Tag Archives: Elementary Teachers

The remarkable Stacey Bess, who taught in The School With No Name

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Educator, author, and public speaker Stacey Bess taught in a storage shed in a Salt Lake City homeless shelter when she was a first year teacher. Photo credit: American Program Bureau, Inc.

Here is a teacher who is truly inspirational: Stacey Bess of Salt Lake City, Utah.

As a first-year teacher in the late 1980’s, Stacey landed in a classroom set up in a storage shed in a local homeless shelter. The facility was literally referred to as The School With No Name. As you can imagine, her students wrestled with a variety of difficult circumstances, including unstable living arrangements, domestic abuse, poverty, and alcohol and drug-abusing parents. Not the most desirable circumstances for learning. But this remarkable teacher created a safe and loving classroom environment for her kids. She went to battle with the local school board for a more suitable teaching space and better resources. And, oh, yeah, she raised her own family and defeated thyroid cancer at the same time.

While working at The School With No Name, Stacey chronicled the heart-wrenching stories of her students so she would never forget how far these children had come. After reviewing the stories, she discovered profound life-lessons and eventually wrote a book entitled Nobody Don’t Love Nobody, published in 1994.

For her outstanding work with underprivileged students, Stacey has been recognized with a number of awards, including the National Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service by Someone 35 Years or Younger in 1995. She received the Delta Kappa Gamma Educator’s Award in 1995 and the Rescuer of Humanity from Project Love award in 1996.

Today, Stacey works as a public speaker, advocating for the educational rights of underprivileged children. She travels throughout the country sharing her story and offering inspiration to new and veteran educators. “We are in the best business in the whole world,” she tells her audiences. “We are in the kid business.”

You can read the story of this dynamic educator, in Beyond the Blackboard, published in 2011 and currently available through amazon.com. Stacey also published Planting More Than Pansies: A Fable about Love in 2003.

Elem teacher Ashley Barefoot named Mississippi’s State Teacher of the Year

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Elementary teacher Ashley Barefoot of Mississippi has been named her state’s 2025-2026 teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Mississippi Association for Gifted Children

Every year, an outstanding educator from each state is named that state’s Teacher of the Year. This year, Ashley Barefoot, an elementary public school teacher, is serving as Mississippi’s honoree.

Ashley teaches at Longleaf Elementary School in the Lamar County School District in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In her classroom, she designs curriculum that facilitates discovery opportunities and teaches her students skills need to become lifelong learners. She develops lessons on how to write computer code, how to read and write in Braille, and how to solve Rubik’s cubes. In addition, she conducts school-wide service projects that honor veterans and military families.

“I want my students learning something new every week—whether it’s a concept, a strategy, or a way of thinking about the world,” declares Ashley. “We mix logic puzzles and challenges with open-ended projects that promote a growth mindset, creativity, and perseverance,” she continues.

In addition to her work with elementary students, Ashley has led professional development in Gifted Education at statewide workshops. She has also been involved in developing materials for Teaching with Primary Sources, and she has served as an online course facilitator for the Right Question Institute.

In 2000, Ashely earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Southern Mississippi. While there, she studied in England for one year and backpacked around Europe for two summers. After earning her degree, she served in an after-school program as a member of AmeriCorps VISTA, and that’s where she discovered her passion for the teaching profession. Later Ashley her Master’s degree in Elementary Education from William Carey University, and she is also National Board Certified. Her career as a classroom educator spans 23 years, and she has taught Gifted Education for the last 19 of them.

As a lifelong learner, Ashely was named a National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks Scholar. As part of this program, she visited Walden Pond while reading Thoreau; dug into archaeology and American Indian culture in Mesa Verde National Park; explored the concept of wilderness in the Adirondack Mountains; and studied the civil rights movement in Jackson, Mississippi. Furthermore, she analyzed environmental history in Boulder, Colorado with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in 2013; served as an Earthwatch Teach Earth Fellow in Costa Rica in 2010; and spent a month backpacking in the Olympic Mountains with the National Outdoor Leadership School in 2009.

To learn more about Ashley Barefoot, click on this link to her personal website.

 

Margaret Hamilton, Oz’s Wicked Witch of the West, was once a kindergarten teacher

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Margaret Hamilton

Margaret Hamilton, a former kindergarten teacher, frightened generations of children when she played the Wicked Witch of the West in Hollywood’s 1939 production of The Wizard of Oz. Photo credit: Public Domain

Not many people would recognize the name or photograph of actress Margaret Hamilton, but just about everyone knows the iconic movie role she played. Bedecked in green make-up and a black pointed hat, this pleasant face was the Wicked Witch of the West in MGM’s 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz.

Margaret was born December 9, 1902, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was the fourth child of Walter and Mary Jane (Adams)  Hamilton. At an early age, Margaret was determined to make a career for herself in the theater. However, her parents insisted she get a college degree, so Margaret attended Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts. The institution was founded by Lucy Wheelock in 1888, and was known as Miss Wheelock’s Kindergarten Training School. The school offered undergraduate and graduate programs intended to improve the quality of early childhood education. In 2018, the college became part of Boston University’s School of Education.

It’s ironic that this very sweet and loving former kindergarten teacher is best known for her frightful disposition and her villainous behaviors, not to mention for scaring the daylights out of generations of little children. When asked about her role in The Wizard of Oz, the former teacher often said her greatest fear was that her monstrous film role would give young people a false impression of her true nature. The reality is that Margaret Hamilton cared deeply about children, and she was a lifelong advocate for educational causes, devoting much of her energy and money to benefit causes that improved the lives of children and animals. She served on the Beverly Hills Board of Education from 1948 to 1951, and she also taught Sunday school during the 1950s.

This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away of a heart attack on May 16, 1985, at the age of 83. Her ashes were scattered in Amenia, New York.

WWII Indian Code Talker Edmond Harjho was also an elementary school teacher

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Edmond Harjho

WWII Seminole Indian Code Talker Edmond Harjho was also an elementary school teacher in Oklahoma.

I love to share stories about hardworking teachers who have also served our country in the military. One of these stories is about the amazing Edmond Andrew Harjho, an elementary school teacher who served as a Seminole Code Talker during World War II.

Edmond was born in Maud, Seminole County, Oklahoma, on November 24, 1917. He spent his boyhood in Maud, eventually graduating from Seminole High School. He earned both his Bachelor’s and his Master’s degrees from Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma.

During World War II, Edmond and his brothers enlisted in the US Army. The men served in Battery A of the 195th Field Artillery Battalion, and participated during the landings at Normandy in 1944 and the Battle of the Bulge in 1945. The story goes that one day in 1944, Edmond was talking with his brother in their native language. The pair were overheard by their Army captain, who quickly recognized that the men could communicate with each other in their native tongue on the army radio and not easily be understood by soldiers from the opposing army. That’s how Edmond became a Seminole Code Talker.

For his military service, Edmond was recognized in 2013 with the Congressional Gold Medal. He was also awarded the Eastern African Middle Eastern Campaign Service Ribbon, a Silver Service Star, and a Good Conduct Medal.

After the war, Edmond taught elementary school, first in Maud Public Schools, then in the Justice Public School in Wewoka, Oklahoma, and lastly in the Pickett Center School located in Ada, Oklahoma.

Sadly, Edmond Harjho passed away from a heart attack in Ada, Oklahoma, on March 31, 2014. He was 96 years old. When he died, he was the last surviving Seminole Code Talker. He was buried at the Seminole Nation Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Seminole, Oklahoma.

Susan Dixon, President Emerita of the California Retired Teachers Association, garners prestigious DKG award

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Susan Dixon, Past President of the California retired Teachers Association, garnered a prestigious award from Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG). Photo credit: DKG

There are many excellent educators who dedicate their considerable talent and energy towards the betterment of conditions of others. One of these is Susan Dixon, a retired elementary school teacher from California who was instrumental in increasing the monthly incomes of many of her fellow teachers.

After her retirement from the classroom, Susan became active in the California Retired Teachers Association (CalRTA). Among her other responsibilities in the organization, she served as the state President from 2023 to 2025 and as the President-Elect from 2021 to 2023. In these positions, she worked tirelessly to repeal legislation that prevented educators in California, and in several other states, from collecting Social Security benefits they had rightfully earned. Previously, laws restricted these educators from collecting their Social Security paychecks because they were already receiving a pension from the California State Teachers Retirement System. Once the legislation was passed, Susan participated in two national press conferences and was invited by President Joe Biden to attend the signing of the new bill in Washington, DC, on January 5, 2025.

As a result of her activism on behalf of the retired teachers, Susan garnered a prestigious award from Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG), an international professional organization for women educators. The award she garnered, the 2026 California Professional Service Award, was presented to her in April, 2026, at the DKG Northern Conference.

Today, Susan continues her lifelong commitment to public education and advocacy as President Emerita of CalRTA. She also serves as Co-Chair of the National Retirement Security Task Force, CalRTA Federal Legislation Special Assistant, a member of the Senate Social Security War Room led by senior policy advisors to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Area XIV Legislative Representative for Delta Kappa Gamma.

Before she retired, Susan taught second grade at Mar Vista Elementary School in San Clemente in Southern California. She also worked as a kindergarten teacher at Harold Ambuehl Elementary School in San Juan Capistrano. Susan’s career as an educator spanned 35 years.