Tag Archives: Elementary Teachers

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.

Laura Settle: Founder of CA Retired Teachers Association

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Laura SettleIn US history, there are many examples of hardworking educators who continue to work towards improving the lives others, even after retirement. One of these is activist Laura E. Settle, the founder and first president of the California Retired Teachers Association.

Laura retired as a teacher from the Pasadena School District in Pasadena, California, while the country was struggling through the Great Depression. At that time, a retired schoolteacher received just $500 a year in pension benefits. To rectify this, a small group of teachers led by Laura Settle banded together to fight for better retirement incomes for their colleagues who were living in poverty after a lifetime of teaching.

In 1927, Laura contacted Los Angeles politicians with the goal of forming a local retired teachers’ group. Interested individuals held their first meeting  in Sycamore Grove Park. Laura was elected president, and she immediately launched into her work to expand the organization in other California communities. For years, she drove the dusty highways all over the state to help organize teachers in their common cause. All were welcome to join for the annual dues of $1.

After several years, CalRTA made its first major breakthrough in 1934, when pensions were finally boosted, and by 1943, Laura’s work had resulted in the formation of 17 divisions throughout California. Today, CalRTA is one of the nation’s largest retired teacher organizations with more than 43,000 members in 86 local divisions throughout the state.

In all, Laura served 16 years as the president of CalRTA, from 1929 to 1945. This amazing educator passed away on May 11, 1951. To honor her, a scholarship has been established in her name, and is given to deserving high school students who have declared an intention to go into the teaching profession.

Laura E. Settle: All teachers, whether currently retired or still in the classroom, owe her a great debt.

Georgia teachers Sean and Heidi Hammond succumb to Covid-19

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Elementary school teacher Heidi Hammond (left) and her husband, Sean Hammond, a teacher at Hammond Creek Middle School (right), have both succumbed to Covid-19. The deaths leave their son, Marshall, age 12 (center), to be raised by grandparents. Photo credit: Daily Citizen News.

 

Two beloved educators from Dalton, Georgia, have succumbed to Covid-19. Heidi Hammond, a teacher at Chatsworth Elementary School, passed away in September, just 25 days after her husband, Sean Hammond, who was due to begin his first year as a teacher and football coach at Hammond Creek Middle School. Heidi passed away on Sept. 24, 2021, at the age of 44. Sean passed away on Aug. 30, 2021, at the age of 51. The deaths leave their son, Marshall, age 12, to be raised by grandparents.

Heidi was born on August 21, 1977. In a career that spanned more than 20 years, she was teaching first grade at Chatsworth Elementary at the time of her passing. Sean was born on March 3, 1970. The couple met when they were attending college at Marshall University in West Virginia. They lived in northern Georgia’s Murray County for about 20 years after their graduation.

Sean was a seasoned veteran in the classroom. Because of the low pay, he had left teaching for a period of time to work in the coal mines. However, recently he was lured back to the classroom. He was set to begin his first year at Hammond Creek Middle School. He would have taught special education mathematics and coached football.

Previously, Sean coached a youth program, and occasionally substituted on his son’s team at Hammond Middle when the regular coaches were absent. While substituting, Sean caught the attention of George Woods IV, Head Football Coach at the school. “He was able to step right in and really coach, and I was like, wow, this guy’s really good,” remembered Woods. “So I did some homework on him and found out that he’s just a really humble guy, and he probably had as much or more coaching experience as I have,” Woods continued. When the brand new middle school coaching staff was formed, Woods convinced Sean to join the team.

Dalton Public Schools spokeswoman Pat Holloway said that Sean attended the induction for new teachers prior to the beginning of the school year and the first three days of inservice before he tested positive for Covid-19. Because of his diagnosis, Holloway reported, Sean was unable to start the school year with students in the classroom. However, he had worked with the football players during the summer and, Holloway asserted, he “had already left an indelible mark on the other coaches and players.”

To learn more about these two teachers, see this article published by the Daily Citizen News.

Teacher Lori Richardson-Morphew leads Oklahoma’s state DKG organization

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Elementary teacher Lori Richardson-Morphew of Oklahoma City is active in her state’s Delta Kappa Gamma Society, International (DKG) organization. Photo Credit DKG

Many dedicated educators make meaningful contributions not only to the lives of their students, but also to the careers of their colleagues and to the members of their communities. One of these is Lori Richardson-Morphew, a hardworking teacher from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She leads her state’s Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG) organization.

Lori currently teaches at Van Buren Elementary School in the Oklahoma City Public School system. She has spent the last two years at the school, but in all, her career as an educator has spanned more than 25 years.

In her classroom, Lori utilizes literature sets for teaching reading. Typically, her class reads more than 15 books over the course of a school year. For her work in the classroom, Lori has earned many honors. She garnered a Devon Energy STEM Teacher of the Match from the Oklahoma City Energy FC in 2017.

In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Lori is active in Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG), an International Society organized to provide professional support for women educators. She currently serves as the State President for the Oklahoma state branch of the organization, and she has previously served her branch as the First Vice President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer. Under her leadership, the organization has participated in many community service programs, including the Delta Kappa Gamma Educational Foundation, the Schools for Africa Project, and the Susan G. Komen More than Pink Walk.

Lori is originally from Garnett, Kansas, She graduated from Garnett High School in 1982. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, in 1991.