Elementary school teacher Lela Lee Williams of Dallas, Texas.

Over the years, the state of Texas has produced many exceptional educators. One of these is Lela Lee Williams, an elementary school teacher from Wills Point, Texas.

Lela was born in July, 1883, in Wills Point. Her family greatly valued education, and both her father and grandfather were elected trustees of the local school board multiple times.

Lela earned her teaching certificate at Sam Houston Normal Institute located in Huntsville, Texas. She inaugurated her teaching career at Wills Point Elementary School. During her summers, she taught primary methodology and speech in normal schools and other teacher training schools in eastern and northern Texas.

In 1907, Lela moved to Louisiana to become the acting principal and a primary teacher of an elementary school there. When she learned that the Dallas Board of Education selected her to a position on their Board of Education, she relocated to Dallas. She remained there from 1908 until her retirement in 1953.

During the years she was teaching, the exceptional educator was continuously honing her professional skills. She earned a Bachelor’s degree at North Texas State Normal College. She earned her Master’s degree from the Colorado State Teachers College in Greeley. In addition, she completed graduate courses in primary methods and speech at the University of Chicago, the University of Colorado, and Teachers College in Columbia University in New York City.

Throughout her long career, Lela also participated in many educational organizations. In 1917 she was elected the first president of the newly-formed Dallas Grade Teachers Association. In 1919 she was instrumental in organizing the Texas Grade Teachers Association, and she was elected the group’s first president. In 1920, she was elected president of the Texas State Teachers Association. It was while serving in that capacity that she met Dr. Annie Webb Blanton, who was then State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The pair became two of the original founders of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International (DKG) in 1929. DKG is an organization which still endeavors today to promote the professional development of women educators.

Sadly, Lela Lee Williams passed away on Feb. 19, 1974, near Dallas, Texas. She is interred at Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park in Dallas.

To read more about this chalkboard champion, see her biography on DKG’s web page at Lela Lee Williams.

Kindergarten teacher  Brenda Barreras from Perris, California, has just been named the 2020 CA State Teacher of the Year.

On Oct. 4, 2019, California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond announced the names of the five educators to be recognized as 2020 California State Teachers of the Year. One of the five Thurmond honored is Brenda Barreras, a kindergarten teacher from Good Hope Elementary School in Perris, Riverside County, California.

Brenda has overcome many obstacles on her way to the classroom. She was only 16 years old when she immigrated to the United States, and when she arrived, she could not speak English. In spite of this, she became an honor roll student by the time she graduated high school.

Brenda has been teaching for 22 years. During those years, she has targeted the needs of English-language learners. She led the California Association for Bilingual Educators program at her previous school, Palms Elementary. She also founded an English-language tutoring program to provide assistance to students before and after school. “Ms. Barreras has used her own personal experience to inspire students to succeed,” declared Dr. Judy D. White, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools.  “As she has demonstrated, public education is the cornerstone of our democracy and changes the lives of our students for the better,” Dr. White continued.

Brenda will be joining the other four California State Teachers of the Year in Sacramento in January to meet with Superintendent Thurmond when the group will be formally recognized at a gala. The other educators who have been selected are Sean Bui from Cupertino High School in Cupertino; Mandy Kelly from Trabuco Mesa Elementary School in Rancho Santa Margarita; Guy Meyers from John Burroughs High School in Burbank; and Katya Robinson from West Sonoma County Consortium School in Sebastopol.

To read more about Brenda, click on this link from the Press Enterprise.

Kentucky teacher Jim Freeman of Tully Elementary School volunteered to carry student Ryan Neighbors on his back so she could participate in the class field trip to Falls of the Ohio.

I love to share stories about teachers who go the extra mile for students, and here is one story that is truly heartwarmng. Teacher Jim Freeman of Tully Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky, wanted to ensure that student Ryan Neighbors could participate in a field trip with her class. The group was planning to go to Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Park just over the state line in Clarksville, Indiana. The thing is, Ryan is confined to a wheelchair, and isn’t able to do the hiking and climbing that the field trip requires. Ryan was born with spina bifida, a birth defect where the spine and spinal cord do not form properly.

When students visit the conservation park, they hike to 390-year-old fossil beds. view museum exhibits that depict human history of the Louisville area, including pre-settlement, early settlement, and the history of southern Indiana. In order to make it possible for Ryan to participate, the teacher volunteered to carry the ten-year-old in a carrier on his back for the entire excursion.

Ryan’s mother, Shelly King, cannot praise the teacher enough. “I was blown away,” she expressed. “Mr. Freeman, he’s not her teacher but he teaches in the classroom next door. That’s what I think makes it so heartfelt, because he’s not her teacher. He didn’t have to do it,” she said. The mother also said she was grateful that Freeman was so compassionate and willing to help.

The student also appreciated the ability to participate in the field trip. “I liked it so much,” Ryan expressed. She said she learned a great deal on the trip. “We got to see the fossils and the bones … and I thought it was really fun,” the student declared.

To read more about this story, view this online article published by People.com.

Students all over our country are so fortunate to have so many talented educators staffing our public schools. These hardworking individuals work tirelessly to develop innovative and effective instructional programs, and they genuinely care about their students. One of these is Sarah King, a first grade teacher from Hawaii. She garnered a prestigious 2018-2019 Milken Educator Award, only one of 33 teachers in the country to do so.

Sarah hails from Ala Wai Elementary School in Honolulu. As the Title I coordinator there, Sara develops school-wide support systems that allow all the kids to thrive and reach their full potential. She works with her colleagues to achieve these goals with tiered support systems and enrichment programs.