Tag Archives: African American Teachers

CA’s Romaine Washington: Educator and acclaimed poet

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Many talented classroom teachers also find notoriety as authors. One of these is Romaine Washington, a California educator who has earned acclaim as a poet. (Photo credit: www.romainewashington.com)

Many talented classroom teachers also find notoriety as authors. One of these is Romaine Washington, a California educator who has earned acclaim as a poet.

Romaine was born and raised in San Bernardino in Southern California. As a latch key kid afflicted with asthma, she spent many after-school hours reading. And even as a youngster, her gift for poetry earned special attention from her teachers.

As an adult, Romaine earned her Bachelor’s degree in French from California State University, San Bernardino. She earned her Master’s degree in Education from Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. She is a fellow of the Inland Area Writing Project (IAWP), a program that offers teachers additional training in instructional practices for writing sponsored by the University of California, Riverside.

After earning her degrees, Romaine worked as a high school teacher. It was in her first year that she completed the IAWP program. “I was invited back to be a workshop presenter and then a facilitator for the summer program,” she recalled. “For two years, I was poet-in-resident,” she continued. She also accepted a position to teach as an adjunct in the Cultural Language and Diversity Program  at her alma mater, Azusa Pacific. In all, her career as an educator has spanned over 20 years.

Romaine has published two books of poetry, including Sirens in Her Belly (2015) and Purgatory Has An Address, which is due to be released in April of this year. Her work has been published in a wide variety of anthologies and periodicals, including San Bernardino Singing, Lullwater Review, and Cholla Needles. She also contributes to the Inlandia Institute, an organization that offers creative writing classes for adults in the Inland Empire of Southern California. In addition, she has presented her work in a wide variety of venues from National Poetry Slam, National Public Radio, and her local radio station KPFK.

To learn more about Romaine, see her website at  www.romainewashington,com.

Ohio’s Norma Marcere: African American trailblazer

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Norma Marcere of Canton, Ohio, was a trailblazer in her community. Photo credit: www.cantonrep.com

I enjoy sharing stories about African American teachers who have overcome obstacles to become trailblazers in their community. Norma Marcere of Canton, Ohio, was one such teacher.

Norma was born on Oct. 21, 1908, in Canton, Ohio. As a young girl, she attended Canton McKinley High School, where she graduated in 1926. As soon as she graduated, Norma enrolled at Kent State Normal University. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and her Master’s degree in Counseling.

Norma applied for a teaching position in her home town, Canton, but her application was denied because of she was African American. However, she was able to gain employment as an English teacher at Edmund A. Junior High School in the Massillon City School District in the neighboring city of Massillon. Later she accepted a position as a counselor and school psychologist in Akron City Schools.

In 1976, Norma retired from the teaching profession and penned two autobiographies. One was entitled Round the Dining Room Table and the other was entitled The Fences Between. In 1994, the events depicted in these books were re-written into play format which was performed before an audience of 12,000 people.

In 1979, the former teacher founded the Project for Academic Excellence, a weekend program that offered tutoring and assistance to underachieving students. The program evolved into the STRIVE (Study, Think, Read, Investigate, Volunteer, and Excel) program, which helped students deal with social issues and develop personal responsibility.

For her work in the classroom, Norma earned many accolades. She was named the Junior League Woman of the Year in 1973. Walsh University gave her an honorary doctorate in 1980. In 1991 she garnered the Norma Award, an honor named after Norma Sigler Atkins Rowlands. In 1998, the Office for Black Catholic Ministries of the Diocese of Toledo bestowed their Sister Thea Bowman Medallion on Norma. She was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1985.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away from natural causes on Aug. 10, 2004. She was 95 years old. She is interred at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Canton, Stark County, Ohio.

New York’s Brian P. Jones: Educator, author, and activist

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There are many great stories about remarkable African American teachers. One New York’s Brian P. Jones: Educator, author, and activist. Photo credit: www.gc.commons.cuny.edu

There are many great stories about remarkable African American teachers. One is New York’s Brian P. Jones: Educator, author, and activist.

Brian earned his Bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1995. He earned his Master’s degree in Elementary Education from City College of New York, New York,  in 2006. He completed the requirements for his Ph.D. in Urban Education at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2018.

Brian inaugurated his career as an elementary school educator in New York City Public Schools, where he taught for the nine years between 2003 and 2012. During those years, he was a teacher at PS 125, PS 30, and PS 261.

Once he left the elementary classroom, Brian devoted his considerable energy towards educational pursuits. He is currently the Associate Director of Education at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. For many years he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Voices of a People’s History of the United States, an organization that telling nontraditional stories about American history. He worked with famous historian Howard Zinn on that project. He has also published extensively, in many periodicals, including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Journal of Negro Education, and Chalkbeat. He also served on the New York State Education Department Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Advisory Panel in 2018.
For his work in the field of education, Brian is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the Lannan Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the City University of New York.
To read more about Chalkboard Champion Brian P. Jones, see this link to Academia.

Florida teacher Chanique Davis creates Black History Month displays

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Florida elementary school art teacher Chanique Davis shares door displays created to celebrate the annual observance of Black History Month. Photo credit: www.goodmorningamerica.com

 

Our annual observance of Black History Month is an opportunity for educators to share stories about African American culture with our students. One educator who does a wonderful job of this is Chanique Davis, a fifth grade art teacher at Lake Alfred Elementary School in Lake Alfred, Florida. Lake Alfred Elementary is a Title I school, with a high population of students receiving free or reduced price breakfast and lunch.

This year, Chanique has experienced limited access to her classroom. But last year, Chanique created two artistic door displays for her classroom. The one on the left shows her Graffiti Queen creation, and the one on the right is a tribute to Tyler Perry tpo celebrate his great accomplishment of opening his own film studio. “Decorating doors and teaching [students] about culture allows me to mold and shape their minds, and their hearts to be respectful and kind,” asserts Chanique. The Chalkboard Champion says she hopes to use art to teach her students an appreciation for diversity and beauty in the cultures of others.

Chanique overcame many obstacles to find her way into the classroom. During high school, she was homeless for three years, living in empty houses, in the family car, at local shelters, and in the woods. “A family member messed up some things for us financially,” Chanique recalls about how they lost their apartment. But those challenges never stopped her from achieving. “I still made straight A’s all through high school,” she continued. “I persevered through all that and graduated with a 4.0 (grade-point average),” she says. In fact, as a Lake Gibson High School student in the mid-2000s, she was a Ledger Silver Garland winner in the foreign language category.

To read more about this amazing educator, see this article published by Florida Headline News.

 

During Black History Month, we honor Tennessee’s Mary Scales

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In celebrating Black History Month, we pay homage to Mary Scales, an exemplary math teacher from Tennessee. (Photo credit: Murfreesboro Post.)

In celebrating Black History Month, we pay homage to our country’s many talented and dedicated African American educators. One of these is Mary Scales, an exemplary math teacher from Tennessee.

Mary was born on Sept. 24, 1928, in Columbus, Georgia, although she spent her girlhood in Chicago, Illinois. As a young woman, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee. She earned her Master’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). She also completed postgraduate work at both Peabody College and Vanderbilt University,

After she earned her degrees, Mary taught in Murfreesboro at both Bradley Middle School and Boxwood Middle School, where she taught mathematics. She also served the school district as an administrator. Impressed with her abilities in the classroom, she was offered a position in the Education Department at her alma mater, MTSU, where she worked first as an Associate Professor, and then as a full professor. In fact, she was the first African American to join the faculty at that institution of higher learning. Later, Mary would work there as the Dean of Continuing Education and as a math specialist with the Tennessee State Department of Education.

In addition to her work as an educator, Mary dedicated herself to her community as both a member of Murfreesboro City School Board and the Murfreesboro City Council. She was the first Black woman to serve on the Council. This hardworking educator had a reputation for being a strong advocate for Civil Rights.

For her tireless work in the classroom on behalf of children, Mary earned many accolades. She was inducted into the Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame at MTSU in 2001. In 2005, a Murfreesboro elementary school was named in honor of both Mary and her husband, Robert.

Sadly, Mary passed away on Oct. 6, 2013, following a long battle with cancer. She was 85 years old. To learn more about this Chalkboard Champion, see her obituary published by MTSU.