Tag Archives: Elementary Teachers

Alice Burke: From teacher to trailblazing politician

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Elementary school teacher Alice Driscoll Burke of Massachusetts was the first woman in New England to serve as a city mayor. Photo credit: The Boston Globe

There are many excellent educators who have established a career in the political sphere, even becoming trailblazers. One of these is Alice Burke, a teacher who also served as the first woman mayor in New England.

Alice Driscoll Burke was born on June 19, 1892, in Whitinsville, Massachusetts. At only four years old, she became an orphan. After her parents passed away, she was raised by her paternal grandparents. As a teenager, she graduated from Northbridge High School, with honors, and in 1911 she earned her teaching degree at Fitchburg Normal School.

Once she completed her education, Alice accepted a teaching position in Hampden County, Massachusetts. She taught sixth grade in schools in the town of Westfield.

In the mid-to-late 1910s, Burke also taught n Westfield’s Americanization program, teaching immigrants about United States history, government, and culture to prepare for their citizenship tests. Ironically, she did this at a point in history when women were denied the right to vote.

Unfortunately, the Westfield School Committee adopted a policy of allowing only women who were single to be employed as teachers in their district, so Alice, who was married, lost her job. That fall, she was elected to a position on the Westfield School Committee.

After teaching for 20 years, Alice was elected mayor of Westfield, the first female to be elected mayor in the state of Massachusetts or in the region of New England. She served in the position from 1940—1943, from 1954—1955, and from 1958—1958. From 1968 to 1973, she served as a member-at-large of the Westfield City Council. However, her career as a politician was also marked by significant defeats. A Democrat, Alice ran unsuccessful campaigns for the Massachusetts Senate in 1944 and for the House of Representatives in 1946. With the passage of the 19th Amendment, Alice was eager to exercise her own right to vote.

Alice Burke passed away on May 14, 1974, in Springfield, Massachusetts. She was 81 years old. To learn more about this remarkable educator and politician, click on this link to a biography about her published by the Historical Journal of Massachusetts.

LA teacher Janet McCrevan named 2024 State Teacher of the Year finalist

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Elementary school teacher Janet McCrevan has been named a 2024 State Teacher of the Year Finalist by the Louisiana State Department of Education. Photo Credit: Louisiana State Department of Education

There are many outstanding educators who work in American public schools. Janet McCrevan, an elementary school teacher in Louisiana, is one of them. In fact, in 2024 she was named a State Teacher of the Year Finalist by the Louisiana State Department of Education. The honor is to recognize educators who are making exceptional gains with students, guiding them to achieve at the highest levels of achievement in the state.

Janet teaches second graders at South Highlands Elementary Magnet School in Shreveport, Caddo Parish. Curriculum at the school emphasizes academics and performing arts.

Janet has always known she would pursue a career in education. “Teaching is in my blood,” declares Janet, “as my mother is a retired teacher. Because of this early exposure to the classroom, I learned to love teaching at an early age,” she continues. “As a young child, I developed a love for teaching and I knew that teaching is what I was born to do,” she concludes.

Originally, Janet is from Wagarville, Alabama. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education from the University of Montavallo in Montavallo, Alabama, in 1989.  She earned her Master’s degree from the University of Montavallo in Elementary Education and Early Childhood in 1992. Since 1990, Janet has taught kindergarten, first, and second grades in the states of Alabama, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana.

Each year the Louisiana Department of Education in partnership with Dream Teachers acknowledges competent, qualified, and motivated teachers through its Teacher of the Year Recognition Program. This year, Janet was honored with other Teacher of the Year finalists at the 17th Annual Cecil J. Picard Educator Excellence Awards Gala held at the World War II Museum on July 22, 2023.

CA teacher and poet Elmo Kelley guides his students in writing their own poetry

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Elmo Kelley, an elementary school teacher from Fontana, California, is a published poet. He guides his young students in exploring and publishing their own poetry. Photo Credit: Fontana Unified School District

There are many talented teachers who bring their artistic talents into the classroom to benefit their young students. One of these is elementary school teacher Elmo Kelley from Fontana in Southern California. He is the author of two books of poems, and he uses his expertise as a published poet to guide and inspire his young students towards writing their own volumes of poetry.

Elmo is a California native who is the son of two teachers. His wife is also an educator. He has been writing poetry ever since he discovered his passion for the art form as a college student 30 years ago.

Elmo published his first book of poems, entitled Traveling Through My Mind, Volume 1, in 2022. He published his second book, Traveling Through My Mind, Volume 2, in June, 2024. He is also a member and the moderator of the Poet Tree Press page on Facebook, and he is a member of the Invisible Poets page, also on Facebook, where he posts new poems on a regular basis. In addition, he occasionally posts work on a private group website frequented by teachers who work in the Fontana Unified School District.

Elmo teaches second graders at Cypress Elementary School in Fontana. He has been teaching there for the past 27 years. This year, he guided his students in writing poems and completing drawings about their favorite food which they titled My Favorite Foods. The finished volume was made available to Elmo’s students and their families.

“We had a lot of fun with that book,” declared Elmo. “Writing poetry is a new concept for second graders,” he continued, “so my advice to them was just to be very descriptive and write like no one really knows what the subject is about.” The experience proved to be a valuable learning experience for the neophyte poets. “Some of the kids were advanced and some struggled, but everyone was represented in the book,” Elmo concluded.

Former First Lady Laura Bush was also a teacher and school librarian

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Former First Lady Laura Bush also served her community as a teacher and a school librarian in her home state of Texas. 

Laura Bush was just seven years old when she informed her parents that she wanted to be a teacher. And she never wavered from her decision. Before she became the nation’s First Lady, she served her community as a teacher and school librarian.

Like many teachers, Laura felt a calling to the teaching profession. As a youngster, she enjoyed lining up her dolls in the pretend classroom she established in her bedroom. There she and her childhood playmates would play school for hours on end.

Laura earned her degrees from Southern Methodist University, where she majored in Elementary Education and completed her student teaching semester. She inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position as a third grade teacher in the Dallas Public Schools system.  At the tend of the school year, Laura moved to Houston, where she taught second grade at John F. Kennedy Elementary School.

After three years as a classroom teacher, Laura returned to college to earn her Master’s degree in Library Science. This done, she accepted a position as a children’s librarian at a public library in Houston, a job which suited her well. But she missed working in schools.

The following year she became a school librarian, working at a school with an inner-city population. Apparently, the students there were tough. One of Laura’s former colleagues described the future First Lady. She said, “She was friendly and very loving but very firm. She had her rules…and you followed them.”

Laura has said that she believes that children need dedicated teaches in their lives. She has often said, “Teachers have a more profound impact on our society and culture than any other profession.”

To read more about Laura Bush and her career as an educator, check out this book, From Classroom to White House: The President and First Ladies as Students and Teachers, by James McMurtry Longo, available on amazon.

TX elementary science teacher Amber Chalmers earns recognition from STAT

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Teacher Amber Chalmers has been named the 2024 Outstanding Elementary Teacher of the Year by the Science Teachers Association of Texas. Photo Credit: Lancaster Independent School District

I am always happy to share the story of a teacher who has earned accolades for their work with young people. Today, I share the story of Amber Chalmers, an elementary school teacher from Lancaster, Texas. She has been named named the 2024 Outstanding Elementary Teacher of the Year by the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT).

Amber teaches science to fifth graders at Spring Houston Elementary School in Houston, Texas. She has taught there for the past eight years. She believes science is not just a subject, but a way of thinking and exploring the world around us. She encourages her students to think of science beyond just the end-of-year exams and to find creative ways to approach science. When she’s not in the classroom, Amber serves as a mentor to other elementary science teachers within her district.

“Learning science now is vastly different than when I was a student many years ago,” asserts Amber. “I could never get into it as a kid, so now I make it a mission for my students to find joy in science,” she reveals. “They love doing hands-on experiments, but I take it further and engage the students in discussion following each experiment or lab. The discussions are vital because they allow the students to dive deeper into why something happened and then make connections to real-world situations outside of the classroom,” she continues. She says the students absorb the concept even more than they normally would following the discussion because they all bring different perspectives and experiences to the conversation.

Amber earned her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and Teaching from Prairie View A&M in 2005. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Texas, Arlington, in 2009.

With her STAT recognition comes an additional honor. Amber has been named one of six state finalists for a prestigious 2024 PAEMST (Presidential Award fir Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.