Tag Archives: Elementary Teachers

Teacher Jim Freeman carries the day (literally!) for wheelchair-bound student

Posted on by

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.

Hawaii’s Sarah King garners a prestigious Milken Award

Posted on by

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.

Sarah says she has always dreamed of becoming a teacher. The highlight of her day is helping students learn how to read. “The students make it all worth it,” Sarah asserts. “When you see them light up when they finally figure out something or are proud of themselves and knowing you had a hand in that, (it) is awesome,” she said.

Sarah attended the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 2008. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum Studies there in 2012.

The Milken Educator Awards have been described by Teacher Magazine as the “Oscars of Teaching.” In addition to the $25,000 cash prize and public recognition, the honor includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,700 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists from all over the country who work towards strengthening best practices in education. Sarah is one of up to 40 educators, and the only one from Hawaii, to receive the Milken Educator Award for the 2018-2019 year. To learn more, click on Milken Educator Awards.

Houston teachers jump into action when school floods

Posted on by

When the going gets tough, the teachers get going! Teachers at Durham Elementary School in Houston, Texas, proved that this week when Tropical Storm Imelda flooded their school.

When the storm made landfall last Tuesday, it dumped nearly four feet of water on the city in just 72 hours. The deluge caused severe flooding throughout the area. When the water level rose in the hallways of the school, quick-thinking teachers jumped into action, using benches to create an elevated walkway for their students. Balancing on the benches, the kids were able to pass through the hallways without getting their feet wet.

One of the school’s teachers, who wishes to remain anonymous, made a video of the incident “to share the circumstances that the students and faculty face every time it rains,” she explained. “It showed teachers jumping into action and doing what was necessary to make sure those students felt safe and secure,” she continued. “The students are the priority and nothing else mattered in that moment,” the chalkboard champion concluded.

Durham teachers, you are heroes!

Fanny Allen: School teacher and nationally renowned photographer

Posted on by

Fanny Allen, school teacher, internationally renowned photographer, and member of the Deerfield Arts and Crafts Movement. Photograph by Mary Allen, c. 1906.

Many talented educators earn fame 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 fine 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, Franny 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.

Educator Donald Graves: Known internationally as a pioneer of teaching writing

Posted on by

Former elementary school teacher Donald Graves became known internationally as a teacher of the writing process.

Many talented classroom teachers become excellent trainers for other teachers. One of these was Donald Graves, an elementary school teacher who became internationally known as a pioneer in teaching the writing process.

Donald Hillard Graves was born in September 11, 1930, in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts. His father was a school principal, and his mother was a nurse.

Donald earned his Bachelor’s degree at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, in 1952. He earned his Master’s degree in Education from Bridgewater State University in Brdigewater, Massachusetts, in 1959. He completed the requirements for his Ph.D. in Education at the University at Buffalo in New York in 1973. Donald was also a veteran; he served four years in the US Coast Guard.

Donald launched his career as an elementary school teacher at East Fairhaven Elementary School, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, in 1956. Two years later he accepted a position as the school’s principal. Later he became the co-director of a teacher preparation program for urban educators. He also served as a professor of an early childhood program. In his later years, he became Professor Emeritus at the University of New Hampshire.

During his lengthy career as an educator, Donald pioneered new methods for teaching the writing process. In fact, he is known internationally as an expert in the field of teaching writing. In a career as an author that spanned 25 years, he published 26 books, most of them related to the topics of teaching and writing.

“Write yourself,” Donald often advised other teachers. “Invite children to do something you’re already doing. If you’re not doing it, ‘Hey,’ the kids say, ‘I can’t wait to grow up and not have to write, like you.’ They know,” he said. “And for the short term and the long term, you’ll be doing yourself a favor by writing. All of us need it as a survival tool in a very complex world,” he asserted. “The wonderful thing about writing is that it separates the meaningless and the trivial from what is really important. So we need it for ourselves and then we need to invite children to do what we’re doing. You can’t ask someone to sing a duet with you until you know the tune yourself,” he counseled.

Donald retired in 1992 and settled on his mountainside home in Jackson, New Hampshire. This Chalkboard Champion passed away on September 28, 2010, in Falmouth, Barnstable County, Maine. He was 80 years old.

For his work as an educator, Donald garnered many accolades. The National Council of Teachers of English established the Donald H. Graves Writing Award in his honor. To learn more about this amazing educator, read this interview about him that can be found at this link: Answering Your Questions about Teaching Writing.