Below is a marvelous video about the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which offered two free dance classes for elementary and junior high school students in Miami on February 7, 2019. The classes helped the students to commemorate Black History Month. You can read more about the dance theater at the following link: at Miami Herald.
What does a committed and hardworking veteran do once their military career has concluded? With the assistance of Troops to Teachers (TTT), they can continue their years of service as a classroom teacher, like retired US Army Captain Heatheranne Bozeman. She is a strong believer in Troops to Teachers, because she has personally benefited from the program. After she concluded her military service, the program helped her prepare for and gain a job as an educator. She retired as a military police officer in 2012, and now works as a television production instructor at Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola, Florida.
“I’m that person when I was in uniform and they would thank me for my service, it just seemed like ‘No way, I’m so grateful for the military and for the service they gave me’ and it’s kind of the same with teaching,” confesses Heatheranne. “They’re the ones (the students) that keep teaching and growing me. So, if you look at your time in the military as what it’s brought to you, then teaching is gonna be the same way,” she continues.
To learn more about Troops to Teachers, click on https://proudtoserveagain.com/. To learn more about Heatheranne, view the video below:
Dee Green appeared with the Three Stooges in the comedy short Brideless Groom (1947).
Many talented teachers achieve success in fields other than education. One such teacher was Delores Mae Green, who is better known as Dee Green.
Dee was a beloved music and choir teacher who was also an acclaimed actress in Hollywood. Her claim to fame is that she worked with the Three Stooges. She is well-known for playing the part of one of Shemp’s potential brides as the plain, tall, and fawning Miss Fanny Dinkelmeyer in the comedy short Brideless Groom. She also portrayed the homely and unattractive fiance in I’m a Monkey’s Uncle and the daughter of King Rootintootin’ in Mummy’s Dummies.
Dee was born on November 16, 1916, in Peoria, Illinois. After she concluded her career in show business, she earned her Master’s degree in music. She taught music and choir classes at Peoria Heights Grade School in Peoria Heights, Illinois, in the 1960’s. Throughout the late 1970’s and early 1980’s she taught Language Arts and Drama at Roosevelt Junior High, which is now known as Rockford Alternative Middle School, in Rockford, Illinois. She produced many annual events, including a production of Babes in Toyland and numerous elaborate Christmas pageants that included every student in the school.
Dee inspired more than one of her students to pursue a career in theater. Some of them eventually earned success on Broadway in New York. She was often described by her students as kind and generous, and a woman of great courage, talent, and vision.
This amazing chalkboard champion passed away from cancer on April 24, 1985.
Every once in a while I stumble upon a heartwarming story about a teacher that just warms my heart. Here is one about Robert Moore, a retired high school music teacher from Ponca City, Oklahoma.
Robert’s 30 year career as an educator began in 1966 and ended when he retired in 1996. He just celebrated his 80th birthday, so as a special surprise, nearly 300 of his former students decided to pay homage to their former music teacher. In an effort that took nearly a year to organize, they traveled from all over the country and from three foreign countries back to their home town of Ponca City. There they rehearsed and performed a surprise tribute concert for Robert. Some of the selections they performed brought Robert to tears, such as “Kumbaya” and the Christmas song “Still, Still, Still.”
Many of the former students described their teacher as a strict disciplinarian who pushed them to perform beyond what they thought they had in themselves. “He expected the best out of us, and therefore we gave the best that we had,” remembered Katy Cutler-Art, class of 1975. “He would stop you in the hall and ask you to sing a specific note,” recalled Susan Clay Vitkavage, class of 1979. Because of Robert’s expert guidance, the Ponca City Chorale won choir competitions all over the country every year that he served as their director. Many of the former students said they pursued successful careers in music or became educators because of the inspiration they gained from Robert.
Despite his rather tough teaching style, Robert obviously still harbors great affection for his former students. “Thank you so much for this,” he told them at the conclusion of the concert. “You’ll never know what it means to me and to my family. I loved you then, and I love you now.”
View this four-minute YouTube video for more about this amazing chalkboard champion. I just recommend you keep the tissue box handy.
Melody Herzfeld, Theater Arts teacher at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, was honored at last night’s Tony Awards ceremony.
Theater Arts teacher Melody Herzfeld was recognized last night with the Excellence in Theatre Education Award at the 72nd Annual Tony Awards ceremony at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. Melody is credited with saving 65 student lives at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School last Valentines Day when the chalkboard hero barricaded them in her classroom’s office as a disturbed student opened fire merely 50 yards away. In the shooting, the gunman killed 14 of his fellow students and 3 staff members. Following the massacre, Melody supported and guided her students in their nationwide movement for tighter gun control.
Melody has taught courses in acting, theater production, and technical theater at Stoneman Douglas since 2003. During that time, she has directed more than 50 productions. Her drama program has earned state and Critic’s Choice recognition at various Thespian competitions, and has won awards from the South Florida Cappies and the Cappies Critics. Cappies is an international program that recognizes, celebrates, and provides learning experiences for high school drama students and teenage playwrights. Melody has also produced her community’s Children’s Theatre Project since 2003.
The Excellence in Theatre Education Award is given by the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University to a K-12 theater educator who has demonstrated a monumental impact on the lives of students. It comes with a $10,000 prize for the winning teacher’s theater program. Melody is only the fourth recipient of the honor. In addition to her Tony award, this talented performing arts instructor also received the Educational Theatre Association’s 2018 Thespis Award earlier this year.
During her Tony Award acceptance speech, Melody asserted that performing arts educators teach students to speak their own truths, to develop a work ethic, to know that loyalty and collaboration is key, to be good to each other, to accept everyone, and to make a difference. “We teach this every day in every arts class,” she said. “Imagine if arts were classes that were considered core—a core class in education—imagine. And ours is only one small part, yet it’s the most important part, of a child’s education.”
You can view Melody’s entire Tony Award acceptance speech below:
