Tag Archives: English Teachers

Detroit teacher, poet, and radio host Brenda Perryman passes from Covid-19

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Detroit teacher, poet, and radio show host Brenda Perryman passes away from Covid-19.

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of several beloved educators. One of them is Brenda Perryman, a well-known performing arts teacher, poet, and radio personality from Detroit, Michigan.

Brenda earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Speech, Dramatic Arts, and Education from Eastern Michigan University. During her undergraduate years, she joined the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Upon graduation, Brenda inaugurated her career as an educator. She taught English, speech, and drama from 1970 to 1988 at Highland Park High School. She then transferred to Southfield High School, where she taught from 1988 to 2010. She also served as the Chair of the Fine Arts Department there. She retired in 2010.

In her retirement, Brenda flourished as a poet, playwright, and a radio show host. Her program, Talk 2 Me with Brenda Perryman, was broadcast on Comcast 20/TV33 WHPR. On her show, she regularly championed local educators, writers, artists, and others. In addition, she served as a speaker for Procter & Gamble’s nationwide show Total You Tour, which was shared with thousands of young women on college campuses and in urban convention venues. She also performed as a featured poet for programs honoring Sidney Poitier and Maya Angelou. She was also a published poet. Her volumes of poetry include Mood Swings and Magic Carpet Rides, Moods for You, and Tender Ravings.

Brenda became well-known in Detroit as an educational speaker on women’s  issues, domestic violence, diabetes, and using poetry as a means of catharsis. She garnered several Spirit of Detroit awards. She was also recognized by the local NAACP chapter as its Most Outstanding Member.

Sadly, Brenda succumbed to Covid-19 on April 5, 2020. She was 71 years old. You can read more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion in the obituary published by the Detroit Free Press.

Pennsylvania’s Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno: English teacher and award-winning poet

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Pennsylvania’s Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno: Talented English teacher and award-winning poet

Sometimes our students (and their parents) forget that teachers are real people. We live, we laugh, we love, and we suffer, just like any other human being. Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno is a remarkable teacher who reminds the entire community that teachers live the full range of human experiences.

Kathleen Bonanno was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. She attended Temple University in Philadelphia, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in English and her Master’s degree in education. She taught at Dobbins High School in North Philadelphia for five years and Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, for 17 years.

Like many educators, Kathleen is multi-talented. She is the author of an award-winning book of poetry entitled Slamming Open the Door ((2009), a volume which Library Journal described as “a stunning first book.” Kathleen wrote the collection of poems following the gut-wrenching murder of her daughter, Leidy Bonanno, an abandoned child from Chile that Kathleen and her husband adopted. Leidy was strangled in 2003 by a former boyfriend, just after her graduation from nursing school. The loss inspired Kathleen to become an advocate for victims’ rights and a member of the Montgomery Country Parents of Murdered Children. For her efforts, this amazing teacher and author was honored with a Women of Courage,Women of Inspiration Purple Ribbon Award from the Lutheran Settlement House in Philadelphia in 2008.

This amazing educator passed away on June 15, 2017. You can read more about this Chalkboard Champion at this link: Chestnut Hill Local.

New York English teacher and celebrated author Frank Nappi

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New York English teacher and celebrated author Frank Nappi.

Many excellent teachers have earned accolades in fields outside of the classroom. One of these is Frank Nappi, a high school English teacher from New York who has earned national fame as an author.

Frank was born in Bay Shore, Suffolk County, New York, on Feb. 27, 1967. As a young boy, he attended Farmingdale High School in Farmingdale, New York. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University, a private university located in Hampstead, New York.

After he earned his degrees, Frank taught English and Creative Writing at Oceanside High School, a public school located in Oceanside, New York. His career as an educator there spanned 31 years.

Frank published his first novel, Echoes from the Infantry, in 2005. The tale, a story about a World War II veteran, earned national attention. Frank garnered a silver medal for outstanding fiction from the Military Writers Society of America for the effort. His second novel, The Legend of Mickey Tussler, a story about baseball, earned high reviews, too. A movie adaptation entitled A Mile in His Shoes was based on the story. He has also published Sophomore Campaign (2012) and the dark thriller Nobody Has to Know (2012), both of which have earned accolades.  He also wrote Welcome to the Show, published in 2016.

Probably the book that Frank wrote that is most intriguing for teachers, though, is I Became an Elementary School Outlaw, published in 2019. The tale is a delightful memoir of a little boy who becomes a teacher when he matures. The story depicts the angst of growing up and fitting in, and is told with humor and insight.

Today Frank lives on Long Island, New York. To read an interview with this amazing educator, see this link to a 2013 interview with Sandra Bornstein.

The amazing Marsheda Ewulomi: English teacher and lawyer

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Former English teacher Marsheda Ewulomi now works as a lawyer specializing in police accountability and expanding higher education for Chicago prisoners.

I love to share stories about educators who have also enjoyed successful careers in fields other than the classroom. One of these is Marsheda Ewulomi, a former high school English teacher who now works as a lawyer. Her specialty? Police accountability and expanding higher education for Chicago prisoners.

Marsheda was born in Lansing, Michigan. As a young woman, she attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree with a major in English and a minor in African and AfroAmerican Studies in 2012.

Once she earned her degree, Marsheda accepted a position with Teach for America. She was hired as a high school English teacher in Washington, DC. In addition to her classroom duties, Marsheda led a team of four teachers in diverse content areas to create cross-curricular assignments, provided support in classroom management, and identified students at risk of failing academically and behaviorally. She also generated action plans for specific students that led to 100% of the students promoting up to the next grade. The young teacher served in this capacity from 2012 to 2014.

When she completed her obligation with Teach for America, Marsheda returned to her home state of Michigan. There she worked as a Behavioral and Academic Interventionist at her alma mater, the Mid-Michigan Leadership Academy. During her tenure there, Marsheda provided professional support for new teachers. She also founded a club to support 7th and 9th grade girls and supervised an after-care program for kindergartners and first graders. As if all that wasn’t enough, she also worked as a floating substitute and coached dance!

After some years at the academy, the former teacher enrolled at the Northwestern Pritzker School of law. She graduated from law school, cum laude, in 2018. She now works in Chicago where she specializes in police accountability and expanding higher education for prisoners.

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this link to her resume.

Ruth Frances Woodsmall: English teacher and global activist for women’s rights

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Ruth Frances Woodsmall: English teacher and global activist for women’s rights.

There are many exceptional educators who have also made significant contributions to society as a whole. One of these is Ruth Frances Woodsmall, a high school English teacher from Georgia who is well known as a post World War II global activist for women’s rights.

Ruth was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sept. 20, 1883. She was the daughter of Harrison S. Woodsmall, a lawyer and teacher, and Mary Elizabeth Howes, an art teacher. Ruth grew up in Indiana and attended local schools. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Nebraska in 1905. She earned her Master’s degree from Wellesley in 1906.

After she earned her degrees, Ruth worked as a high school English teacher in both Nevada and Colorado from 1906 to 1917. Between 1917 and 1928 she held various positions in the YWCA, including a stint as Director of Hostess Houses in the US and in France. From 1921 to 1928, she was Executive Secretary of YWCAs in the Near East. Based in Istanbul, the former classroom teacher supervised branches in Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon. In 1923, her jurisdiction was expanded to include Egypt and Palestine. From 1935 to 1948 Ruth served as General Secretary of the World’s YWCA.

From 1949 to 1952 Ruth served as the Chief of the Women’s Affairs Section of the US High Commission for Occupied Germany. For this work she received the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of West Germany. At the same, she did extensive research on the changing status of Muslim women in the Middle East and published several important works on the subject.

In recognition of her work with women and international relations, this exceptional educator received honorary degrees from the University of Nebraska in 1945 and the University of Indiana in 1954.

Sadly, this Chalkboard Champion passed away in New York City on May 25, 1963.