Tag Archives: Elementary Teachers

Fanny Allen: Schoolteacher and reknowned photographer

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Frances Stebbins Allen, popularly known as Fanny Allen, was a Massachusetts schoolteacher and nationally-renowned photographer. Photo credit: Mary Allen

Many excellent educators earn success in fields outside the classroom. One of these is Fanny Allen, an elementary schoolteacher from Deerfield, Massachusetts, who became a nationally-renowned photographer.

Fanny, whose birth name was Frances Stebbins Allen, was born on August 10, 1854, in Deerfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts. She was the oldest of four children born to local farmer Josiah Allen and his wife Mary Stebbins Allen. Deerfield is a small farming town and early colonial outpost founded in the late 1600s in the western part of the state.

As a young girl, Fanny attended the local school, Deeerfield Academy. After she graduated from Deerfield, she enrolled in State Normal School in Westfield, Massachusetts. After earning her degree, Fanny launched her career as a schoolteacher. From 1876 to 1886 she taught in schools in the Massachusetts counties of Greenfield and Worcester. Her younger sister, Mary, also became a schoolteacher.

Sadly, both sisters lost their hearing in their thirties, most likely due to a hereditary condition. Fanny and Mary were forced to leave the classroom, and they needed a new way to support themselves. Together, the former schoolteachers took up a new career in photography. As photographers, they captured images that idealized their town’s colonial history. Many of their photographs depicted Deerfield’s picturesque farms and its one leafy street lined with stately 18th-century houses. The amazing thing is, the sisters were self-taught!

The Allen sisters set up a salesroom for their work in their ancestral home, and were soon supporting themselves with their sales. By 1895, they enjoyed commercial success, and even enjoyed national acclaim. In the July, 1941 issue of Ladies Home Journal, the former teachers were hailed as two of the “Foremost Women Photographers of America.”

Many of the Allen sisters’ photographs were attributed to “The Misses Allen,” rather than to one sister or the other. In 1899, the Allen sisters joined the Arts & Crafts Movement in their home city, and spent their energy documenting the works of the local members. In 1907, Fanny Allen was elected the Director of Photography of the Society of Deerfield Industries. In addition, their work has been added to the collection of the Library of Congress.

Fanny Allen passed away on February 14, 1941. She was 86 years old. She is interred in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Franklin County, Deerfield. To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this link to Deerfield Arts & Crafts.

Idaho’s former First Lady: Teacher, author, and beauty queen

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Former Idaho First Lady Lori Otter is a one-time teacher and administrator, an author of children’s books, an athlete, and a former Miss Idaho USA. Photo credit: Cour d’Alene/Post Falls Press.

Many Chalkboard Champions have earned recognition for successes outside of the field of education. One such educator is Lori Easley Otter, the former First lady of Idaho. This teacher and administrator is married to former Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter.

Lori was born in Pensacola, Florida, in 1967, the youngest of four children in a military family. In the 1970’s, her family moved to Idaho when her father retired from the U.S. Navy. Lori graduated from Kimberly High School, and then enrolled in Boise State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education and Physical Education, with minors in Health and English. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. In addition, she completed coursework in Educational Administration from Northwest Nazarene University in 2004.

Lori taught physical education, health, and English at both the elementary and secondary levels for the Meridian School District in Meridian, Idaho. She also coached girls basketball and volleyball at the junior high and high school levels for thirteen years. She spent two years as an administrator. This athletic educator also runs marathons, plays tennis, and is an accomplished equestrienne.

In 1991, Lori entered the Miss Idaho USA Pageant, winning the title and representing Idaho in the Miss USA 1991 pageant the same year. During her reign as Miss Idaho USA, Lori was introduced to Butch Otter, who was then serving as Lieutenant Governor of Idaho. After some time teaching and coaching in Arizona, Lori returned to Idaho in 1995. In 2006, Lori and Butch were married, and later that year, Butch was elected Governor of Idaho on the Republican ticket. She served as Idaho’s First Lady during Butch’s terms, from January 1, 2007 to January 7, 2019

Combining her love of Idaho and her passion for education and literacy, this gifted educator has written three children’s books. She penned Little Clyde – Horsing Around in Sun Valley, and two history books, Ida Visits the Capitol and Ida Tours the 44: A Book of Idaho Counties. Lori’s character Ida Jones is a young barnstorming pilot who seeks adventure and teaches Idaho history to fourth graders as she flies her airplane through the state.

Arkansas teacher Carol Rasco once served as president’s assistant

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Former Arkansas teacher Carol Rasco has spent her entire professional life as an advocate for children, working towards improving education, promoting early literacy, and supporting children with disabilities. Photo credit: Hendrix Alumni Association.

Many excellent classroom teachers also serve in positions in the government. One of these is Carol Rasco, a former elementary teacher and school counselor that once served as an Assistant to the President under President Bill Clinton.

Carol was born on January 13, 1948, in Columbia, South Carolina. Later her family moved to DeWitt, Arkansas. As a young woman, she skipped her senior year in high school and enrolled at Hendrix College in 1965. There she first majored in Drama, although she later changed her major to Psychology. After transferring to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Carol earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 1969. She earned her Master’s degree in Elementary Counseling and Psychology from the University of Central Arkansas in 1972.

Carol began her career in education as an elementary school teacher, and later became a counselor at the middle school level. After she earned her Master’s degree, she used her expertise to set up a psychological counseling program in the public school system.

In 1983, this Chalkboard Champion accepted a position in the Arkansas Governor’s Office. She served Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton in this position for ten years. Later, when Clinton was elected to the presidency, Carol followed Clinton to Washington, DC, where she worked as an Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy from 1997 to 2000. She spent the next four years in the US Department of Education in the America Reads Challenge program. During 2001, she worked as a consultant on Government Relations for The College Board, and from 2001 to 2016, she served as the President and CEO of Reading is Fundamental. For the past five years, Carol has worked as a child advocate for Three Boys with Books.

Carol has spent her entire professional life as an advocate for children, working towards improving education, promoting early literacy, and supporting children with disabilities. She is currently 73 years old.

New Mexico teacher and politician Stephanie Garcia Richard

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Former elementary school teacher Stephanie Garcia Richard served three terms in the New Mexico State House of Representatives. Photo credit: Stephanie Garcia Richard.

Many fine educators also make excellent politicians. One example of this is Stephanie Garcia Richard, a former elementary school teacher from New Mexico who served three terms in her state’s House of Representatives.

Stephanie was born in Tucumcari, New Mexico, and raised in Silver City, where she graduated from Silver High School. At a very young age, she learned the importance of serving others. Her father, a WWII veteran, was a teacher; her mother was active in their community.

After her high school graduation, Stephanie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Bernard College at Columbia University in New York in 1996. She completed the requirements for her teaching credential from California State University of Los Angeles 2006.

Once she earned her degrees, Stephanie worked as a teacher at a number of charter schools in New Mexico. From 2009 to 2012, she was employed as a third grade teacher at Pablo Royal Elementary School in Pojoaque. She’s also taught in Ohkay Owingeh, Española, California, and from 2000 to 2004, she was a teacher in Korea.

In 2012, Stephanie was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent District 43 in the New Mexico House of Representatives. The District includes parts of Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Sandoval counties. She served three terms in the House, from 2013 to 2017. While there, she championed laws to increase access to a quality education, transparency, and investments in renewable energy, job training, and economic development. She served was the Chair of the Education Committee and the Committee for Appropriations and Finance. Currently, Stephanie is the Commissioner of Public Lands for her home state. She assumed office on January 1, 2019, and her term will end on January 1, 2023. Stephanie is the first woman, the first Latina, and the first educator to serve in the position as New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands.

Gertrude Chandler Warner: The elementary teacher who wrote The Boxcar Children Mysteries

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Gertrude Chandler Warner of Connecticut, was an elementary school teacher who became famous for writing The Boxcar Children Mysteries. Photo credit: Gertrude Warner Museum.

There are many talented classroom teachers in our country who have also made a name for themselves as popular authors. One of these is Gertrude Chandler Warner of Connecticut, an elementary school teacher who became famous for writing the original version of the children’s stories known as The Boxcar Children Mysteries.

Gertrude was born on April 16, 1890, in Putnam, Connecticut. She decided at a very young age that she wanted to be an author. From the age of five, she wrote stories for her grandfather, and each Christmas she gifted him one of these stories. As a youngster, Gertrude suffered from frequent illnesses, and for this reason she never finished high school. In her sophomore year, she completed her secondary education with the assistance of a tutor.

In 1918, when World War I was in full swing, Gertrude was hired to teach first grade, primarily because many men teachers were being called to serve in the military. The position served to be a good fit for Gertrude, who continued to teach until 1950. During these years, she spent her summers completing education courses at Yale University.

All her life, Gertrude was a nature-lover. As a child, she developed butterfly and moth collections, pressed wild flowers, learned about the birds in her area, and tended a garden. She incorporated these interests in her classroom lessons, and she also developed nature themes in her books.

In 1924, while convalescing at home from a lengthy illness, Gertrude developed the idea for a children’s book. This is how she came to write the first installment of The Boxcar Children. This original version was published by Rand McNally and Company in 1924. Not only did Gertrude write the original story, but she also wrote the next 18 books in the series.

After her retirement from the classroom, Gertrude became a volunteer for the American Red Cross, the Connecticut Cancer Society, and other community service organizations. This talented educator and author passed away on August, 20, 1979, at the age of 89. She is interred at Grove Street Cemetery in her home town of Putnam, Connecticut.

To learn more about Gertrude Chandler Warner, click on this link to The Boxcar Children Museum.