Tag Archives: English Teachers

Charlotte Gardner: Educator and former member of the North Carolina House of Reps

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One-time teacher Charlotte Gardner also served in the North Carolina House of Representatives. Photo credit: Summersett Funeral Home

Many excellent educators have also served their community as politicians. One of these is Charlotte Gardner, a one-time high school teacher who also served in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Charlotte was born on Nov. 14, 1931, in Baltimore, Maryland. As a young girl, her family moved to Rockwell, North Carolina. There Charlotte graduated from Rockwell High School in 1949. After her graduation, she enrolled at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in English and French, cum laude, in 1952.

Once she earned her degrees, Charlotte settled in Salisbury, where she lived with her husband. Early in her marriage, Charlotte accepted a position as a teacher in public schools located in both Robeson and Jones Counties. Over time, Charlotte and her husband raised six children.

In 1984, Charlotte was elected on the Republican ticket to the North Carolina House of Representatives, where she represented the 35th District for 16 years, from 1985 to 2001. While there, she served as a member on the Committees for Aging, Appropriations, Education, Financial Institutions, and Judiciary. She also served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Women’s Legislative Caucus from 1999 to 2000. But her greatest passion was working to improving conditions for the mentally ill.

For her work as a legislator, Charlotte garnered many pretigious awards. She earned the Distinguished Service Award from the Rowan County Republican Party; the Appreciation Award from the Rowan Mental Health Coalition; the Valand Award for Outstanding Legislator in the Cause of Mental Health from the North Carolina Mental Health Association; the 1995 Legislator of the Year from the North Carolina Alliance for the Mentally Ill; and the David T. Flaherty Merit Service Award.

Sadly, this teacher and chalkboard politician passed away in Annapolis, North Carolina, on June 10, 2020. She was 88 years old.

Remembering Freedom School teacher Sandra Adickes

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Intrepid New York City English teacher Sandra Adickes spent the summer of 1964 teaching in a Freedom School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Photo credit: University of Southern Mississippi

The anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington earlier this week gives us the opportunity to think about the courageous and dedicated teachers, both Black and White, who tirelessly worked towards creating a more equal society in our country. One of these was Sandra Adickes, an English teacher from New York City who taught in Mississippi’s Freedom Schools during Freedom Summer.

Sandra was an energetic and idealistic thirty-year-old New York City English teacher in 1964, the year she ventured south into Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to teach in a Freedom School. The goal of the summer program was to empower the Black community to register to vote, and to help bridge some of the gap of educational neglect that had long been a tradition in that Jim Crow state. Both educators and Civil Rights activists realized that only through education and participation in the democratic process could African Americans hope to achieve their long-denied American Dream.

The enterprise was not without danger. On the first day of Freedom Summer, three workers involved in the program disappeared while investigating the firebombing of the church facility designated for their voter recruitment activities. Six weeks later, as Sandra Adickes conducted her classes in Hattiesburg, the badly beaten and bullet-ridden bodies of the three missing men were discovered buried in an earthen dam in nearby Neshoba County.

At summer’s end, Sandra’s fearless students decided—on their own—to integrate the Hattiesburg Public Library in what became, in effect, a graduation trip with an emphasis on civic reform. Sandra was arrested in the effort. Read her riveting story, and what became of her courageous students, in her book Legacy of a Freedom School. You can also find a chapter about this remarkable teacher in my book, Chalkboard Champions.

Georgia teacher Susan Allgood garners VFW Citizenship Education Award

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Middle school English teacher Susan Allgood of Toccoa, Georgia, has garnered a 2023 Smart Maher National citizenship Education Teacher Award from the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Photo credit: Veterans of Foreign Wars

As role models for young people, teachers often emphasize the qualities of patriotism and good citizenship in their young students. One teacher who does this exceptionally well is Susan Allgood, a middle school teacher from Toccoa, Georgia. She has been recognized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) for her excellence in efforts to ensure  her students understand duty to country while honoring the service and memory of America’s veterans. The organization has honored her with a 2023 Smart Maher National Citizenship Education Teacher Award.

Susan teaches seventh and eighth grade English/Language Arts at Stephens County Middle School in Toccoa. She was selected for the honor because she encouraged not only the students in her classroom, but also every student on her campus to participate in the VFW’s annual Patriot’s Pen essay contest. To inspire the young authors, she shared novels and biographies about veterans, the military, and our nation’s history into her curriculum.

In addition to sharing the stories of veterans and promoting the essay contest, the honored teacher organized field trips to New York City to visit the memorial built at Ground Zero. She teaches lessons about the devastation and aftermath of Sept. 11. And she encourages her students to recognize that they can make a difference in the world around them.

It makes perfect sense that Susan would emphasize the role of veterans in her curriculum. She has two sons who are on active duty in the military. Because of this, she understands firsthand how important it is to connect the military and veterans with young people.

To learn more about Susan Allgood and the prestigious award she has won, click on the following link to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

 

Craig Rowe named a finalist for CA State 2023 Teacher of the Year

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High school English teacher Craig Rowe of Truckee, California, has been named one of his state’s finalists for 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Truckee High School

Many exceptional educators have been recognized for their work in the classroom this year. One of these is Craig Rowe, a high school English teacher from Placer County, California. He has been named one of nine finalists for California’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Craig teaches at Truckee High School in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. He also serves as the Model United Nations Advisor for his school. The honored educator says he is passionate about diversity students having an equal chance to attend the college of their dreams. To facilitate this, he formed La Fuerza Latina, a small college prep admissions program for his Truckee High students. The goal of the program is to raise the collegiate bar for students from multi-ethnic backgrounds, and to provide the kind of high-caliber admissions preparation paid consultants provide. In this way, Craig says, diversity students have the opportunity to compete at the highest level nationally, to earn scholarships, and to reach their potential.

Craig has his own childhood experiences to thank for his passion to help disadvantaged students. As a young man, he says, he never saw himself becoming a teacher. The son of a Hispanic mother and a White father, neither of whom attended college, Craig remembers school as a place fraught with racial tension and frequent fights. As a young man, he recalls fellow students speaking negatively about his ethnic heritage, which caused him a great deal of shame and anger. “This was before multiculturalism was a thing,” Craig remembers. “School was definitely not a respite.”

Despite his inauspicious performance in high school academics, Craig went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Washington. He earned his Master’s degree in Dramatic Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara. And he completed the requirements for his Ph.D. in Performance Studies from University of California, Berkeley. While there, he garnered a Regents Fellowship. In addition, Craig worked in a Chicana writing program at Stanford University.

“I want every student to know that regardless of their social or ethnic status, if they are hard-working and diligent, they can compete at the very highest level nationally,” asserts Craig. “My intent is simply to supplement our outstanding counseling support system, so our students have equal advantages for being placed in highly competitive colleges and universities as well as earn scholarships,” he concludes.

Mandy Perez named Kentucky’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

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Elementary teacher Mandy Perez of Marion, Kentucky, has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Kentucky Department of Education

I am always excited to share the story of an exceptional teacher who has earned recognition for her work in the classroom. Today I shine a spotlight on Mandy Perez, an elementary teacher from Kentucky. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Mandy, who is the first in her family to graduate from college, says she always dreamed of becoming a teacher. Her father, an immigrant from Panama, came to the United States at the age of 16. Her mother is a native of Crittenden County. Mandy earned both her Bachelor’s degree in Education and her Master’s degree in Education with an emphasis in Guidance and Counseling from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.

Once she earned her degree, Mandy inaugurated her career at Crittenden County Elementary School, where she taught third, fourth, and fifth graders. Currently, she teaches English Language Arts (ELA) to sixth graders at Crittenden County Middle School in Marion. Her career as an educator has spanned 18 years.

The honored teacher declares her priority as an educator is to foster a love for lifelong learning and to create enthusiasm for reading that expands beyond the classroom walls. “Educators and society owe it to our students to promote a love for reading,” declares Mandy. “Stories can be used as learning tools to teach the importance of understanding one’s culture, being kind, showing acceptance, exercising patience, working through differences, practicing the power of giving,” she continues. “There are so many lessons students can relate to and connect within a story. It’s these types of stories that teach them how to cope, deal with situations and understand who they are,” she concludes.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Mandy serves on the Coalition for Sustaining the Profession, the Curriculum and Instruction Committee, and on the Literacy Committee. In addition, she is the ELA content team leader, sixth grade team leader, and a mentor for new teachers.

To read more about Mandy Perez, click on the following link to the article published by the Kentucky State Department of Education.