Tag Archives: Foreign Language Teachers

Marilyn Johnson: Teacher, Diplomat, WWII US veteran

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Many talented classroom educators also exhibit exceptional talent in the diplomatic arena. This is certainly true of Marilyn Johnson, a high school foreign language teacher who also served our country as a diplomat. Ultimately, she became the US Ambassador to Togo.

Marilyn was born on June 19, 1922, in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe College in 1944. As a young woman, she was quite athletic, and at one time considered pursuing a career as a physical education teacher, but chose liberal arts instead. Later, Marilyn completed courses at the University of Geneva and at the Sorbonne. Then she returned to the US and enrolled at Middlebury College in New England, where she earned her Master’s degree in French in 1952.

Marilyn was also a military veteran. During World War II, between the years of 1944 to 1946, she served in the US Navy. She trained as a midshipman, but ended up working in communications security in a job that focussed on breaking codes. She also worked for a time as a counselor at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, where she provided occupational therapy and training to blinded servicemen.

Once she earned her Master’s degree, Marilyn accepted a position as a high school French teacher at Amherst Regional High School in Amherst, Massachusetts. There she taught French for the next seven years, while taking courses in educational psychology, the history of education, and methodology at both Harvard and Smith College. In 1960, she was selected to be part of the Fulbright teacher exchange program. Through the program, she traveled to Orleans, France, where she taught at the Lycée Jeanne d’Arc for two years. 1962, Marilyn traveled first to the African country of Cameroon and then to Mali, where she taught English as a foreign language in several schools. She left her last teaching position in 1964 when she became a diplomat in the Foreign Service.

In the Foreign Service, Marilyn accepted a position as a Cultural Affairs Officer, first in Bamako, Mali, and later in Tunis, Tunisia. She also served as a Public Affairs Officer in Niamey, Niger, and from 1971 to 1974 she served as the Deputy Assistant Director of the Information Centers Program. The following year she attended the Seminar in Foreign Policy, and after learning the Russian language, she was assigned to be a Cultural Affairs Officer in Moscow in the former Soviet Union. That was in 1976.

On Sept. 23, 1978, Marilyn was appointed to the position of Ambassador to Togo by President Jimmy Carter. She served in that position until July 29, 1981.

Today, Marilyn Johnson is 99 years old. She’s a true Chalkboard Champion!

 

Teacher Dorothy Randolph Peterson promoted the Harlem Renaissance

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Teacher Dorothy Randolph Peterson was active in promoting the Harlem Renaissance and preserving African American art and culture. Photo credit: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Often, fine educators dedicate their considerable energy and passion to serving the interests of art and culture. One of these was Dorothy Randolph Parker, a New York City teacher who actively promoted the Harlem Renaissance and worked to preserve African American art and culture.

Dorothy was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 21, 1897. She was the daughter of diplomat Jerome Bowers Peterson, who worked as the US Consul in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela for one year, and Deputy Collector for the Internal Revenue Service, including several years in San Juan, Puerto Rico. During her childhood, Dorothy lived in Venezuela from July, 1904, to July, 1905, and in Puerto Rico from July, 1913, to July, 1920.

After her graduation from a Puerto Rican high school, she completed some classes at a university on the island. In the 1920s she relocated to Harlem, where she taught Spanish and attended New York University. In Harlem, Dorothy hosted literary salons, which were in vogue in those days. She also served as an early patron of Fire!!, a quarterly journal which promoted young Black artists.

With friend and librarian Regina Anderson, Dorothy co-founded the Negro Experimental Theater, also known as the Harlem Experimental Theater, in 1929. Even writer and historian WEB DuBois was involved in the enterprise. The group performed plays written by young Black authors. At least one of these plays was written by Regina Anderson herself. The theater’s largest and most successful performance was “Wade in the Water,” in 1929. The play starred Dorothy alongside prominent Harlem Renaissance actress Laura Bowman. The Harlem Experimental Theater became an inspiration to similar theater groups all over the country, and an encouragement to Black playwrights.

Later Dorothy worked to preserve African American art and culture. To achieve this goal, she founded the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of Negro Arts and Letters at Yale University and the Jerome Bowers Peterson Collection of Photographs of Celebrated Heroes at Wadleigh High School in Harlem.

Dorothy passed away on November 4, 1978,

 

New York educator Amanda Breheny honored in Time Magazine article

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Amanda Breheny, a Spanish teacher from Queensboro, New York, was honored in an article in Time Magazine published last September. Photo credit: Time Magazine.

When Covid-19 forced her students into distance learning, educator Amanda Breheny created new and exciting learning experiences to meet the challenges of teaching during a pandemic.

Amanda teaches Spanish to seventh graders at Queensbury Middle School, located about 215 miles north of New York City. The innovative teacher invited guest speakers from Mexico and Honduras to speak to her class via GoogleMeet. The speakers shared information with the students about the importance of access to clean water. Amanda says the speakers helped many of her students understand the challenges of not having easy access to clean water. “For them to learn that there are kids that go home and they can’t wash their hands during a pandemic, that just, I think, it really hit home with them,” she says.

As a result of the speakers’ presentations, students in Amanda’s classes launched an awareness campaign, creating videos in both English and Spanish about the importance of clean water. In addition, they partnered with Pure Water for the World, a nonprofit in Vermont to raise nearly $100 to purchase a water­-filtration system for a family in Honduras.

For her work in the classroom, Amanda Breheny was featured in the Time Magazine article entitled “Educators who Saved a Pandemic Year” published in September, 2021.

Spanish teacher and TikTok sensation Dr. Trevor Boffone

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Often dedicated classroom teachers will do anything to motivate their students. Here’s one who hip-hop dances with them: Dr. Trevor Boffone, a Spanish teacher at Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas. He has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram – all because of his viral videos in the classroom. Dr. Boffone wanted a way to connect with his students and asked them to teach him some dance moves like the ones he viewed on Dubsmash and TikTok. In just six weeks, he racked up 50,000 followers. Now he has millions of views and followers around the country! Dr. Boffone says he’s not afraid to dance like no one’s watching, but he knows plenty of people are. Watch him with his students in the 4:21 minute video below. Enjoy!

 

Sara Wyffels of Arizona garners 2021 Teacher of the Year Award

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Congratulations to Sara Wyffels, a Spanish language educator from Chandler, Arizona, who has been named her state’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: AZ Big Media.

Congratulations to Sara Wyffels, a Spanish language educator from Chandler, Arizona, who has been named her state’s 2021 Teacher of the Year.

Sara was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest in Kent, Washington. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, in 2002. Her studies there included a study abroad experience in Segovia, Spain. She earned her Master’s degree in Teaching from the University of Portland in 2004. In addition, she is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher. Her career as an educator has spanned 14 years.

Once she earned her degrees, Sara inaugurated her career as an educator at a middle school Spanish in West Linn, Oregon for two years before relocating to Arizona. Currently, Sara teaches high school Spanish Language Arts through the Chandler Online Academy associated with Chandler High School. The courses she teaches include Honors Spanish 3, International Baccalaureate Advanced Placement, and Spanish 4.

Sara says she doesn’t consider herself to be the person in the classroom who owns the knowledge. “I prefer to be into the curiosity with the students and to grow with them and to discover together, that it’s not just coming straight from me, but that collectively we’re building knowledge and learning skills together,” the honored educator explained.

In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Sara serves her school as the advisor for the Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica and the Gender Alliance Club. She is also the Chair for her school’s World Language Department.

Sara says she became a teacher to make a difference. “I choose to teach and I choose to remain a teacher. Being a teacher is one of the most fulfilling careers an individual can have because you’re changing lives,” asserts Sara. “As a Spanish  teacher, I see firsthand how the power of language  inspires human connection. Teaching language isn’t just about learning new vocabulary; it’s opening the eyes of my students to a world beyond themselves and teaching them how to be global citizens,” she concluded.

To read more about this exemplary educator, see this story about her published online by azcentral.com.