Tag Archives: Celebrity Teachers

Former English teacher Joy Behar now uses The View as her classroom

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Joy Behar

Former teacher and current talk show hostess Joy Behar.

Success in the classroom often leads to success in other fields requiring performance in front of an audience. One former educator who proves this to be true is comedienne, actress, and talk show hostess Joy Behar.

Joy was born Josephine Victoria Occhiuto on October 7, 1942, in Williamsburg in the Brooklyn area of New York. Her mother earned a living as a seamstress and her father worked as a truck driver. Joy earned her Bachelor’s degree from Queens College in 1964, and her Master’s in English Education from State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1966.

After her college graduation, Joy accepted a position as an English teacher at Lindenhurst Senior High School in Long Island, New York. She worked there for five years.

At the age of about 40, Joy decided to leave her classroom to pursue a career as a stand-up comic. By 1996 she had established herself as a comedienne, playing all the major venues. She also hosted a talk show on WABC-Radio. She has appeared in several movies: Cookie, This Is My Life, and Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery. In addition, she authored a book of humorous essays and stories called Joy Shtick — Or What is the Existential Vacuum and Does It Come with Attachments? She also wrote two children’s books about a dog named Sheetzucacapoopoo. But the former teacher is probably best known for her appearances on the daily talk show The View. She was hired for the program in 1997 after show creator Barbara Walters saw her perform at Milton Berle’s 89th birthday tribute.

Joy still has connections to the classroom. She is married to Steven Janowitz, a retired junior high school math teacher. And she sometimes is accused of treating her guests on The View as if she were their teacher. “Someone once told me I’m still teaching, only now I have a bigger classroom,” she once joked.

To read more about Joy Behar, click on ABC The View Co-Hosts

The teaching career of Grammy Award-winner Roberta Flack

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Singer, songwriter, and former schoolteacher Roberta Flack

Singer, songwriter, and former schoolteacher Roberta Flack

Many people have heard of Grammy Award-winning songwriter and singer Roberta Flack. Her best-known songs are “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” and “Where Is the Love?” But did you know that this celebrated jazz, folk, and R&B icon was once a public school teacher?

Roberta Cleopatra Flack was born February 10, 1937, in Black Mountain, Buncombe County, North Carolina. She was raised in Arlington, Virginia. Her mother was a church organist, so Roberta grew up in a musical household. At the age of nine, Roberta began to study classical piano, and by the time she was fifteen, she had won a music scholarship to Howard University. Howard is a traditionally Black college located in Washington, DC.

Roberta completed her undergraduate work, and then her student teaching at an all-white school near Chevy Chase, Maryland. She was the first African American student teacher to work at that school. After her college graduation, Roberta accepted a position teaching music and English in Farmville, North Carolina, a gig which paid her only $2,800 per year. She also taught in Washington, DC, at Browne Junior High and Rabaut Junior High School. While she was teaching, she took a number of side jobs as a night club singer. It was there that she was discovered and signed to a contract for Atlanta Records. The rest, as they say, is music business history.

In recent years, Roberta’s contribution to education came when she founded an after-school music program entitled “The Roberta Flack School of Music” to provide music education free of charge to underprivileged students in the Bronx, New York City. The program is offered through Hyde Leadership Charter School. You can learn more about this program at this link: Roberta Flack School of Music.

Frank Caprio: The Former Teacher, Judge, and Television Personality

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There are many instances when masterful classroom teachers go on to find success in fields other than education. This is the case with Rhode Island’s Frank Caprio, a former social studies teacher who has earned a reputation as a fine municipal judge and popular television personality.

Frank was born on November 23, 1936, to parents who had immigrated from Italy to Providence, Rhode Island, in 1912. To support the family, the parents sold fruit from a pushcart on Providence’s Federal Hill. As a student in public schools, young Frank contributed income to the family by washing dishes and shining shoes. All during his childhood, Frank’s parents emphasized the value of hard work, the importance of education, and a commitment to service.

After his graduation from Providence’s Central High School, Frank earned his bachelor’s degree from Providence College. After he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science, he accepted a position as a teacher of American history and government at Hope High School, a public high school on the East Side of Providence. The young teacher married and started a family. Then Frank decided he wanted to change careers and study law, so he enrolled in night courses at the Suffolk University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts.

The former educator began his career in the legal profession in 1965. Since 1985, he has served as a Providence Municipal Court Judge. His court is very popular in Rhode Island as a result of his highly acclaimed television show Caught in Providence, produced by his brother, Joseph Caprio. The show has appeared on a major local TV channel for three years and on a local cable channel for eight years.

Remembering his parents’ encouragement to be of service, Frank has established scholarships to benefit Rhode Island school children. The former educator named his scholarships in honor of his father, a man who had only a fifth grade education but, according to Frank, possessed deep wisdom and great perseverance. Frank also volunteers at local charities such as Boys Town of Italy, the Nickerson House Juvenile Court, and the Federal Hill House.

To recognize Frank’s many years of public service, the Multicultural Center of the University of Rhode Island honored him with its Lifetime Diversity Award. “Judge Caprio is the embodiment of the American dream, a man who understood that education and hard work unlock the doors to success,” expressed Robert L. Carothers, spokesperson for the University of Rhode Island. “Moreover, having succeeded as an individual, he turned his energies to helping others, especially the children of immigrants and minorities, find access to educational opportunities that would allow them to pass through those same doors,” Carothers concluded.

Read more about Frank at the link Judge Caprio or about his television show at Caught in Providence.

Sue Burns: The math teacher who became integral to the San Francisco Giants

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Sometimes in history talented educators make their mark in arenas other than the classroom. This is the case with Sue Burns, a math teacher who became an integral and beloved part of the San Francisco Giants franchise.

Sue was born in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 9, 1950. She earned her degree at California State University, East Bay, located in Hayward, California. Following her college graduation, she accepted a position as a math teacher at the Woodside Priory School, a private coeducational Catholic prep school located in Portola, Valley, California. She was employed there from 1983 to 1992.

Sue met and married Harmon Burns, an investor in a financial group that purchased the San Francisco Giants baseball team in 1992. Sadly, Harmon died of heart failure in 2006. Upon his death, Sue became the majority shareholder of the team and assumed the role of senior general partner. The former schoolteacher was extremely popular within the Giants organization. She attended almost every game, and often sat with Nikolai Bonds, the son of Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. In addition, Sue often traveled with the team when they went on the road and to Arizona for spring training.

In July, 2009, Sue discovered she had lung cancer. She succumbed to the disease a week later, on July 19, at the age of 58.  “Sue was a remarkable mother, grandmother, and friend whose loving and nurturing spirit touched everyone in the Giants family,” expressed Giants official Bill Neukom at the time of her passing. “Her unwavering loyalty to her beloved orange and black could be felt throughout the entire organization.”

To read more about this amazing lady, click on The Mercury News.

Teacher and Television Personality Jedediah Bila

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Many former educators have distinguished themselves in the entertainment world. This is certainly the case with Jedediah Louisa Bila, a middle school, high school, and college educator who has earned a name for herself as a prominent television personality.

Jedediah was born on January 29, 1979, in Brooklyn, New York. As a youngster, she grew up in Staten Island where she attended an all-girls Catholic high school. Upon her graduation, she enrolled at Wagner College, a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, where she majored in Spanish and minored in business administration. She graduated from Wagner as the valedictorian of her class. After her college graduation, Jedediah earned her master’s degree in Spanish literature from Columbia University.

As an educator, Jedediah has taught various courses at the middle school, high school, and college levels. She has worked with learners from age three to adult, teaching them such subjects as creative writing, academic writing, Spanish, and public speaking. She has also been employed as a high school academic dean and adviser.

In the entertainment field, Jedediah served as a co-host on the popular television show The View from August, 2016, to September, 2017. In fact, in 2017, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host. Jedediah has also served as a Fox News contributor and as a regular panelist on shows such as Red Eye, MSNBC, and Lou Dobbs Tonight. She has also published a book, Outnumbered: Chronicles of a Manhattan Conservative, in May of 2011. She has also held several leadership positions in the marketing field.

You can learn more about this amazing educator and television personality at this link: Jedediah Bila Biography.