Tag Archives: Elementary Teachers

Elem teacher, Drama Director Joshua Chard named Maine’s 2024 State Teacher of the Year

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Elementary teacher and Drama Director Joshua Chard has been named Maine’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Maine State Department of Education

I always enjoy sharing the story of an exceptional educator who has earned recognition for his work with young people. One of these is Joshua Chard, an elementary school teacher and Drama Director from Portland, Maine. He has been named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year by the Maine State Department of Education.

Joshua teaches second and third grade loop at East End Community School, one of the most diverse elementary schools north of Boston. “I was really excited to discover that I’m really good at teaching kids how to read,” says Joshua. “It’s pretty exciting to watch kids go from being word readers to being story readers. It’s a pretty amazing thing to be a part of,” he continued.

Joshua decided to pursue a career as an educator when he was only in the fifth grade. As a young student, he confesses, he was a struggling learner. But it was his fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Breau, who made a special connection that changed everything. She was an amazing teacher, Joshua declares, and she “convinced me that I could be a learner. She saw me for who I was,” he says.

In addition to his young students, Joshua also serves as the Drama Director at Deering High School. “The thing about my drama club is that we are a place that is a strong community where everybody is welcome to come as they are,” explains Joshua. “The word got out that it is a really safe place for kids who often feel they don’t have another safe place to land in high school,” he continued. During the four years he has led the club, he has built a community of young actors from nine to forty.

Joshua earned his Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in Theater from the University of Southern Maine in 1996. He also earned a Master’s degree in Education from the University of New England in 2009. He completed the requirements for a certificate in K-6 standards-based mathematics from the American College of Education, and he is certified as a K-12 teacher of English to speakers of other languages. His career as an educator spans 31 years.

When he’s not working with students, Joshua is a freelance theater director. This year, he and his husband will direct a show at the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine.

 

Teacher Kayla Jackson honored by the Florida State Dept. of Education

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Elementary school teacher Kayla Jackson has earned recognition from the Florida State Department Education. Photo Credit: Florida State Department of Education

There are many fine educators who work in the state of Florida. One of them, Kayla Jackson, has earned recognition from her state’s Department of Education as one of 74 District Teachers of the Year, and one of five finalists for Florida’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

Kayla inaugurated her teaching career at Memorial Elementary School in Highlands County when the school first opened in 2008. Currently, she serves as a fifth-grade math and science teacher. She has a reputation for being a high impact teacher multiple years in a row, and her students have achieved significant learning gains on state assessments. But she says her role goes beyond presenting lessons to also knowing her students and what they are capable of learning when challenged. “I see in my students what some don’t yet see in themselves,” she declares. “I set high expectations for them, and push them to achieve goals they might not think are achievable.”

In addition to her work with young students, Kayla is a mentor to beginning teachers, she supports her school’s Student of the Month program, she leads professional development for her colleagues, and she serves on the Curriculum Leadership Team.

Kayla earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of South Florida.

This year’s five 2024 Teacher of the Year state finalists were chosen from more than 185,000 public school teachers throughout the state. After each school district selects its teacher of the year, a committee comprised of teachers, principals, parents, and the business community reviews each district application. The honorees are selected using the criteria of outstanding ability to teach and the ability to communicate knowledge of the subject taught, professional development, philosophy of teaching, and outstanding school and community service.

Alaskan teacher Etta Schureman Jones was a WWII prisoner of war

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Etta Schureman Jones

Alaskan teacher Etta Schureman Jones, with her husband, C. Foster Jones. Durin WWII, Foster was killed by the Japanese, and became Etta was a Prisoner of War. Photo Credit: Mary Breu

There are times when extraordinary circumstances of history present already gutsy teachers with unexpected challenges. This is certainly true of the intrepid Etta Schureman Jones, an elementary school teacher and trained nurse originally from Vineland, New Jersey.

Etta Schureman was over forty years old when she and her sister, Marie, ventured into Alaska Territory to teach Native American students in primitive rural schools. After one year, Marie  returned to the Lower 48, but Etta, who had met the love of her life and married, settled permanently in Alaska. The picture here is the happy couple on their wedding day.

Eighteen years later, Etta and her beloved husband, C. Foster Jones, were working together  in the remote Aleutian island of Attu when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Empire of Japan on December, 7, 1941, “a day that will live in infamy.” The couple and their students were slated to be evacuated by the US Navy, but before that could be accomplished, the island was invaded by Japanese troops.

Although the couple were in their sixties, Japanese soldiers killed Foster and removed Etta to an internment camp in Japan, where she was incarcerated with a small group of Australian nurses who were also prisoners of war. The Attuan natives, about three dozen of them, were also taken to Japan, with the apparent intention of assimilating them into the Japanese population. Although Etta was rescued by American troops after the war, and she and the surviving Attuans were eventually repatriated after the war, Etta never saw her students or their families again.

I have included a chapter about this intrepid teacher and her intriguing tale of survival in my book, Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve Courageous Teachers and their Deeds of Valor, available at amazon at this link: Chalkboard Heroes. Also, Etta’s story is told brilliantly by Mary Breu in her book Last Letters from Attu: The True Story of Etta Jones: Alaska Pioneer and Japanese POW.  A fascinating read, to be sure. You can find this book, also at amazon, at the following link: Last Letters from Attu.

WV teacher Emily Crislip Castelli garners prestigious honor

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Emily Crislip Castelli, a teacher at Salem Elementary School in Salem, West Virginia, has been named to the 2024 class of Extraordinary Educators by Curriculum Associates.  Photo Credit: Curriculum Associates

Curriculum Associates has named Emily Crislip Castelli of West Virginia to its 2024 class of Extraordinary Educators. The program annually celebrates and connects exemplary teachers in Grades K–8 from around the country. Emily is one of 32 educators from 19 states and the District of Columbia who were selected for the honor.

Emily was selected for the honor to recognize her efforts to promote growth and achievement through formal assessments, pioneering innovative engagement tactics, serving as a steward for high expectations and student achievement, and creating equitable environments for her students. Emily teaches second grade at Salem Elementary School in Salem. She has worked at the school, part of the Harrison County School District, for the past six years.

“To be an effective educator, data-driven instruction is paramount to making good decisions regarding education and intervention in the classroom,” declares Emily. “I use i-Ready data to plan small group intervention lessons to assist students with essential skills they may need extra support to become proficient. I also do monthly growth monitoring, which allows me to see if I need to change my approach in class,” she continues.

This is the fifth year of the Extraordinary Educators program. To learn more about Curriculum Associates and the 2024 Extraordinary Educators, visit this website: CurriculumAssociates.com/Extraordinary-Educators.

TN educator Missy Testerman named 2024 National Teacher of the Year

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Congratulations to ESL educator Missy Testermann of Tennessee, who has been named the 2024 National Teacher of the Year. 

Missy teaches in rural Rogersville, Tennessee, where she has worked for over three decades. She taught first and second grade for many years, but currently works was a Second Language Specialist and Program Director.

Missy earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s degree in Reading Education from East Tennessee State University (ETSU). In addition, she earned her English as a Second Language license through Freed-Hardeman University. Missy uses this training in her rural Appalachian community, where she builds bridges between cultures between both families who have been in the area for centuries and newer immigrants. Through a curriculum focused on a study of Americans from diverse backgrounds, this exceptional educator allows students to better understand that people are inherently the same and that they all belong. 

View the six-minute YouTube video below of Missy’s appearance on CBS Mornings, where she was interviewed by Gayle King.