Agriculture teacher Carly Santangelo has been named New York’s state 2022 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Ocean Times Herald

I am always excited to share a story about an exceptional educator who has earned accolades for their work. One of these is Carly Santangelo, a secondary school agriculture teacher who has been named New York’s Teacher of the Year for 2022.

Carly teaches agriculture to middle and high school students at Cuba-Rushford Central School in Cuba in western New York State. She engages students, colleagues, and the community by connecting academic content to life-long skills through schoolwide, hands-on projects. She believes strongly in an interdisciplinary, project-based approach to learning and uses agriculture to approach content from other classes. For example, with colleague Joseph Franzen, a Cuba-Rushford history teacher, Carly founded the World Foods and Diversity program. The course helps students understand how gender, race, history, and other global issues relate to the food we eat. The honored educator also works to expose all students to fields traditionally viewed as male-oriented, such as welding. In doing so, she says, she helps break down gender-based barriers and stereotypes.

In addition to teaching her courses, Carly also serves as her school’s advisor for Future Farmers of America (FFA). In this role, she works diligently to develop her students’ leadership skills. In fact, she has coached several of her students to state-winning titles in a variety of career-development events.

Carly actively pursues opportunities to expand the walls of her classroom through grants, field trips, community connections, and guest speakers. She believes in service learning and works alongside her students to give back to the community, both on campus and outside of school. For example, Carly involves her students in initiatives such as volunteering at the local food bank and teaching elementary school students and area businesses about the value of composting.

Carly earned her Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources. She earned a second Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science Education from Cornell University and her Master’s in Teaching in both Adolescent Education with an emphasis in Biology and Agricultural Education. Her career as an educator spans nine years.

To read more about Carly Santangelo, click on this link to NYSUT.

Early 20th-century science teacher and administrator Elsbeth Kroeber authored a textbook that actively countered class and race prejudice during the “Nazi years.” Photo Credit: Midwood High School

I always enjoy sharing stories about excellent educators who have earned acclaim for their work in the classroom. One of these is Elise Elsbeth Kroeber, an early 20th-century science teacher who authored a general biology curriculum that during her time was widely-used throughout New York Public Schools.

Elise, who preferred to be called Elsbeth, was born Nov. 28, 1882, in Manhattan, New York. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences in 1903 from Columbia University. She also studied at Barnard. After earning her degree, Elsbeth worked for many years as a biology teacher.

While teaching, Elsbeth saw the need to vastly update the curriculum for general biology courses, known as the Kroeber Curriculum. In addition to her work in the classroom, Elsbeth completed a great deal of technical writing and editing. She co-authored the biology textbook Adventures of Living Things, which was widely used in high school biology classes. When it was published in 1938, the textbook was viewed as an innovative approach to biology. The volume was one of the first in a wave of biology textbooks published during the “Nazi years” that actively countered class and race prejudice and sought to dispel a popular and institutional approval for the scientifically erroneous and immoral theory of eugenics.

Before her retirement in 1954, Elsbeth worked as an Assistant Principal at Midwood High School in Brooklyn. In what were supposed to be her Golden Years, she served as a supervisor and board member for eh Schools Volunteer Program of the Pubic Education Association, a program providing tutors for disadvantaged students in New York City. She also developed and supervised professional development inservice for teachers who wished to become department chairs.

In addition to her professional work, this Chalkboard Champion was a member of the American Biological Institute and the National Association of Biology Teachers, that she speaks German conversationally, that she has a secondary specialty in microbiology and immunology, that her salary is between $7,000-$8,000/year and that in addition to teaching, she does technical writing or editing.

Elise Elsbeth Kroeber passed away in Dec. 3, 1969. She was 87 years old. Since her passing, the New York Biology Teachers Association awards a graduating New York City senior with its Elsbeth Kroeber Memorial Award in her honor.

High school science teacher Ann Mah also served in the Kansas State House of Representatives. Photo Credit: The Topeka Capital-Journal

Many fine classroom teachers have also achieved success as politicians. One of these is Ann Mah, a high school science teacher who has also served as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives.

Ann was born May 5, 1951, in Clay Center, Kansas. Her father worked as a machinist and her mother worked as a public school teacher. Ann earned both her Bachelor’s degree and her Master’s degree in Education from Emporia State University. Once she completed her education, she worked as a science teacher in public schools in Emporia, Kansas. Her career as an educator spanned five years.

In 2004, Ann inaugurated her career in politics when she was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Kansas House of Representatives. She served there for eight years. She represented the 53rd District from 2005 and 2013. While in office, she was a member of the Committees for Education; High Education; and Local Government. In 2016, after she left the State Assembly, Ann was elected to the Kansas State Board of Education representing District 4. She currently occupies this position.

Ann has also worked as a small business owner. Her company, Discover Strategies, provides speaking, consulting, and training services. In addition, she has published three business training books and has been employed as the business skills writer for the magazine Hers Kansas.

Ann has also served on the Shawnee Heights Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors, the State Committee of the North Central Association, and the Board of Directors of the United Way of Greater Topeka. Currently, Ann is a member of the Capitol Area Federated Women’s Democratic Club, the Shawnee County Democrats, and the American Business Women’s Association. She is president of the Lutheran Fine Arts Council of Topeka. 

For her work as an educator, lawmaker, and business owner, Ann was recognized as the 1997 National Woman of the Year by the American Business Women’s Association. She served as the Association’s national president in 2002. In that capacity, Ann traveled throughout the country speaking on business and education issues. In 2000, Ann was also recognized as a YWCA Woman of Excellence. She was honored by the Kansas Association for Career and Technical Education for her legislative work on career and tech ed. And as if all that were not enough, she was nominated as a Woman of Influence by Go Topeka in 2018.

To learn more about Ann Mah, visit her website at AnnMah.org.