The Civil War raged around her, but that didn’t stop educator Laura Towne
The Civil War raged around her, but that didn’t stop teacher Laura Towne
American history is full of chalkboard champions who risk life and limb for their students. One of these educators is Laura Towne, continued to teach even though the Civil War raged around her.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1825, Laura was raised in Philadelphia, where she moved in socially progressive circles. She was formally educated as both a homeopathic physician and a school teacher. She was also a dedicated abolitionist.
During the Civil War, Laura was one of the first Northern women to go south to work with freed slaves. She traveled to St. Helena Island in Port Royal, South Carolina, where she founded the first school for freed slaves, even though the battle continued to rage all around her.
This chalkboard champion was practical, independent, down-to-earth, and strong-willed. She readily entered into the life of Saint Helena Island, where she began her work attending to the medical needs of the freed slaves. In June, 1862, Laura gave up her medical practice, and together with Ellen Murray, her life-long friend and fellow teacher, opened the first school for freed slaves. Laura named her institution the Penn School. Nine adults students enrolled in the school, which operated out of the back room of an abandoned plantation house. Unlike most schools established for emancipated slaves, Laura’s school offered a rigorous curriculum, which was modeled on the schools of New England.
Laura spent forty years running her school and grew to love the life she had established in Port Royal. She and Ellen eventually adopted several African American children and raised them as their own. Upon her death in 1901, Laura bequeathed the Penn School to the Hampton Institute, at which time it began operating as the Penn Normal, Industrial, and Agricultural School.
Laura Towne: A true chalkboard champion.
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Kindergarten teacher Edwin Sorto: His kids learn to salsa dance!
Here’s a teacher you’ve just got to get a kick out of. He’s Edwin Sorto, a kindergarten teacher at KIPP Promise Academy, a public school in Washington, DC. In addition to his classroom responsibilities, Edwin is a professional salsa dancer, and he loves to teach his young students to dance, too!
To supplement the usual curriculum, Edwin has integrated dance into his lesson plans. He believes that learning to dance helps his students obtain a well-rounded education, and it teaches important life skills such as discipline and social skills. “They work incredibly hard at both academics and dance,” Edwin once explained. “This is just one more thing that keeps them engaged in school.” This amazing educator has the kids almost-expertly performing salsa, merengue, and bachata. He has even taught them choreography from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” video.
Edwin was born in El Salvador, and immigrated to the United States at the age of 14. He was raised in a family where dance was a part of everyday life. Edwin believes that it’s best to learn how to dance when people are young because children pick up dance moves more easily and they are less inhibited than adults.
Edwin received his teacher training at Capital Teaching Residency, an organization which trains new educators in the DC area. There he partnered with a master teacher for one year at KIPP Promise Academy. Once he completed his training, he was allowed to create his own lesson plans. Now, groups of 25 to 30 students meet with him every day for his special afternoon classes where he leads physical education, art, and cultural activities.
When he’s not working with his kindergartners, Edwin travels around the country performing salsa with a dance team called Casineros. He also performs with Cazike, a Latin dance company run by his wife who also teaches at KIPP Promise Academy.
Enjoy this brief YouTube video of Edwin with his dancing kindergartners below:
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Michigan’s June Teisan: Inspiring scientific minds for 27 years
Michigan’s June Teisan: She’s been inspiring scientific minds for 27 years
I always enjoy sharing stories about remarkable teaches. That’s what this blog is all about! Today, I’m sharing the story of June Teisan, a retired junior high school science teacher from Michigan.
June earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1986 and her Master’s degree in Teaching in 1991, both from Wayne State University located in Detroit, Michigan. In addition, June is a National Board Certified teacher.
In a career that spanned 27 years, June worked as a seventh grade science teacher at Harper Woods Secondary School in Harper Woods, Michigan, where she was employed until 2014. Teaching junior high school students is a memory June carries with fondness. “It was fantastic. I loved it,” June remembers. “It is such an exuberant age. They are self-maintaining because they are not little anymore, but they are not so cool yet that they go off on their own, and the doors are still open for inquiry and for new things,” she says.
After June left the classroom, she accepted a position in the Office of Education at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she served as an Education Outreach and Program Specialist. June has a reputation for being passionately committed to widening opportunities for under-represented and under-served students in the STEM fields. She is known for being committed to supporting urban and early-career educators with rich, innovative professional development.
Over the course of her career, June has collected many awards. In 2005, she garnered a White House Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. In 2008, she was named the Michigan Teacher of the Year and was named a finalist for National Teacher of the Year. She was also honored as a Smithsonian Teacher ambassador that year. In 2011, June was named a NASA TeacherNaut, and in 2015 she became an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow. In 2016, this remarkable teacher was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame.
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Singer Conya Doss: This Queen of Indie Soul teaches special needs children
Singer Conya Doss: This Queen of Indie Soul teaches special needs children.
Gifted teachers often find unique ways to connect with their students or convey their curriculum in their classrooms. One teacher who is notable for doing this is Conya Doss, a junior high school teacher from Cleveland, Ohio, who is also well-known as an innovative Indie musician and songstress.
Conya was born on June 13, 1972. As a youngster, she attended the Cleveland School of the Arts. This specialized school offers an interdisciplinary approach to learning and academics which integrates the arts into the curriculum. The institution is recognized for its exceptionally high rate of graduation, and for an unusually large number of graduates going their education in institutions of higher learning. “It’s phenomenal to have a school like that, especially for kids,” Conya once said. “It’s definitely good to have a school where kids can channel their creativity where it needs to be channeled.”
After Conya earned her college degree and teaching credential, she accepted a position as a teacher of children with special needs in the Cleveland Public School system. She started using music in her classroom as a way to connect with her students. “I may have them do what I call a copy tune, where they listen to a song, like, as an example, R. Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly, and then they have to take the title and do creative writing,” she once explained. “It could be a poem or it could be a picture that’s related to that title,” she continued. “I just try to think of innovative ways to keep them motivated. And sometimes I have to stick to traditional teaching, versus progressive,” she concluded.
As a singer, Conya prefers Rhythm and Blues, Funk, and Neo-Soul. In fact, she is known as the Queen of Indie Soul. She inaugurated her career as a professional musician in 2000. Her first album, entitled “A Poem About Ms. Doss,” was released in 2002. The album was inspired by a heartfelt letter she received from one of her young students. Her debut album was quickly followed by two more: “Just Because,” released in 2004, and “Love Rain Down,” released in 2006. Her breakthrough album, entitled “Still,” was released in 2008. In 2010, Conya released her fifth album, “Blu Transition,” which was followed by “A Pocketful of Purpose” in 2012. Conya released her seventh album, “Seven: VII,” in 2015.
Conya’s skills as a singer and musician have earned honors and recognition. In 2007 she was named the Best Female Vocalist at the Ohio Hip Hop Awards, and in 2008 she garnered the Female Vocalist of the Year Award from Soultracks Readers’ Choice.
In addition to teaching and her career in music, Conya is involved in mentoring teenage girls, she tutors, and she is an active philanthropist for breast cancer, AIDS awareness, and mental health issues.
