Tag Archives: Celebrity Teachers

Teachers who have become famous for achievements outside the profession of education.

TV personality Mary Hart was once a high school English teacher

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Celebrated television host Mary Hart is a former high school English teacher from South Dakota. Photo Credit: South Dakota Hall of Fame

There are many talented individuals in Hollywood who were originally classroom teachers. One of these is Mary Hart, a television personality known best or her role on Entertainment Tonight. She was once a high school English teacher in South Dakota.

Mary Hart was born Mary Johanna Harum in Madison, South Dakota, on Nov. 8, 1951. As a young woman in 1970, she entered a beauty pageant, where she was named Miss South Dakota. She subsequently became one of the top ten contestants for the Miss America Pageant. During the pageant, Mary was interviewed for national television, and that was when she discovered her passion for broadcasting.

Two years later, Mary earned her Bachelor’s degree from  Augustana College in Sioux Falls. Once she earned her degree, she accepted a position teaching English at Washington High School in Sioux Falls. But she never forgot her aspirations for broadcasting. During the years she worked in the classroom, Mary moonlighted as a host on a local cable show.

Before long, Mary relocated from South Dakota to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to accept a position as a broadcaster there. In Iowa her repertoire expanded, encompassing both television and radio shows. By 1976, Mary was a household name in Iowa, where she co-hosted a talk show called Dannysday. In 1979, Mary moved to Los Angeles, where she a secured position hosting PM Magazine and worked with Regis Philbin on The Regis Philbin Show. But it was her appearances on Entertainment Tonight (ET) that made her a household name nationwide. She worked on the television show for 29 years, and by the time she retired from the show in 2011, she had set a Guinness World Record for the longest-serving entertainment news host.

In addition to her work as a television host, Mary hosted the Tournament of Roses Parade from 1984 to 1989, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1987. She received Emmy nominations for both. In 1989, the former English teacher was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has also been inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.

In addition to her work in broadcasting, Mary is committed to numerous charitable projects. For example, she is an advocate for women’s issues, personal achievement, and improving children’s lives. In fact, she has worked tirelessly for the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon.

Mary Hart: A true Chalkboard Champion.

 

Best-selling author Stephen King was once a high school English teacher

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Best-selling author Stephen King was once a high school English teacher. Here he is in his classroom in Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine, in 1973. Photo Credit: Reddit

Most people are very familiar with the popular novels and short stories of talented horror fiction writer Stephen King, but did you know he was once a high school teacher?

Stephen was born on September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. His father was a merchant seaman, and his mother was a kitchen worker in a facility for the developmentally handicapped. When Stephen was only two years old, his father abandoned the family, and after that his mother struggled to support herself, Stephen, and Stephen’s older brother, David.

When he was young, Stephen attended Durham Elementary School, and then Lisbon Falls High School in Lisbon Falls, Maine, where he graduated in 1966. Even as a child, Stephen displayed an interest in horror fiction. He was an avid reader of EC’s horror comics, which included the stories of Tales from the Crypt.  He began writing for his own amusement, contributing articles to Dave’s Rag, a home-based newspaper his brother published with a mimeograph machine. Later he began selling stories to his classmates based on movies he had seen, though he was forced to return his profits when his teachers discovered the enterprise. The first of Stephen’s stories to be independently published was “I Was a Teenage Grave Robber,” published in a popular fanzine in 1965.

Following Stephen’s graduation from high school in 1966, he enrolled as a student at the University of Maine, Orono, declaring a major in English. During his college years, he wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Maine Campus, entitled “Steve King’s Garbage Truck,” participated in writing workshops, and took odd jobs to help meet his living expenses, including one stint at an industrial laundry.  He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He sold his first professional short story, “The Glass Floor,” to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967.

After graduating from the University of Maine in 1970, Stephen earned his high school teaching credential, but was unable to find a teaching position right away. To earn a living, he sold short stories to men’s magazines such as Cavalier. In 1971, Stephen was hired to teach at Hampden Academy, a public high school in Hampden, Maine. He continued to contribute short stories to magazines and worked on ideas for novels. After his novel Carrie was published, Stephen left his job as a high school teacher to write full time, but he continued his career as an educator when he was hired as a professor of creative writing at the University of Maine, Orono.

Today, at age 75, Stephen King lives in Bangor, Maine. His wife, Tabitha King, is also a successful author. Stephen and Tabitha provide scholarships for local high school students and  contribute to many other local and national charities.

Teacher Michelle Young appears on The Bachelor, The Bachelorette

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Former elementary school teacher Michelle Young has become prominent in the public eye for her appearances on both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Photo Credit: Bachelor Nation

Many fine classroom teachers also find themselves prominent in the public eye for their appearances on television. One of these is Michelle Anne Young, a former elementary school teacher who has appeared on both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.

Michelle was born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, on June 3, 1993. She was raised in the nearby town of Woodbury, where she attended public schools. As a high school student, Michelle was a star basketball player at Woodbury High. In fact, she was named the Most Valuable Player by the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Team, and she became a finalist for Minnesota’s Miss Basketball.

After her high school graduation, Michelle attended Bradley University on an athletic scholarship. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Bradley in 2015. While there, she played Division 1 basketball and was named a Two-Time First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete.

Michelle inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position as a fourth grade teacher at Normandale Hills Elementary School in Bloomington, Minnesota. In her last teaching position, she taught fifth grade at Echo Park Elementary School in Burnsville, Minnesota.

The popular teacher earned nationwide attention in 2021 for her appearances on reality television. During her appearances, Michelle shared her experiences teaching during the pandemic and during the protests following the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. “I’m able to go to work and know that I’m making a difference,” she asserted. “Some days it doesn’t feel like that when you get home,” she continued. “It’s been a very difficult year for my students, especially my students of color,” she concluded.

In 2021, Michelle appeared in the 25th season of the reality show The Bachelor, where she rose to runner-up position. That same year, she became a contestant on the 18th season of the reality show The Bachelorette. She also appeared on episodes of the talk shows Live with Kelly and Ryan, Entertainment Tonight, three broadcasts of Good Morning America, and as a presenter at the American Music Awards.

After these appearances, which Michelle described as exhausting, she announced she was taking a break from the classroom for at least one year. But some day, she says, she may return to the profession.

Old-time singing cowboy became a CA music teacher

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Many times talented entertainers find their way into classrooms, influencing impressionable young minds to pursue similar interests in the performing arts. One of these was Ernest “Skeeter” Hubbert, a singing cowboy who became a popular music educator in Riverside, California.

Ernest was born on July 10, 1924, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was musically gifted as a child, and when he grew up, he studied at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music and the Sorbonne in France. Eventually he enrolled at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he earned his Master’s degree in Music.

In the mid-1930s, Ernest landed a position in the band of Stuart Hamblen, and he also played rhythm guitar and trumpet on commercial recordings with Texas Jim Lewis. When WWII erupted, Ernest formed his own group of Western musicians which he dubbed Skeeter Hubert and his Cowboys. The Standard Transcriptions Company created approximately 40 recording with this group. These recording received widespread national airplay, earning Ernest a reputation for being the most popular singing cowboy on the air. In addition to performances as a musician, he also worked as an extra in many Western movies.

After the war was won, Ernest earned a living teaching music and directing choral groups in the Los Angeles area. Eventually he relocated to the city of Riverside, located in Southern California’s Inland Empire. There he accepted positions as a music teacher, first at Chemawa Junior High School, and then at Matthew Gage Junior High School. Next he taught music at Alcott Elementary School for two years before returning to Gage. He also directed civic choral groups in the area. Eventually, the former singing cowboy retired from the teaching profession.

Ernest passed away on Oct. 12, 1989. He was 75 years old. But the impact he made on young student musicians lives on to this day. To read more about Ernest “Skeeter” Hubbert, click on this link to an article written about him from his former student, Steve Lech, published on Dec. 18, 2022, in the Press Enterprise.

Maryland teacher Mary Carter Smith earned fame as a griot

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Maryland public school teacher Mary Carter Smith earned accolades as a radio personality, folklorist, and griot. Photo Credit: National Association of Black Storytellers

Many talented educators are also known for their artistic pursuits. One of these was Mary Carter Smith, a public school teacher in Maryland who earned fame as a radio personality, folklorist, and griot—a storyteller in African oral tradition. She has earned a reputation nationwide for reviving and promoting storytelling as an art form, as a teaching method, and as a form of communication.

Mary was committed to the power of storytelling in assisting understanding between people and in improving race relations. “Misunderstanding abounds. It has no special resting place. Rich and poor, majority and minority, young and old, Black and White – all feel the sting of being misunderstood,” she asserted. “And there are many people, using many ways, trying to lead us to a better understanding of each other. I am among those who fight misunderstanding,” she continued. “The weapons I use are stories, drama, songs, poetry, and laughter. I bring entertainment with a purpose,” she concluded.

Mary was born in Feb. 10, 1919, in Birmingham, Alabama. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Coppin State University in 1942. In 1943, she accepted a position in the Baltimore City Public School system, where she taught for 31 years. In addition to her work in the classroom, Mary hosted a Saturday morning radio program entitled Griot for the Young and the Young at Heart.

As if this were not enough, Mary was a co-founder of the Arena Players Theatre Company and the Griots’ Circle of Maryland. In 1982, she co-founded the National Association of Black Storytellers. She was also instrumental in the founding of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America in her city.

For her work as an educator and folklorist, Mary earned many accolades. In 1998, she was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame. In 1996, she earned the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Circle of Excellence Award, both from the National Storytelling Association. Also, Mary was named the official Griot of Baltimore City, and in 1991, she was named the official Griot of the state of Maryland. In 1985, Mary garnered the Zora Neale Hurston Award. In 1982, she co-founded the National Association of Black Storytellers. She was also instrumental in the founding of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America in her city. But the most amazing of all, I think, is that her image has been featured in the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum located in Baltimore!

Sadly, Mary Carter Smith passed away on April 24, 2007. To read more about her, see this article published by the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame.