Tag Archives: English Teachers

OK teacher Traci Manuel recognized as her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

English teacher Traci Manuel of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been recognized as her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.  Photo Credit: TulsaKids

I am always excited to share the story of an outstanding educator who has been recognized for their work with young people. One of these is Traci Manuel, an English teacher from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Traci teaches courses in Advanced English to sophomores at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa. She has also taught at Tulsa’s Central High School and Carver Middle School. In addition to the English courses she has taught, Traci has logged experience as the Directory of the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determinism) program, an extensive college preparatory program. She also created a summer reading program and learning project and organized a Women of Power class. At the District level, Traci designed a district-level leadership course and curriculum.

Traci takes her role as an influencer of young people very seriously. “An impactful teacher cannot just be strong in their content mastery, but must be skilled in multiple areas,” Traci asserts. “These areas [include] effectiveness in communication, conflict resolution, relationship building, loving and accepting all children, being a team player, detailed planning, organizational skills, [knowing how to be an] emotional stabilizer, and classroom management,” she continues.

Even though she came from a family of educators, Traci’s path to the classroom was not a traditional one. After eating her degree, she accepted a position as a substitute teacher for just one month. Then she went back to school to earn her graduate degree. That done, Traci substituted for another year, then became a teacher’s assistant, and then worked as a parent facilitator before finally accepting a position as a full-time classroom teacher.

In her role as Oklahoma’s 2024 State Teacher of the Year, Traci says her major area of focus will be on narrowing the achievement gap.

Traci earned her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Philander Smith University. She completed graduate work at the University of Michigan. Her career as an educator has spanned 12 years.

To read an interview with Traci Manuel, click on this link to TulsaKids.

Kimberly Jones named North Carolina’s 2024 Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

High school English teacher Kimberly Jones has been named North Carolina’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit” NC Newsline

It is always wonderful when an exceptional educator is honored for their outstanding work in the classroom. One of these is Kimberly Jones, a high school English teacher from North Carolina. She has been named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

Kimberly teaches at Chapel Hill High School in the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools District. She has taught in the district since 2006. There she instructs courses on World Literature to sophomores. Part of her curriculum includes a study of the Holocaust and human rights.

This amazing teacher also instructed classes in AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determinism), a college readiness program designed to increase the number of under-represented students who enroll and succeed in college. Kimberly is a big believer in the program. “As an African American woman from a single parent, rural, working class background, I know first-hand the transformative power of education and the impact of hard-working educators to change lives,” Kimberly reveals.

In addition to her work in the public school, Kimberley serves as a Site Director for the Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights in North Carolina. She also works as an education consultant for PBS North Carolina. In these roles, she leads and supports fellow educators in North Carolina and throughout the country in designing lessons that help students better understand literary, cultural, and historical texts and events.

For her work as a professional educator, Kimberly has won numerous awards. In 2024, she was honored by Governor Roy Cooper and the NC African American Heritage Commission for Contributions to Public Education. She was honored with the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Equity Equals Excellence Award. She was also named the Chapel Hill Public School Foundation Sullivan Chair for Excellence in High School English Education in both 2022 and 2023. And as if all that were not enough, she was honored as WCHL’s Radio Chapelboro Hometown Hero Award.

Kiimberly earned her Bachelor’s degree in English in 2005 and her Master of Arts  in Education with a Concentration in Secondary English Instruction in 2006, both from Wake Forest University. She is also a National Board Certified Teacher.

Eric Jenkins named Indiana’s 2024 State Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

High school English/Language Arts teacher Eric Jenkins has been named Indiana’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Circle City Broadcasting

I am always excited to share the story of an exemplary teacher who has earned recognition for their work. One of these is Eric Jenkins, a high school teacher English from Franklin, Indiana.

Eric teaches English/Language Arts courses to sophomores at Franklin Community High School. He has taught there for the past 11 years. He also teaches an Advanced College Project composition course at Indiana University. Furthermore, he is a teacher and consultant for the Hoosier Writing Project, a program which helps educators improve their writing skills and, in the process, become better writing teachers.

The honored educator has sage advice for beginning educators. “Teach fearlessly,” he advises. “And the first kind of tenant of ‘teach fearlessly’ is that you need to not be afraid to take care of yourself. We need to be well before we can take care of our students,” he continues. “Beyond that, I think the other piece of advice is, don’t be afraid to reach out to the community for support when things are getting hard,” he says.

An Indiana native, Eric inaugurated his teaching career at the American Christian Academy in Ibadan, Niberia, in 2007. The school was located in a walled compound outside of central Ibadan, Eric remembers. “You know the joke about teachers living at school? Well, we actually did,” he recounts. “There was a house on the school grounds that we lived in, a short walk away from the classroom buildings. Three other American teachers and I shared that house,” he continues. Once he returned to the United States, he taught for three years in Trussville, Alabama. In 2014, he relocated to his home state of Indiana.

Eric earned his Bachelor’s degree in Secondary English/Language Arts Education from Indiana University in 2007. He earned a Master’s degree in Literacy from the State University of New York, Albany. He completed the requirements for his teaching certificate from Ball State University in 2017.

To read more about Eric, click on this link to an article about him published by Indiana University, Bloomington.

Lyndon Baines Johnson: US President and former ESL teacher

Posted on by

President Lyndon B. Johnson, our nation’s 36th president, was a teacher for English-language learners in Texas before he went to Washington, DC. Photo credit: Humanities Texas

The role of Lyndon B. Johnson as our nation’s 36th president is well-known, but did you know that he used to be a school teacher? Before he launched his career in politics and went to Washington, DC, LBJ taught English language learners at a junior high school in Texas.

In 1928, LBJ needed a way to pay for his education at Southwest Texas State College. To do this, he accepted a position as a teacher at Welhausen School in Cotulla, Texas, a town on the US southern border. There he taught English as a second language to Spanish-speaking junior high school students.

Despite the language barrier between himself and his students, the future president proved to be an enthusiastic and inspirational teacher, organizing speech and debate tournaments and other activities to help the youngsters learn English. “I shall never forget the faces of the boys and the girls in that little Welhausen Mexican School,” Johnson once remarked. “I remember even yet the pain of realizing and knowing then that college was closed to practically every one of those children because they were too poor. And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this nation could never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American,” he said.

When LBJ became president in 1963, he didn’t forget his days as an educator. While in office, he passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965. The legislation granted federal aid to students in elementary grades to achieve his goal of ensuring that every child received a quality education.

To read LBJ’s own words about his teaching experiences, follow this link to “LBJ the Teacher” on Humanities Texas.

TV personality Mary Hart was once a high school English teacher

Posted on by

Celebrated television host Mary Hart is a former high school English teacher from South Dakota. Photo Credit: South Dakota Hall of Fame

There are many talented individuals in Hollywood who were originally classroom teachers. One of these is Mary Hart, a television personality known best or her role on Entertainment Tonight. She was once a high school English teacher in South Dakota.

Mary Hart was born Mary Johanna Harum in Madison, South Dakota, on Nov. 8, 1951. As a young woman in 1970, she entered a beauty pageant, where she was named Miss South Dakota. She subsequently became one of the top ten contestants for the Miss America Pageant. During the pageant, Mary was interviewed for national television, and that was when she discovered her passion for broadcasting.

Two years later, Mary earned her Bachelor’s degree from  Augustana College in Sioux Falls. Once she earned her degree, she accepted a position teaching English at Washington High School in Sioux Falls. But she never forgot her aspirations for broadcasting. During the years she worked in the classroom, Mary moonlighted as a host on a local cable show.

Before long, Mary relocated from South Dakota to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to accept a position as a broadcaster there. In Iowa her repertoire expanded, encompassing both television and radio shows. By 1976, Mary was a household name in Iowa, where she co-hosted a talk show called Dannysday. In 1979, Mary moved to Los Angeles, where she a secured position hosting PM Magazine and worked with Regis Philbin on The Regis Philbin Show. But it was her appearances on Entertainment Tonight (ET) that made her a household name nationwide. She worked on the television show for 29 years, and by the time she retired from the show in 2011, she had set a Guinness World Record for the longest-serving entertainment news host.

In addition to her work as a television host, Mary hosted the Tournament of Roses Parade from 1984 to 1989, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1987. She received Emmy nominations for both. In 1989, the former English teacher was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has also been inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.

In addition to her work in broadcasting, Mary is committed to numerous charitable projects. For example, she is an advocate for women’s issues, personal achievement, and improving children’s lives. In fact, she has worked tirelessly for the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon.

Mary Hart: A true Chalkboard Champion.