Tag Archives: African American Teachers

Lillian Lowery completed a remarkable career in education

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Former English teacher Lillian Lowery logged many accomplishments as an educator. Photo credit: Newark Post

I always enjoy sharing stories about teachers who have completed remarkable careers in the field of education. One of these is former English teacher Lillian Lowery.

Lillian was born in Gastonia, North Carolina. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from North Carolina Central University in 1976. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1978. She completed the requirements for her Ph.D. in Education and Policy Studies from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Lillian inaugurated her teaching career as a middle school English teacher at Gaston County Schools in Gastonia. She also taught in schools in Alexandria, Virginia; Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax, Virigina; and Fort Wayne Community School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. With each new position, Lillian expanded her experience as an educator, serving as a high school English teacher, an assistant principal, a minority student achievement monitor, a principal, and an area coordinator.

In 2004, Lillian accepted a position as the Secretary of Education in Delaware, and then as the Superintendent of the Christina School District in Newark, Delaware. While living in that state, she also served as the Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education. Next she moved to Maryland, where she served as the Superintendent of the Maryland State Department of Education.

In September, 2015, Lillian became the first President and Chief Executive Officer of FutureReady Columbus, a non-profit specializing in early childhood education located in Columbus, Ohio. In March, 2017, she was appointed Vice President for PreK-12 Policy, Research, and Practice at The Education Trust, a national nonprofit working to identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps in K-12 education. This organization is located in Washington, DC.

For her work as an educator, Lillian garnered many prestigious awards. In 2015, the National Association of State Boards of Education honored her as the “Policy Leader of the Year.” This honor is awarded annually to a national or state policymaker in recognition of significant contributions to education. Lillian has also garnered the Second Mile Award from the University of Delaware; Wilmington, Delaware’s Junior Achievement Award; the City of Fairfax Mayor’s Service Award; and the Outstanding Service Award from the City of Fairfax School Board.

During her career, Lillian served on the boards of several organizations, Delaware State University, edreports.org, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Her final appointment came when, in 2018, she became the Vice President of Student and Teacher Assessments for the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey.

Lillian retired in January, 2022, and, sadly, she passed away three months later, on April 13, 2022. She was 67 years old.

Trailblazing teacher Mildred Crump was also a politician and community activist

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Trailblazing educator Mildred Crumples was also a politician and community activist. Photo credit: Rutgers African-American Alumni Alliance

Many excellent school teachers not only dedicate their efforts towards their students, but also work tirelessly to improve the lives of others in their community. This is the case with Mildred Crump, a trailblazing teacher who also devoted her considerable energy to her community as a community activist.

Mildred was born in Detroit, Michigan, on Nov. 3, 1938, the daughter of a union organizer. As a young woman, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University. There she was named the recipient of the David D. McKenzie Honor Society Award as the “Most Outstanding Female Student for Leadership and Scholarship.” Later Mildred earned her Master’s degree in Public Administration from Rutgers University located in Newark, New Jersey.

Mildred inaugurated her career as an educator in Detroit. She became the first African American to teach Braille there. In 1965, Mildred relocated to Newark, New Jersey, where she became the first African American teacher of Braille in the state. For many years, Mildred worked as a teacher and consultant with the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Her career as an educator spanned 42 years.

Mildred also contributed to her community through public office. She was elected Newark’s first African-American Councilwoman in 1994, the first African American to serve on the Council in the city’s 336-year history. She served in this role until 2021.

A longtime community activist, Mildred was a tireless advocate for women, children, senior citizens, the disabled, working families and others in need. She served as the president and a member of the Board of Trustees for Integrity House, Inc.; Vice Chairperson of the Steering Committee of the Bridge to Recovery; and a charter member of the African American Museum at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. As an advocate for women’s empowerment, she presented workshops on women’s issues throughout the United States, and in many international countries, including China, Ghana, and Nigeria. She was also a founding member of the New Jersey Coalition of 100 Black Women, and a Golden Heritage Life Member of the Newark Branch of the NAACP.

For her work as an educator, politician, and community activist, Mildred garnered many awards. She earned the Susan Burgess Memorial Award for Exemplary Leadership from the National Democratic Municipal Officials. She also received the Public Service Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration. In 2020, she was inducted into the New Jersey State League of Municipalities Hall of Fame.

Mildred Crump passed away on Dec. 1, 2024, at the age of 86. She is interred at Glendale Cemetery in Bloomfield, New Jersey. To learn more about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this link to Rutgers.

Willa Brown Chappell: Teacher to Tuskegee Airmen

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Teacher Willa Brown Chappell taught Tuskegeww Airmen to fly airplanes during WWII. She is pictured here at age 31. Photo credit: US National Archives and Records Administration

Many exceptional teachers can boast achievements outside of their classroom. One of these is Willa Brown Chappell, the first African American woman licensed to fly in the United States.

Willa was born on Jan. 22, 1906, in Glasgow, Kentucky. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Indiana State Teachers College in 1927. She also completed the requirements for an MBA from Northwestern University in 1937. Following her college graduation, Willa was employed first as a high school teacher at Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana, and later as a social worker in Chicago.

Willa was always seeking challenges and adventures in her life, especially if they could be found outside the limited career fields normally open to African American women at that time. She decided to learn to fly airplanes. She studied with Cornelius R. Coffey, a certified flight instructor and expert aviation mechanic at a racially segregated airport in Chicago. Willa earned her private pilot’s license in 1938. Later, Willa and Cornelius married and founded the Coffey School of Aeronautics at Harlem Airport in Chicago, where together they trained Black pilots and aviation mechanics. Willa conducted the classroom instruction and Cornelius conducted the in-flight practice.

In 1939, Willa, Cornelius, and their friend Enoch P. Waters founded the National Airmen’s Association of America. Their goal was to secure admission for Black aviation cadets into the US military. As the organization’s national secretary and the president of the Chicago branch, Willa became an activist for racial equality. She persistently lobbied the US Government for integration of Black pilots into the segregated Army Air Corps and the federal Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), a system established by the Civil Aeronautics Authority just before the outbreak of World War II. The CPTP’s purpose was to provide  civilian pilots for service during national emergencies. Willa was given the rank of an officer in this first integrated unit.

In 1948, when Congress finally voted to allow African Americans to participate in civilian flight training programs, the Coffey School of Aeronautics was one of the few private aviation schools selected to provide training. Later, her flight school was selected by the US Army to provide Black trainees for the Air Corps pilot training program at the Tuskegee Institute. Willa was instrumental in training more than 200 students who went on to become Tuskegee pilots. Eventually, Willa Brown became the coordinator of war-training service for the Civil Aeronautics Authority and a member of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Women’s Advisory Board. She was the first Black female officer in the Civil Air Patrol and the first Black woman to hold a commercial pilot’s license in the United States.

This remarkable educator and pioneer aviatrix passed away on July 18, 1992. In 2010, Willa was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the Indiana State University Alumni Association. She was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in her native Kentucky in 2003.

To find out more about this remarkable Chalkboard Champion, you can read a chapter about her in my book, Chalkboard Heroes, which is available on amazon.com and the website for Barnes and Noble.

Houston STEM teacher Arquala Davis named HAABSE’s 2026 Secondary Teacher of the Year

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STEM teacher Arquala Davis of Houston, Texas, has been named the 2026 Secondary Teacher of the Year by HAABSE. Photo credit: Arquala Davis

Many deserving teachers earn recognition for their outstanding work with young people. One of them is Arquala Davis, a STEM teacher from Houston, Texas. She has been named the 2026 Secondary Teacher of the Year by the Houston Area Alliance of Black School Educators (HAABSE).

Arquala teaches STEM courses at Dwight D. Eisenhower High School, a public school fondly referred to as “Big Ike” in the Aldine Independent School District in Houston, Texas. There she instructs courses in Chemistry, Earth and Space, and Biology sciences. She has worked at the school for four years.

In her classroom, Arquala emphasizes creating hands-on, student-driven curriculum that encourages exploration and generates discussion. “I spark curiosity by allowing students to lead their own learning and connect science to their everyday experiences,” she says. “Through labs, activities, and meaningful discussions about scientific phenomena, students begin to see how science is already part of their lives,” she continues. “Students do science every day without even realizing it. The exciting part is helping them understand what they’ve already discovered,” she concludes.

Her award from HAABSE is not the only recognition Arquala has earned. She was honored as the Rookie Teacher of the Year at Big Ike in 2022, and she garnered the Dean’s Dozen Award that same year. In addition, she was named the Austin Outstanding Student from the University of Texas in 2022. 

Arquala earned her Bachelor’s degree in Health and Society from the University of Texas at Austin in 2022. She earned her Master’s degree in Public Health with an emphasis in Epidemiology and Data Science from UTHealth Houston in 2026.

The mission of the HAABSE is to uplift educators, enhance opportunities for all students, and celebrate outstanding service. The organization honors teachers across the Greater Houston area for their exceptional commitment to students, schools, and communities.

Retired Ohio English teacher Sharon Mills Draper is an award-winning author

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Retired high school English teacher Sharon Mills Draper has won a plethora of awards as an author of books for children and adolescents. Photo credit: Creative Commons

I always enjoy sharing stories about exceptional educators who have earned recognition as an author. One of these is Sharon Mills Draper, a former high school English teacher who has won a plethora of awards as an author of books for children and adolescents.

Sharon was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on Aug. 21, 1948, the oldest of the three children of Victor and Catherine Mills. Her father was a hotel maitre d’ and her mother worked in the advertising department of a local newspaper. As a child, Sharon loved to play the piano and to read. By the time she was 11 years old, she had read every children’s book in her local library. The librarian then gave her a special library card that she could use to check out books from the adult section.

When she grew up, Sharon earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Pepperdine University and her Master’s degree from Miami University of Ohio. Once she completed her education, she inaugurated her teaching career in pubic schools in Cincinnati. As a teacher, Sharon earned fame among her students for a challenging research paper she assigned to her seniors. They dubbed the assignment the “Draper Paper.”

Sharon’s career as an author began in 1990 when she was challenged by one of her ninth grade students to “write something.” She submitted a short story entitled “One Small Torch” to a writing contest sponsored by Ebony Magazine. The magazine published her story and gave her a cash prize of $1,000. She even earned praise from Roots author Alex Haley! In 2000, after a career as an educator that spanned 25 years, Sharon retired to spend more time on her writing.

For her work as an educator and as an author, Sharon has earned many accolades. She was named the National Teacher of the Year in 1997. The same year, the Ohio Department of Education honored her as an Ohio Pioneer in Education, and she garnered a National Educator Award from the Milken Foundation. She also won the Career Woman of Achievement, the Dean’s Award from Howard University School of Education, the Pepperdine University Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Marva Collins Education Excellence Award, and the Governor’s Educational Leadership Award. In addition, Sharon earned the Coretta Scott King Award for books about youngsters and adolescents. But she is best known for her Hazelwood and Jericho series.

To learn more about the work of Sharon Mills Draper, see her bio info at Simon & Schuster.