Tag Archives: African American Teachers

Kimberly Jones named North Carolina’s 2024 Teacher of the Year

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High school English teacher Kimberly Jones has been named North Carolina’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit” NC Newsline

It is always wonderful when an exceptional educator is honored for their outstanding work in the classroom. One of these is Kimberly Jones, a high school English teacher from North Carolina. She has been named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

Kimberly teaches at Chapel Hill High School in the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools District. She has taught in the district since 2006. There she instructs courses on World Literature to sophomores. Part of her curriculum includes a study of the Holocaust and human rights.

This amazing teacher also instructed classes in AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determinism), a college readiness program designed to increase the number of under-represented students who enroll and succeed in college. Kimberly is a big believer in the program. “As an African American woman from a single parent, rural, working class background, I know first-hand the transformative power of education and the impact of hard-working educators to change lives,” Kimberly reveals.

In addition to her work in the public school, Kimberley serves as a Site Director for the Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights in North Carolina. She also works as an education consultant for PBS North Carolina. In these roles, she leads and supports fellow educators in North Carolina and throughout the country in designing lessons that help students better understand literary, cultural, and historical texts and events.

For her work as a professional educator, Kimberly has won numerous awards. In 2024, she was honored by Governor Roy Cooper and the NC African American Heritage Commission for Contributions to Public Education. She was honored with the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Equity Equals Excellence Award. She was also named the Chapel Hill Public School Foundation Sullivan Chair for Excellence in High School English Education in both 2022 and 2023. And as if all that were not enough, she was honored as WCHL’s Radio Chapelboro Hometown Hero Award.

Kiimberly earned her Bachelor’s degree in English in 2005 and her Master of Arts  in Education with a Concentration in Secondary English Instruction in 2006, both from Wake Forest University. She is also a National Board Certified Teacher.

Olympian Tidye Pickett also worked as a teacher

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Many fine educators have also distinguished themselves in the field of sports. This is true of Tidye Pickett, an Olympic athlete from Illinois who taught school in East Chicago Heights. Photo credit: Alchetron.

There are many examples throughout American history of talented educators who have also distinguished themselves in the field of sports. One such example is the remarkable Tidye Pickett.

Theodora Anne Pickett was born on November 13, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. Known by everyone as Tidye, she was the second of two children born to Louis and Sarah Pickett. Her father was a foundry foreman, and her mother was a factory clerk.

As a teenager, Tidye took up running. She quickly established a reputation as a high school track star at her alma mater, Englewood High School in Chicago. She was one of two African American women selected to represent the United States women’s track team in the 1932 Olympic Games held in Los Angeles. She was scheduled to serve as part of an eight-woman relay team and as an alternate sprinter in the 80-meter hurdles, the broad jump, and the 100-meter sprint, but did not actually compete in those games. When the 1936 games rolled around, Tidye was again selected to represent the United States. Unfortunately, a foot injury prevented Tidye from medaling in those games; however, she did earn the distinction of being the first African American woman to compete in an Olympic Games.

Tidye earned her Bachelor’s degree from Pestalozzi Froebel Teachers College in Chicago and her Master’s degree in Education from Northern Illlinois University in August, 1956. Following her college graduation, Tidye accepted a position as a teacher at Cottage Grove Elementary in East Chicago Heights. She taught there for just one year, and then the talented educator was promoted to the position of principal of Woodlawn School in the same district. She remained in that position for 23 years until her retirement in 1980. In recognition for her many years of distinguished service, the district renamed her school Tidy A. Pickett School.

This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away on November 17, 1986, at the age of 72.

Teacher Juanita Harris supports frontline educational workers

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Arkansas kindergarten teacher Juanita Harris supports frontline educational workers through her Teachers Support Teachers program. Photo Credit: Juanita Harris

We know that educators dedicate themselves to taking good care of their students. But there are cases when these teachers dedicate themselves to taking care of their fellow educators, too. One of these is Juanita Harris, a kindergarten teacher from Texarkana. In addition to her work in the classroom, Juanita is founder and CEO of Teachers Support Teachers, an organization whose mission is to provide care and support to fellow educators.

Teachers Support Teachers provides much-needed self-care for frontline educational workers, a group which includes teachers, paraprofessionals, school librarians, cafeteria workers—anyone who spends at least 85% of the instructional day working directly with and for students. The self-care comes in the form of massages, pedicures, funds for supplies, celebratory cookouts, group therapy sessions, and more. “Our mission is to encourage the hearts that shape the minds,” declares Juanita.

This effort is especially important now, asserts Juanita. She notes that educators struggled greatly through the Covid-19 years, but even though those years are behind us, teachers continue to struggle. Many teachers are feeling under-appreciated, under-valued, and under-paid. All over the country, large numbers of them are choosing to leave the profession. “I don’t believe we have a teacher shortage problem,” she says. “We have a teacher retention problem.” She founded Teachers Support Teachers to help address the emotional and professional needs of teachers so that they will stay in the profession.

Through her efforts, Juanita not only provides self-care for educators, but she also supports small businesses in her area. For example, at a recent teacher appreciation event, she partnered with a local teacher supply store, neighborhood restaurants, the community bank, and even a local balloon store.

In the five years since Juanita has founded the organization, the effort has spread to other states, and she is actively working to create a more widespread movement. To learn more, to find out how to become a partner with the organization, or to make a contribution, simply click on this link: Teachers Support Teachers.

Elem teacher De’Shawn Washington named 2024 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year

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Elementary school teacher De’Shawn Washington of Lexington, Massachusetts, has been named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. He is the first African American man to be so honored. Photo credit: Massachusetts Teachers Association

It is always my pleasure to share the story of an outstanding educator who has earned accolades for their work in the classroom. One of these is De’Shawn Washington, an elementary school teacher from Massachusetts. He has been named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

The honored educator is the first African American man to be honored with Massachusetts’ top educator honor. “It starts with having the Black students in the classroom seeing their future selves as an older person, as a teacher, in a classroom,” De’Shawn asserts.

De’Shawn teaches a fourth grade inclusion classroom at Maria Hastings Elementary School in Lexington. His career as an educator spans eight years, four of them at Hastings Elementary. “It’s all about the passion, right?” declares De’Shawn. “Teaching is a calling. I’m very fortunate to be in education and be in this work today,” he concludes.

In addition to his work with his young students, De’Shawn is a member of his district’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Community Input Team; the Elementary Schedule Review Committee; and the Student Success Team. He is also a member of the School Site Council. Prior to his work in Lexington, he taught in Boston Public Schools.

As if all that were not enough, De’Shawn organizes workshops at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, to help pre-service teachers pass the Massachusetts Tests for Education Licensure. He has presented and published about culturally responsive instruction. He also volunteers as a Big Brother.

He received Lexington Public Schools’ Core Values Award in April 2021 for building and sustaining a sense of community in his classroom.

De’Shawn earned his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance in 2013. He earned his Master’s degree in Elementary Education in 2018 and a second Master’s degree in Special Education in 2022, all from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Currently, he is working on his PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University.

 

Award-winning actress Quinta Brunson inspired by her teacher, Joyce Abbott

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Joyce Abbot with her sixth grade student, Quinta Brunson. Photo credit: University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

There are many praiseworthy educators in classrooms all around our country, but not all of them receive the praise they are due. One of these teachers, though, has received more praise than she could ever have imagined. She is Joyce Abbott, a retired elementary teacher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Joyce is, in part, the inspiration for a character on the award-winning television show, Abbot Elementary. She was the teacher of sixth grader Quinta Brunson. When Quinta grew up, she became the creator and star of the show, and while writing the show, she didn’t forget her former teacher.

Abbott Elementary highlights the difficulties faced by an inner-city school staff as they teach their young students. Those difficulties include substandard facilities, underfunding, lack of educational resources, and, in some cases, poor leadership.

The show has garnered an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2022, a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series—Musical or Comedy in 2022, and an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2023.

Joyce taught for 27 years in inner-city schools within the Philadelphia School District. Most recently, she served as a climate manager at Andrew Hamilton Elementary, a K-8 school located in West Philadelphia. In this role, she ensures the campus environment is safe and conducive to learning.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Joyce is also a veteran of the US Army, where she attained the rank of staff sergeant. She spent ten years in the military, including a ten-month tour of the Person Gulf during the Persian Gulf War.

Joyce has admitted publicly that it wasn’t always easy for her to succeed in the classroom. “At the onset of my journey, it was very difficult. I had 36 students my first year, very limited textbooks, several behavior problems, and in addition to several students academically challenged,” Joyce recalls. But she says that it was her passion that kept her in the classroom.

Joyce admits that teachers in the classroom today continue to face obstacles in their profession. “It’s difficult with the many outside challenges that teachers are facing today,” she asserts. But she encourages them to keep up the good work. “Know that you can do it, believe in yourself, and believe in that child. They need you, sometimes you’re their only hope,” Joyce says. “Just know that every day that you’re going in, even though every day may not be great, you are making a difference,” she concludes.

This Chalkboard Champion earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics from the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, in 1983, and her Master’s degree in Education from Cheyney University. She is listed in the Who’s Who Among America’s Finest Teachers.