Chalkboard Champion Vivian Paley: Kindergarten teacher, early childhood education research, author, and passionate advocate for child play in the classroom. Photo Credit: The New York Times

One of the most remarkable teachers I have been reading about recently is Vivian Paley, a pre-school and kindergarten teacher, early childhood education researcher, and author originally from Chicago, Illinois. She devoted her lengthy career to proving the value of storytelling and fantasy play in the learning process.

Vivian was born in Chicago on Jan. 25, 1929. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1947. She earned a second degree, a B.A. in Psychology, from Newcomb College in Louisiana in 1950. She earned a Master’s degree from Hofstra University in New York in 1962.

After earning her degrees, Vivian inaugurated her teaching career in New Orleans. There, she once revealed, she felt burdened by what she considered to be an overemphasis on strict learning boundaries and memorization. She came to believe that such an approach stifled both learning and teaching. This experience became the catalyst for her later work. In the 1960’s Vivian relocated to New York, where she taught at public schools in Great Neck and Long Island until 1971. At that time she returned to Chicago, where she accepted a teaching position at the Lab Schools associated with the University of Chicago. There she was free to develop innovative instructional practices, conduct experiments, and pursue her research. In all, Vivian’s career as an educator spanned 37 years. Vivian retired from Lab in 1995, but in the years that followed she continued to lecture and hold workshops around the world.

Many professional educators believe that the most significant impact Vivian has had on the profession is in advancing the theory that storytelling and fantasy play are essential elements in academic and social growth. Her research on the subject was discussed at length in her books A Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play; The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter; and Bad Guys Don’t Have Birthdays: Fantasy Play at Four. In these books, Vivian demonstrates that storytelling and fantasy play help young learners immensely as they make sense of their environment, develop language skills, collaborate with their peers, and successfully function in the classroom.

For her work as an educator and a researcher, Vivian has earned many accolades. In 1989, she garnered the prestigious MacArthur Award. Known unofficially as the “Genius Grant,” the prize is given each year to between 20 and 30 individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their field. The recognition comes with a cash prize of $625,000. Vivian is the only kindergarten teacher to earn the award.

Vivian also earned the Erikson Institute Award for Service to Children in 1987 and the David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Teaching in English in 1999. She also garnered the John Dewey Society’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2000 and was named an Outstanding Educator by the National Council of Teachers of English in 2004.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on July 26, 2019, in Crozet, Virginia. She was 90 years old, but she will always be remembered as an advocate for child play.

Teacher Clara Comstock, second from right, with a colleague and a group of homeless children she escorted on an Orphan Train. Circa 1910. Photo credit: Children’s Aid Society

Throughout our country’s history there are many examples of dedicated educators going above and beyond in order to help young students, both inside the classroom and in their personal lives. One of these was Clara Comstock, a hardworking teacher from New York who helped placed more than 12,000 orphan children into loving homes.

Clara was born on July 5, 1879, in Hartsville, New York, the daughter of hardy pioneer stock. Her father was a farmer and blacksmith. As a young girl, Clara was educated at the Canisteo Academy in the neighboring town of Canisteo, New York. She graduated in 1895 at the age of 16 and spent the next several years completing her teacher training courses.

Clara inaugurated her career as a teacher in 1903 at the Brace Memorial Farm School in Valhalla, New York. Her students were New York City “street Arabs,” homeless boys that were orphaned, abandoned, or removed from their homes because their parents were deemed unfit or unable to adequately care form them. At the Farm School, these kids were taught fundamental literacy skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics, some vocational training, including carpentry, shoe-making, and box-making.

After a few years, in order to be of greater service to homeless kids, Clara accepted a position with the Children’s Aid Society (CAS), an organization which still exists today to benefit needy children. The CAS organized the famous Orphan Trains, small groups of children that were transported west and placed in foster homes on farms and in rural communities. Clara escorted many of these groups, conducted background checks on prospective foster parents, and made periodic checks on the children she placed. She did this work until her retirement in 1928, then she spent another two decades working for the CAS in-state foster care program.

During her lifetime, Clara placed more than 12,000 homeless children in homes, painstakingly keeping track of each one of them until they reached adulthood. She kept a personal diary and filled several trunks with meticulous records of the children she worked with. Decades later, these records became invaluable resources for Orphan Train riders who were seeking information about their origins.

You can read more about this amazing and dedicated teacher and the orphan train system in my book Chalkboard Champions, available on amazon.

Elementary school teacher Rachel Greenberg has earned honors as the 2024 Teacher of the Year by the Providence Public School District. Photo credit: 10 WJAR

It is always a pleasure to share the story of an outstanding educator who has earned honors for their work with young people in the classroom. Today I share the story of Rachel Greenberg, an elementary school teacher from Rhode Island. She has been named the 2024 Teacher of the Year by the Providence Public School District.

Rachel teaches at Robert L Bailey IV Elementary School, where she serves as the campus First Grade Multilingual Classroom Teacher.

In her classroom, Rachel uses a truly unique approach to teaching. “I would describe my approach as quirky,” she confesses. “I’m an only child, and growing up, I lived in the boonies, so there was nobody around. So I had imaginary friends, and I had cousins, and they came every so often. But my mom and I were by ourselves. I was home and she would make songs up all the time about everything. And so I kept doing that,” she continues. “And I do that even in my classroom. We take things that are like, not things that are boring, but things that are mundane that you have to learn and we make them fun. So instead of learning about roots and plants and how the roots are in the ground, we make a song out of it. And so it becomes, ‘The roots are in the ground. They soak the water up.’ So every year, A new batch of kids, new songs, new things they like,” she concludes.

In this role she supports language development and personalized learning for her high-needs students. In addition, Rachel serves as the Science Team Lead for K-2; the Musical Director for the school’s production of Finding Nemo Junior.; the Equity Leadership Team Ambassador; the lead for the Elementary Computer Science Curriculum; and the Technology Lead, where she manages building technology issues and facilitated Chromebook repairs.

Rachel’s honors as Teacher of the Year is not the only recognition Rachel has received. She earned a Golden Apple Award by the Rhode Island State Department of Education in 2017.

Rachel earned her Bachelor’s degree in Geography, graduating magna cum laude. She earned her Master’s degree in Education, and a second Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, both from Rhode Island College. Her passion for inclusive education is further highlighted by her certifications in Classroom Culture, Rigor and Mastery, Differentiation and Identity, and Interest and Agency, which she earned from the Highlander Institute.