Tag Archives: African American Teachers

Florida Coach Lin-J Shell prevented potential tragedy on campus

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Florida Football Coach and PE teacher Lin-J Shell became a Chalkboard Hero when he prevented a potential tragedy on his school campus. 

Many talented educators have also had successful careers as athletes. One of these is Wagner Lindsell Shell, Jr., also known as Lin-J Shell. He is a former professional football player who later taught high school physical education. But he’s probably best known for foiling an incident of potential violence at his Florida school.

Lin-J was born Oct. 22, 1981. As a young man, He played college football at Jacksonville University. Later he became a professional football player, occupying the position of defensive back. He played in both the American and the Canadian Football League from 2004 to 2015. Teams he played for include the Philadelphia Eagles, the New Orleans VooDoo, the Calgary Stampeders, the Toronto Argonauts, the BC Lions, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. For his athletic prowess, Lin-J was named an East All-Star for the Canadian Football League in 2010 and 2011. He also garnered a Grey Cup in 2014.

After he concluded his career as a pro-ball player, Lin-J accepted a position as a physical education teacher and Assistant Football Coach at Jean Ribault High School in Jacksonville, Florida. He was promoted to interim Head Football Coach at the school just days before the start of the 2019 season, he coached the team to a 4-5 record that year.

On May 9, 2018, while Lin-J was working at Ribault High as the Assistant Football Coach, that he became a hero there. He helped to prevent a woman from using a handgun in the school gymnasium when a brawl broke out. The fight was triggered when the woman became angry about a social media post involving her nephew, who happened to be one of Lin-J’s students. The woman went to the gym with four men. “She got out of the car, she was irate, basically saying she wasn’t going to let anyone jump on her family,” recalled Lin-J. When the teacher noticed that she was holding a gun, he went straight for the firearm. “I came from behind her, I saw she had a gun, I grabbed her hand, put her hand down and hit her elbow,” he continued. Then Lin-J walked the woman backwards out of the gym, holding her arm so that the gun was pointed toward the floor. All the while, he pleaded with her, “Please don’t shoot our kids.” Once he had forced the woman outside, he shouted for help from an armed officer at the school. The officer forced the woman to drop the gun and arrested her. (To read more about the incident, see this onlline article from Bell Media.)

Sadly, this Chalkboard Hero passed away from a stroke in Florida on July 29, 2021. He was only 39 years old. He also tested positive for Covid during the pandemic.

GA educator Maretta Mitchell Taylor served as a community activist and capable politician

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Classroom teacher and community activist Maretta Mitchell Taylor served 12 years in Georgia State House of Representatives. Photo credit: CourierNews.org

Many excellent classroom teachers go on to serve as community activists and capable politicians. One of these is Maretta Mitchell Taylor of Georgia.

Maretta was born on Jan. 25, 1935. As a youngster, she was educated in the Muscogee County School System, where she was known to be an excellent student.  As a teenager, she attended William Henry Spencer High School, where she graduated in 1953. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Albany State College located in Albany, Georgia, in 1957. She earned her Master’s degree from Indiana University in Bloomington.

This amazing educator worked as a teacher and media specialist for 30 years, the last 20 of them spent at her high school alma mater. She retired from teaching in 1987.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Maretta was elected to the Georgia House of representatives on the Democratic tickets. She served in that body from 1990 to 2002. In fact, she was the first African American woman elected to represent Georgia House District 94 (now District 134).

While in the House, Maretta championed public education, youth advocacy, and civic equity. Gov. Roy Barnes appointed her to a special House study panel on the role of information technology in public libraries and technical institutes. She also served as Vice Chair of the House Education Committee and sat on the Committees for Children and Youth; Special Judiciary; and Intergovernmental Coordination. Within the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus and Women’s Legislative Caucus, she held key leadership roles, including first as the Secretary and then as the Co-Chair.

She also served as a board member for the YMCA and held leadership roles in more than two dozen civic, social, and philanthropic organizations, including the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Columbus Urban League, and the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs (NANBPWC), where she served as National Director of Communication.

For her service to the community, Maretta garnered many accolades and honors. She was named one Fifty Most Influential African Americans in Columbus from the A.J. McClung YMCA; the Leadership 2000 Award from the Kellogg Company; the Legacy of Leadership Award; Outstanding Legislator of the Year—2000 from the Professional Association of Georgia Educators; and the Sojourner Truth Award  from NANB & PW Clubs, Inc.. She also earned The Rosa Parks Award from Columbus PUSH; Woman of Achievement from Concharity Council of Girl Scouts, Inc.; and Woman of the Year from Columbus Chattahoochee Valley B&PW Clubs) Gracious Ladies of Georgia.

Maretta Mitchell Taylor was certainly a Chalkboard Champion. Sadly, she passed away in Columbus, Georgia, on Feb. 17, 2013. She was 78 years old. She was interred at Green Acres Cemetery.

 

PA teacher Leon Smith named 2026 National Teacher of the Year

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Congratulations to Leon Smith, a high school Social Studies teacher from Pennsylvania. He has been named the 2026 National Teacher of the Year. Leon teaches Advanced Placement US History and Advanced Placement African American Studies to sophomores, juniors, and seniors at Haverford High School in Haverford./

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.

Harold Jackman: Teacher, model, literary editor, and charismatic patron the arts

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New York Social Studies teacher Harold Jackman was a model, magazine editor, and charismatic patron of the arts during the Harlem Renaissance. Here he is depicted in the 1925 drawing A College Lad. Photo Credit: Winold Reiss

New York Social Studies teacher Harold Jackman was a model, magazine editor, and charismatic patron of the arts during the Harlem Renaissance. Here he is depicted in the 1925 drawing A College Lad. Photo Credit: Winold Reiss

II always enjoy shining a spotlight on exceptional educators who have earned accolades for their outstanding achievements outside of the classroom. Today, I shine the light on Harold Jackman, a very accomplished African American social studies teacher, model, and magazine editor in New York City.

Harold was born on Aug. 18, 1901, in London, England. When he was a child, he immigrated to the United States with his mother, who was originally from the West Indies, and his brother. Once the family landed in the Bronx borough of New York City, Harold attended the prestigious all-boys school DeWitt Clinton High School. In 1923 he earned a Bachelor’s degree from New York University and in 1927 he completed the requirements for his Master’s degree from Columbia University. He then inaugurated his career as a professional educator. In a career that spanned 30 years, Harold taught social studies in New York City Public Schools in Harlem.

In addition to his work in the schools, Harold worked as a model at the Grace Del Marco Agency. He served as the model for Winold Reiss in his 1925 drawing A College Lad. Harold was also a patron of of the arts, most notably African American theater. He was a founding member for the Krigwa Players Little Negro Theater in 1926, and he helped establish the Harlem Experimental theater in 1929. He was also a member of the American Theater Wing State Door Canteen during the 1940s. Furthermore, Harold served on the Executive Board of the Negro Actors Guild.

Harold had many friends in artistic spheres. One of his best friends was Countee Cullen, a school friend from Clinton DeWitt who became a renowned poet of the Harlem Renaissance. In fact, Countee Cullen dedicated his famous poem “Heritage” to Harold. Very interested in literary pursuits, Harold served as the Associate Editor of New Challenge Magazine from 1935 to 1937. He also served as a contributing editor to Phylon from 1944 to 1956 and an advisory editor from 1957 to 1961. The charismatic teacher also served as the inspiration for several fictional characters. He appears in Wallace Thurman’s Infants of Spring, Carl Van Vechten’s Nigger Heaven, and Ben Neihart’s Rough Amusements, The True Story of A’Lelia Walker, Patroness of the Harlem Renaissance’s Down-Low Culture.

Sadly, this remarkable teacher succumbed to cancer at a hospital in Maine on July 8, 1961. After his passing, Harold Jackman’s diaries, manuscripts, correspondence, and other personal papers were donated to Atlanta University, where they became part of the Cullen-Jackman Memorial Collection in recognition of their historic value. In addition, the Harold Jackman Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to art in New York was established in his honor.