Teacher, explorer, cartographer, and cultural anthropologist Prentice Downes

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Prentice

Many fine educators have distinguished themselves in areas outside the field of education. One such individual was high school teacher Prentice G. Downes, known to his friends by the nickname “Spike.” In addition to his career as an educator, Prentice made a name for himself as an explorer, cartographer, cultural anthropologist, and writer.

Prentice was born 1909 in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of an Episcopal clergyman. After his 1928 graduation from Kent School in Kent, Connecticut, Prentice enrolled at Harvard University. Once he was ready to begin his career as a teacher, he accepted a position at Belmont Hill School, a prestigious New England prep school for boys located in Belmont, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.

Prentice was well-known for hurrying back to class in unkempt condition each fall. Between 1936 and 1947, the native of Concord, Massachusetts, made several summer-long expeditions into the sprawling uncharted wilderness of subarctic Canada. Working on a shoestring budget, Prentice would round up a canoe, gear, food, and a local traveling associate. Then he would set out for the great unknown. He was notorious for cutting trips close to the wire, rushing back to Boston bearded, tanned, and garbed in threadbare bush clothes just in time for the beginning of school.

This intrepid teacher traveled by canoe to explore subarctic areas in the Great Barren Lands and learn about the lifestyles of the Native American tribes. During his travels, Prentice kept extensive journals recording a disappearing people and a landscape unknown to all but the Canadian natives at that time. He recorded not only daily events, but also the stories and traditions of the peoples he encountered, particularly people of the Cree and Dene tribes.

In 1939, Prentice traveled from the Brabant Lake area to the Cochrane River, starting at the town of Brochet on Reindeer Lake. Without the aid of maps, the intrepid teacher relied completely on local legend to find his way to the Thlewiaza River and his final destination, the Hudson Bay outpost on Nueltin Lake. Based on this trip, Prentice wrote the travelogue Sleeping Island: The Story of One Man’s Travels in the Great Barren Lands of the Canadian North. First published in 1943, this classic adventure story received a stellar review from the New York Times for its engaging descriptions of the expedition across a rugged landscape of lakes and rivers in northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and present-day Nunavut. Besides the polished and captivating writing style, Sleeping Island stands out because it documented ways of life that no longer exist.

In his later years, Prentice delivered lectures about his travels for Harvard’s Institute of Geographical Exploration. Additionally, he was commissioned by the US government to map portions of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. He also became a member of the prestigious Royal Geographical society.

This chalkboard champion passed away in 1959 at the young age of 50.

High school Spanish teacher Margaret Domka doubles as international soccer referee

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1683023_full-lndThere are many examples of talented teachers who also distinguish themselves in arenas outside the field of education. One such educator is Margaret Domka, a high school Spanish teacher who is also a well-respected international soccer referee.

Margaret was born August 13, 1979. Originally from Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Margaret graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. For the past twelve years, she has worked as a Spanish teacher at Union Grove Union High in Union Grove, Wisconsin.

Margaret began her lifelong love affair with soccer when she was only four years old. She continued to play the sport throughout her childhood. “When I was 13, I started refereeing just as a summer job that I could have while I was in high school—a way to play soccer but have a flexible job with some money on the side,” Margaret once explained. “I never dreamed for a moment that it would take me to where it has.” During college, this exceptional athlete served as a defender on her school’s women’s soccer team. In 2000, Margaret’s senior year, the team advanced into the women’s NCAA Division III Final Four. That year, the intrepid player was named a Division III first team All-American.

After graduating from college, Margaret became the first female to officiate a game for the Milwaukee Wave. In 2007-2008, Margaret worked as a FIFA international assistant referee, and in 2010 and 2014, she worked the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups. She also worked the 2012 Portugal-based Algarve Cup championship. In 2015, Margaret was selected as a match official for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Margaret says she feels lucky to be able to referee and still work full-time in the classroom. “I’ve been fortunate. I think that refereeing is always a very good job to have with the teaching,” she declares. “I’m very fortunate to have administrators who have allowed me to continue on this journey.”

Teacher Dolores Huerta: The Champion of the Migrant Farmworker

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thLike many people who have heard of farm labor leader and civil rights advocate Cesar Chavez, I have also heard of his right-hand woman, Dolores Huerta, vice president of the United Farm Workers Union. But did you know that she was also an elementary school teacher?

Raised in Stockton, California, Dolores graduated in 1955 with an AA and her teaching credentials from the College of the Pacific. After graduation, she accepted a teaching position in a rural Stockton elementary school. She had been teaching for only a short time when she realized she wanted to devote her talent and energy to migrant farm workers and their families. “I couldn’t stand seeing farm worker children come to class hungry and in need of shoes,” she once explained. “I thought I could do more by organizing their parents than by trying to teach their hungry children.” After one year, she resigned from her teaching position, determined to launch a campaign that would fight the numerous economic injustices faced by migrant agricultural workers.

Joining forces with the legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez, Dolores organized a large-scale strike against the commercial grape growers of the San Joaquin Valley, an effort which raised national awareness of the abysmal treatment of America’s agricultural workers, and she negotiated the contracts which led to their improved working conditions. The rest, as they say, is history.

Although there are several fairly good juvenile biographies of this extraordinary woman, there is no definitive adult biography about her. The closest thing to it is A Dolores Huerta Reader edited by Mario T. Garcia. This book includes an informative biographical introduction by the editor, articles and book excerpts written about Dolores, her own writings and transcripts of her speeches, and a recent interview with Mario Garcia. You can find A Dolores Huerta Reader on amazon.com I have also included a chapter about this remarkable teacher in my second book, Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve courageous Teachers and their Deeds of Valor.

Elementary teacher Geraldine Flaharty: She served in the Kansas House of Representatives

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thThere are many talented teachers in our country’s history who have also served their communities as politicians. One superb example of this is Geraldine Flaharty, an elementary reading teacher from Kansas who also serves in her state’s House of Representatives.

A native of Kansas, Geraldine was born March 4, 1936, in Parsons, and she currently lives in Wichita. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University in 1961, and completed the requirements for her master’s in education from the same school in 1971.

Geraldine worked as an elementary teacher for Wichita Public Schools from 1956 to 1957 and as a reading teacher at Oaklawn Elementary School in the Derby Public School District from 1966 until she retired after teaching after thirty-six years.

This talented educator was elected as a Democrat to the Kansas State House of Representatives for District 98, serving Sedgwick County, Kansas. She served there from 1995 to 2013. During her stint as a politician, Geraldine served on the committees for Education; Health and Human Services; Aging and Long-Term Care; Economic Development and Tourism; and the Joint Committee on Pensions, Investments, and Benefits. One of her legislative acts was to support a bill that would restore professional status to retired teachers who return to work. “Representative Flaharty has been a tireless advocate for the people of Wichita,” House Minority Leader Paul Davis once said. “She has been a champion for job creation, good public schools, and fair taxation.”

Throughout her long career, Geraldine has donated her talents to a number of community organizations, including the American Association of University Women, the International Reading Association, the Kansas National Education Association, the Sedgwick County Zoo, and the Wichita Center for the Arts. Geraldine Flaharty: a true Chalkboard Champion.