parents’ empty classrooms,” remembers Wade. “I witnessed the business end of teaching as they worked at the kitchen table and on the living room floor in the evenings and on weekends,” he once said. “At an early age, I become curious about the mechanisms that drive teaching and that galvanize learning. By the time I was reaching a career decision point, I knew I wanted to dig into exactly how imagination, discovery, and sharing combine to produce new and meaningful understanding and knowledge.”

And he’s more than willing to share his expertise. Wade has led the creation and implementation of the Teachers of Promise Institute, which provides the best of Virginia’s student teachers an opportunity to interact with and learn from master educators from all over Virginia. He often serves as a guest instructor to practicing and pre-service teachers at nearby universities.

For his work in the classroom, Wade has earned a great deal of recognition. In 2000 Roanoke City Public Schools named him Teacher of the Year  and the Milken Foundation gave him their National Educator Award. In 2001, he garnered a USA Today Teacher Award. In 2001, he earned a McGlothlin Award for Teaching Excellence by the McGlothlin Foundation and was named Teacher of the Year by the Southwest Virginia Forum on Education.  In 2013, Roanoker Magazine name him him Most Inspiring Teacher, and in 2016 Wade was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas.

Comedian Lennon Parham: a former high school French teacher

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Lennon Parham

High school French teacher and comedian Lennon Parham

Anyone who has been up in front of a classroom knows that teaching is, in part, a performance. So it’s no surprise when talented teachers make a name for themselves in the entertainment industry. One teacher who has done this is former high school French teacher Lennon Parham, who now works as a celebrated actress and comedian.

Lennon was born on October 27, 1976, in Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia. Her parents named her after the musician John Lennon. As a young girl, she attended Parkview High School in Lilburn, Gwinnett County, Georgia.

After her high school graduation, Lennon enrolled at the University of Evansville, a small private university located in Evansville, Indiana, under the Teach for American program. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Theater.

Once she completed the requirements for her degree, Lennon accepted a position as a French teacher at T.L. Weston High School in Greenville, Washington County, Mississippi, where she taught for two years.

After fulfilling her obligation for Teach for America, Lennon began her career in the entertainment industry in earnest. Over the years, she has wracked up an impressive resume. She has made appearances in 26 episodes of the television show Playing House, 18 episodes of Accidentally on Purpose, 12 shows of Lady Dynamite, six episodes of Veep, and six shows of Best Friends Forever. She also appeared in roles on Children’s Hospital, Parks and Recreation, Bad Judge, and Arrested Development. Lennon also performed in the movies Pretty Bird, Confessions of a Splinterheads, Shopaholic, and Horrible Bosses 2.

Despite her success, the former French teacher has not entirely left the classroom. She has taught improv classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) training center in Los Angeles. The UCB is the only accredited improv and sketch comedy school in the country. You can learn more about this organization at this link: UCB.