Tag Archives: English Teachers

Jr high English teacher Erika Garza-Silva garners prestigious humanities award

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Junior high school English teacher Erika Garza-Silva Texas has garnered a 2024 Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award. Photo credit: flour Bluff ISD

It is always my pleasure to share the story of an outstanding educator who has earned accolades for her work in the classroom. Today I share the story of Erika Garza-Silva, a Language Arts teacher from Texas. She has been recognized by Texas Humanities with a prestigious 2024 Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award.

Erika teaches Language Arts at Flour Bluff Junior High School in Corpus Christi. In addition, she serves as her school’s Language Arts Department Chair and she fills the role of the University Interscholastic League Coordinator.

“I strive each and every day to be the teacher that sees beyond labels, language barriers, or economic status and only sees a student who is full of possibilities,” declares Erika. “It is not only because I know what it feels like to be treated differently, but because I know first-hand what can happen when a teacher believes in you,” she continues.

To achieve her goals, Erika incorporates cross-curricular activities and project-based learning into her learning program. For example, her students explore 1960s culture by analyzing song lyrics, researching fashion, dressing up, and tie-dying old T-shirts. Erika believes these immersive activities enhance her students’ understanding of course material and help them feel more connected to the characters in the readings that have been assigned.

This outstanding educator is obviously well-respected by her colleagues. “Erika Garza-Silva’s consistent devotion to her students, community, and school makes her such a valuable asset to education,” says Brooke Zepeda, Intervention Specialist at Flour Bluff Junior High School. “As head of the English Department, she has led her team to achieve record-high ELA STAAR scores and is a phenomenal role model for the teachers she leads. As a bilingual educator, she also helps tremendously with our English as a Second Language (ESL) program, working with eighth-grade ESL students to ensure they are excelling in their classes,” Brooke continues. “Erika embodies strength, dignity, and compassion in every aspect of her work,” she concludes.

Well done, Erika!

To learn more about Humanities Texas, click on this link to their website.

 

Mikaela Saelua named American Samoa’s 2025 Teacher of the Year

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High school English teacher Mikaela Saelua of American Samoa has been named her territory’s 2025 Teacher of the Year, and one of four finalists for 2025 National Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Marion Malena

I always enjoy sharing the story of an exceptional educators who have earned recognition for their work with young people. Today I share the story of Mikaela Saelua, a high school English teacher from American Samoa. She has been named her territory’s 2025 Teacher of the Year, and one of four finalists for 2025 National Teacher of the Year.

Mikaela teaches English to seniors, juniors, and sophomores at Leone High School in the villages of Vailoatai and Leone in the Western District of American Samoa. In addition, she is the class advisor for the senior class, the club advisor for the Forestry Club, the Peer Leaders Club, and the school’s volleyball coach.

As if all that were not enough, Mikaela fills the position of Department Chair of the school’s English Department, she leads the campus professional learning community, and serves as the Head of the campus Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Self-Study Team. And she is a National Pacific American Leadership Institute fellow as well as a former Executive Leadership Development Program fellow.

For her Samoan students who are learning the English language, Mikaela strives to design curriculum the goes beyond mere reading and writing. One of her favorite ways to do this is with a song translation project. In what culminates in music videos, her students learn figurative idioms, metaphors, and words to capture the soul of Samoan songs. “The goal isn’t just to teach them English,” Mikaela says, “it’s to help them appreciate and express themselves in a way that feels true to who they are.”

Mikaela earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum Studies from the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

 

Illinois teacher Irene Hunt became an acclaimed author

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Illinois teacher Irene Hunt became an acclaimed author. Photo credit: Bookologymagazine.com

Many teachers are familiar with the historical novels of Irene Hunt: Across Five Aprils, Up a Road Slowly, and The Lottery Rose, for example. But did you know that she was also a distinguished teacher?

Irene was born on May 18, 1907, in Pontiac, Illinois. As a young girl, she spent a great deal of time with her grandfather, who spent countless hours recounting stories of his childhood during the Civil War. These stories eventually became the basis of her historical novels.

Irene earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1939, and her Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in 1946. She taught English and French in public schools in Oak Park, Illinois, from 1930 to 1945. For the next four years she taught psychology at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion. Then she returned to teaching in public schools in Cicero, Illinois, from 1950 to 1969, when she retired to write full time.

Irene’s first book, and her signature work, was Across Five Aprils, published in 1964, when she was 57 years old. The volume garnered high critical acclaim, winning the Follett Award and being named the sole Newbery honor book of 1965 by the American Library Association. It was followed by Up a Road Slowly, published in 1966, which received the Newbery Medal, among other honors.

Irene was a pro at using historical novels in the classroom. She once said, “While teaching social studies to junior high school students, I felt that teaching history through literature was a happier, more effective process.”

Irene Hunt passed away on Mary 18, 2001. It was her 94th birthday. To read more about her, see this biography at Bookology.

Jennifer Fey of Texas garnered 2024 Outstanding Teaching of Humanities Award

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Congratulations to English teacher Jennifer Fey of Spring Hill, Texas. She has garnered a 2024 Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award. Photo credit: Cornal Independent School District. 

Congratulations are due to Texas educator Jennifer Fey. She has garnered a 2024 Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award.

Jennifer teaches English at Hill Country College Prep High School, a public school located in Spring Hill, Texas. She also partners with a History teacher to plan her lessons. In addition, she serves her school as the National Honor Society sponsor, the University Interscholastic League coordinator, the grade-level chair, a reading interventionist, and a teacher mentor

The honored educator earned her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Texas at Austin. She earned a Master’s degree in Reading Instruction from the University of West Florida, and a second Master’s degree in Public Administration from Troy University. Her career as an educator spans 12 years.

Jennifer strongly believes that incorporating project-based learning into her curriculum emphasizes the importance of the humanities subjects she teaches. The projects she incorporates are wide-ranging, from Greek and Shakespearean shadow puppet plays to trade route and revolutionary marketing plans. “The humanities give students a foundation in how to live and how to apply their skills ethically,” declares Jennifer. “By learning through authentic projects, students see how history and literature shape their world.”

Of the more than 700 teachers from across the state of Texas to be nominated for the 2024 Humanities Texas Outstanding Teaching Award, Jennifer is one of 15 to receive the honor. The award includes a $5,000 cash prize and an additional $1,000 for her school campus to be used for the purchase of instructional materials. Humanities Texas is associated with the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its mission is to advance education through programs that improve the quality of classroom teaching, to support libraries and museums, and to create opportunities for lifelong learning for all Texans.

Her selection for this award is not the only recognition Jennifer has received. In 2023, she was named a recipient for the KENS 5 EXCEL award for Comal Independent School District.

MD teacher and AP Keishia Thorpe inducted 2024 National Teacher Hall of Fame

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Maryland teacher and Assistant Principal Keishia Thorpe has been inducted into the 2024 class of the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Photo credit: Our Today

There are many fine administrators win our nation’s public schools who have earned accolades for their work with young people. One of these is high school Assistant Principal Keishia Thorpe of Springdale, Maryland. She has been inducted into the 2024 class of the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF)!

Before her promotion to Assistant Principal, Keshia taught English at International High School Langley Park in Bladensburg, Maryland. While she was there, she redesigned the twelfth-grade curriculum for her school’s English Department, making the courses culturally relevant for her students, who comprised first-generation Americans, immigrants, or refugees from countries in Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, South America, and Central America. Her work resulted in a 40% increase in her students’ reading scores. In addition, Keishia was successful in helping many high school students gain fully-funded scholarships. In fact, she helped seniors win $6.7 million in scholarships in 2018-2019 alone.

Keishia says, as an immigrant to the United States herself, she personally experienced the struggles of underprivileged students. She came to this country from Jamaica on a track and field scholarship. With her twin sister Dr. Treisha Thorpe, Keishia founded a non-profit organization called US Elite International Track and Field, Inc. The organization strives to help at-risk student-athletes from around the globe connect with college coaches to access fully-funded scholarships in the US.

“Every child needs a champion, an adult who will never ever give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the very best they can be,” asserts Keishia. “This is why teachers will always matter. Teachers matter,” she continues.

Her induction into the NTHF is not the only recognition Keishia has garnered. In 2023 she earned a Joe R. Biden Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. The same year, she was named the recipient of the International Activism Award from Mexico and the African Diaspora Advisory Board Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2022, she was recognized as a Global Teacher Prize Winner.