Tag Archives: Elementary Teachers

Arkansas teacher Juanita Harris selected 2023 Teacher of the Year by the AEA

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Elementary school teacher Juanita Harris of Texarkana has been selected 2023 Teacher of the Year by the Arkansas Education Association. Photo credit: The Texarkana Gazette

The Arkansas Education Association (AEA) has named Juanita Harris of the Texarkana Arkansas School District (TASD) their 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Juanita teaches first grade at Harmony Leadership Academy in Texarkana. A native of the city, she attended this very school when she was a child. She describes her students as being her children, and asserts she can relate to them because she comes from the same neighborhood as they do.

“Originally, I wanted to be a social worker,” Juanita once revealed. “I remember coming home after church and I talked to my uncle Van and said, ‘I don’t know if I want to be a social worker or work in education,'” she confessed. “He asked me what I was passionate about, and I said teaching,” she continued. “He tapped me on my shoulder and said, ‘You should teach,’ and walked away.” That was the turning point. Today, Juanita’s career as an educator spans 13 years. Obviously, she is working in the perfect profession for her. “Teaching is one of the reasons I was born,” she says.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Juanita is also founder and CEO of Teachers Support Teachers, an organization whose mission is to support fellow educators. They do this by providing one opportunity per month for self-care for teachers and anyone in a PreK-12 setting through services such as group therapy sessions, massages, pedicures, funds for supplies, cookouts, and more. “Our mission for Teachers Support Teachers is to live out our vision of ‘Encouraging the Hearts that Shape the Minds,'” Juanita declares.

Her selection as the Teacher of the Year is not the only recognition Juanita has earned. She was named the Union Elementary Teacher of the Year in 2017, the TASD Teacher of the Year in 2018, and a regional finalist for Arkansas Teacher of the Year in 2019. With her recognition from AEA, Jaunita becomes a candidate for the National Education Association Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence in 2024.

Juanita earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia in 2010. She earned her Master’s degree there in Education in Curriculum and Instruction in 2013.

Educator, activist, and Japanese internment camp survivor Marielle Tsukamoto followed in her mother’s footsteps

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Longtime teacher and administrator Marielle Tsukamoto from Elk Grove, California, was five years old in 1942 when her family was removed from their California farm and sent to a World War II Japanese internment camp in Jerome, Arkansas. But she remembers the experience quite clearly. It was partly because of this experience that sparked an enduring passion for justice that set the Chalkboard Champion on her path as an educator, community leader, and civil rights activist.  

Once the war was over, her mother, Mary Tsukamoto, finally got to fulfill her long-time dream of becoming a teacher, a dream she had all but given up.” She had a way of looking at each child, reaching them and telling them, you know, you are important. And you are worthy, and I believe in you,” recalls Marielle. “That’s where I learned that I wanted to be a teacher.”

And that’s how Marielle came to follow in the professional footsteps of her mother. She attended Sacramento State in 1956 before graduating from University of the Pacific. She served first as a teacher, then as a vice principal and principal of C.W. Dillard Elementary in Elk Grove Unified School District. And before she retired, Marielle also served as the Principal of the Elk Grove elementary school named in honor of her mother.

In addition, Marielle has volunteered for the Elk Grove Regional Scholarship Foundation, the Elk Grove Multicultural Festival, and the Time of Remembrance Educational Program, an annual event that originated in Elk Grove and is now held at the California Museum in Sacramento.  

Now 86 years old, Marielle enjoys traveling in retirement and volunteers at the California Museum. There, Uprooted: An American Story, shares the experiences of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans. “All of us that are now volunteering at the museum, we do it because have an obligation to the next generation, because of what the last generation did for us,” asserts Marielle.

 

Ohio kindergarten teacher and US Coast Guard veteran Audrey Keagy

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Ohio kindergarten teacher Audrey Keagy served in the US Coast Guard during World War II. Photo credit: WikiTree.

There are many American veterans who have chosen to serve in the classroom after they have served their country in the military. One of these is Audrey Keagy, a kindergarten teacher from Ohio who also served in the United States Coast Guard.

Audrey was born on August 17, 1923, in Jefferson County, Ohio. When she was a child, her family moved frequently because her father worked for the New York Central Railroad.

After she graduated from high school in Ohio in 1941, Audrey accepted a job as an office worker at the Timken Roller Bearing Company in Canton. When World War II erupted, Audrey supported the war effort by working at the Republic Steel company, a factory that assembled airplanes. In October, 1944, she joined the SPARs, the Women’s Reserve of the US Coast Guard. The military sent her to Toledo, where she worked for the duration of the war as a switchboard operator.

Once the war was ended and her service was over, Audrey returned to Canton. There she used her GI Bill benefits to enroll at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, where she earned the degrees necessary to become a kindergarten teacher. She was the first person in her family to attend college. “My mother was absolutely thrilled that I was attending college,” Audrey once remembered.

Audrey inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position as a kindergarten teacher in Canton. Eventually she transferred to the public school system in Williamsburg, Ohio. She taught there for 26 years. After her retirement, she continued to serve her community as a literacy tutor at her local library.

Sadly, this amazing Chalkboard Hero passed away on May 18, 2012. To learn more about Audrey, click on this link to WikiTree.

 

Alabama’s Anita Gibson elected President of NEA Retired

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Retired Alabama school teacher Anita Gibson has been elected to serve as the President of the retired teacher division of the National Education Association (NEA). Photo credit: NEA

There are many retired educators who go from the classrom to positions where they lead their colleagues in positions of influence. One of these is Anita Gibson, a retired elementary school teacher from Alabama who has just been elected the President of the retired teachers division of the National Education Association (NEA).

In this position, Anita continues to earn the respect and trust of her fellow educators. Her career features many notable assignments. For example, as an active classroom teacher in DeKalb, Alabama, she was selected to manage a new work force program for non-English speaking high school students. She also wrote a grant for a program to help Native American students better explore their heritage. “It all gave me a broader perceptive about how every single day might be the ay something important happens for a student,” she says. “Everyone deserves access to the opportunities.”

For many years, Anita has been active in teachers’ unions. She served as President of the local DeKalb County Education Association, where she worked to help fellow educators struggling with classroom management or oversized classrooms. Later she served as the President of the Alabama Education Association. After several terms on the Board of the National Education Association (NEA), she was elected the President of retired teachers division on Sept. 1, 2023.

Today, her daughter teaches in the same school that Anita did, and her grandchildren are enrolled in the school. “I’m concerned about the environment my daughter goes into every day,” Anita confesses. “I want her and all educators to feel safe and valued,” she continues. “I want my grandchildren and their classmates to be successful and productive citizens, and I want educators to be able to retire with dignity. I know we can make strides toward those goals,” she concludes.

Elem teacher Trinity Whittington named 2023 Florida Teacher of the Year finalist

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Elementary school teacher Trinity Whittington has been n Amed one of five finalists for the title of 2023 Floria Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Florida Department of Education

It is always my pleasure to share the story of an exceptional educator who has earned accolades for their work in the classroom. One of these is Trinity Whittington, an elementary school teacher from Gilchrist County, Florida. She has been named one of five finalists for the title of 2023 Florida Teacher of the Year.

Trinity teaches English Language Arts and Social Studies to fourth graders at Bell Elementary School in the Gilchrist County School District. She has worked in this position for the past five years.

Trinity has obviously earned the respect of her colleagues. “Mrs. Whittington’s classroom is a place of magic, where children are hooked from the moment they enter until the moment they leave,” declares Bell Elementary Principal Suzanne Matte. “The relationships she develops with students, parents, and colleagues are true and binding.”

This exceptional educator focuses on creating engaging lessons that affect her students in positive ways. One of the ways she emphasizes community service is by leading school-wide efforts to provide blankets to the local nursing home. She has also established a library swap program to promote literacy.

It was her mother’s influence that caused her to pursue a career in education, says Trinity. “She has been a teacher for my entire life. I have seen firsthand the impact that she has been able to make on the children that she has been blessed to teach,” Trinity explains. “Mama has a true passion for teaching and working to better the lives of our children. I wanted to make that same impact on the students in our community,” she continued.

Trinity earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 2017 from Saint Leo University, a private university located in St. Leo, Florida. She graduated summa cum laude.

Five finalists were chosen for 2023 Teacher of the Year from nearly 185,000 public school teachers nominated throughout the state. The finalists were selected on the basis of outstanding ability to teach and communicate knowledge of the subject taught, professional development, philosophy of teaching, and outstanding school and community service.