OK educator Minta Foreman: She taught in Indian schools for 50 years

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Minta Foreman, a Native American from the Cherokee Tribe, spent five decades teaching students in government Indian schools. Photo credit: Choctaw Journeys.

Many dedicated Native Americans have served their communities as talented and hardworking educators. One who is an example of this is Minta Foreman, a Native American from the Cherokee Tribe who spent five decades teaching in government Indian schools educating students from the Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes.

Minta was born on April 14, 1878, in Park Hill, near the town of Tahlequah in Oklahoma Indian Territory. Her given name was Araminta Ross Foreman. Her father was Stephen Foreman, a Presbyterian minister. During her childhood, Minta studied at the mission school in Muskogee. Later she attended Willie Halsell College in Vinita, Oklahoma, and the Presbyterian College in Independence, Missouri.

Once she completed her education, Minta taught sixth grade at Cherokee Female Seminary in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Her career there spanned from 1898 to 1909, during which time she also taught high school students and served as the school’s principal. Next, Minta taught seventh and eighth grade at the Cheyenne school in Colorado Springs, and later she taught Choctaw students for six years at Wheelock Academy in Oklahoma. She also completed stints at the Bloomfield Academy, a school for Chickasaw girls, and the Mehusky Indian School. In all, Minta’s career as an educator in government Indian schools spanned 50 years.

Minta’s students said she left a lasting impression on them. They described their teacher as “tall, straight and haughty looking.” Nevertheless, she commanded great respect from her students, who frequently expressed she was an enthusiastic, but dignified, role model.

Sadly, after all these years of dedicated teaching, Minta succumbed to a heart attack on April 29, 1952, in Craig County, Oklahoma. She was 74 years old. She is buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Vinita, Craig County, Oklahoma.

Jeanne Manford: The teacher with a social agenda

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Elementary school teacher Jeanne Manford gained notoriety when she marched next to her son, Morty Manford, in a 1972 gay rights parade in New York. Later she founded PFLAG, which earned her a Presidential Citizens Medal in 2012. Photo credit: SFGATE.

Many American schoolteachers have worked diligently on social causes near and dear to their own heart. One of these was Jeanne Manford, a New York elementary school teacher who worked diligently to advance the acceptance of gay and lesbian people in this country.

Jeanne was born on December 4, 1930 in Flushing, Queens, New York. After earning her Bachelor’s degree from Queens College in the late 1930’s, Jeanne accepted a position as a teacher at PS 32 in Queens. She taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grade there for 26 years.

Following a vicious attack in 1972 on her gay son, Morty, Jeanne and her husband, Jules, founded a local support group for parents of gays and lesbians. “She never thought twice about it. She fought for him,” recalled Jeanne’s daughter, Suzanne Swan. “This was a 5-foot-2, thin, blond woman who had a spine of steel. She just did what she knew to be right,” Swan continued.

Over time, the group Jeanne founded grew into the international organization known as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, or PFLAG. It now boasts more than 350 chapters and more than 200,000 members and supporters in the United States.

Jeanne’s work on this social cause was so appreciated that she was named the Grand Marshal of New York City’s Gay Pride March in June, 1991. She was also the Grand Marshal of the first Pride Parade held in Queens, New York in 1993. President Barack Obama honored the Chalkboard Champion with a Presidential Citizens Medal in 2012.

After nearly three decades in the classroom, Jeanne retired in 1990 at the age of 70. She passed away on January 8, 2013, in Daly City, California at the age of 92. Jeanne Manford: A true Chalkboard Champion.

NM teacher and coach Andie Gudbegsson Redemann named Pepsi Teacher of the Month

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There are many outstanding educators who have earned recognition for their work with young people in our nation’s pubic schools. One of these is Andie Gudbegsson Redemann, a middle school Language Arts and English as a Second Language teacher and track coach in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has been named the Pepsi Teacher of the Month in April, 2026. View the YouTube video below to learn more about Andie.

Texas educator and community activist Leona Washington

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Many talented educators also work to improve the lives of the people of their city through community activism. Leona Washington of El Paso, Texas, was one such educator. Photo credit: El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs

Many talented educators also work to improve the lives of the people of their city through community activism. Leona Washington of El Paso, Texas, was one such educator.

Leona was born in 1928 in El Paso. As a young woman, she attended Prairie View  A&M University. There she earned both her Bachelor’s and her Master’s degrees. Once she earned her degrees, Leona taught for two years in  Las Cruces schools. Later, Leona became a teacher in Douglass School, a segregated school in the El Paso Independent School District. Her career there spanned 39 years.

In addition to her classroom duties, Leona founded the McCall Neighborhood Center in El Paso. There she worked as the first Executive Director of the facility, which served both the African American and Mexican American communities in the city. In addition, she was a co-founder and principal organizer of the annual Miss Black El Paso Southwest Scholarship Pageant. She also served as President, Vice-President, and Treasurer of the Phillis Wheatley Chapter of El Paso, an organization that provided a food bank for needy families and the elderly. She was also a member of the NAACP, the El Paso Community Foundation Advisory Board, the Arts and Resources Board of El Paso, and the Planned Parenthood Board of El Paso.

As if all this were not enough, Leona accepted the responsibilities of publishing The Good Neighbor Interpreter, a newspaper that provided news about the African American community to the residents of El Paso. In addition, she composed the song “The City of El Paso,” which was adopted as the city’s official song in the 1980’s.

For her many works of community activism, Leona earned many accolades. She was inducted into the El Paso County Democratic Hall of Fame in 1984, and in 1991, she was inducted into the El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame. She was given the city of El Paso’s Conquistador Award in 2000. She also received Woman of the Year Award in 2002 and the Myrna J. Deckert Lifetime Achievement Award by the YWCA in 2007, the last honor posthumously.

Leona passed away on August 5, 2007. To learn more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion, see this article about her published in the Texas State Historical Association.