Tag Archives: Secondary Teachers

Erin Oban: The junior high school math teacher who serves in her state House of Representatives

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Erin Oban

North Dakota’s Erin Oban, former junior high school math teacher who now serves in her state’s House of Representatives.

Many gifted classroom teachers also make excellent lawmakers. One example of this is Erin Oban, a junior high school math teacher who has been elected to the North Dakota State Senate.

Erin was born July 25, 1982, in Ray, Williams County, North Dakota. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at the University of Mary.

After her college graduation, Erin was employed as a mathematics and technology teacher at Cathedral School in Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota. There she had a reputation among her 7th and 8th grade students for being genuine, hardworking, and kind. “I think one of her most admirable qualities is her authentic support. I never felt uncomfortable asking a question or embarrassed to speak up, because she always made me feel like my contribution to the class was important and appreciated,” remembered former student Danielle Finn. “Most importantly, (Mrs.) Oban took the time to listen to me whenever I wanted to be heard. She would come early to answer questions and stay late for those who needed help. She truly wanted all of her students to succeed, not just at school but also in life,” Danielle concluded.

In 2014, Erin was elected to the North Dakota State Senate on the Democratic ticket to represent the 35th District. In the Senate, her interest in matters relating to education has not decreased. The former classroom teacher serves on the Education Committee, the Judicial Committee, and the Committee for Employee Benefits Programs. She also serves as the Chairman of the Education Policy Committee.

In addition to her legislative role, Erin is the Executive Director of Tobacco Free North Dakota, a nonprofit organization. She helped pass a bill last year banning e-cigarette sales to minors.

Erin Oban: a true Chalkboard Champion.

Florida teacher Daniel Dickey: His enthusiasm for the profession is infectious

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Daniel Dickey

Florida teacher Daniel Dickey: His enthusiasm for the profession is infectious.

Every once in a while there comes along an amazing teacher whose enthusiasm for the profession and dedication to his students is just plain infectious. Daniel Dickey, a high school English teacher in Florida, is a teacher like this.

Daniel earned his Bachelor’s degree in Writing and Rhetoric from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. After his graduation from college, Daniel signed up with the Teach for America organization. Through this program, he worked as a teacher of writing and debate at Northwestern High School, an inner city high school in Miami, Florida.

In the past, Northwestern had a reputation as a failing school, where students couldn’t read, write, or do math at grade level. Graduation rates were low. But after years of hard work, including improved instructional strategies and curriculum requirements at the District level, Northwestern is now considered an A-rated school. Part of the success that Daniel was able to achieve in his classroom was due to Teach for America’s Million Word Campaign, an effort designed to encourage his sophomore students to read more. Daniel launched the campaign because he believed that when students are avid readers, they become better writers and speakers. Before long, his program spread throughout the school.

Daniel used his considerable energy to help other teachers, too. During his two years in the classroom, Daniel raised over $105,000 for colleagues in low-income schools. For this work, he garnered praise from Randi Weingarten, who was then president of the American Federation of Teachers.

He was also selected to be an ambassador For the Fuel Your School campaign sponsored by the Chevron Corporation. In this role, Daniel volunteered to help teachers in Title 1 schools apply for and receive educational funding for their classrooms. This initiative led to more than $500,000 being distributed to teachers in high-need schools. For this effort, Daniel was honored by the Miami Marlins when he was invited to throw out the first pitch at their season opening game.

After he completed his obligation to Teach for America, Daniel returned to school, where he earned a Master’s degree in Higher Education from Harvard University.

Daniel Dickey: a true Chalkboard Champion.

Mathematics teacher Louis Leithold revolutionized the teaching of calculus

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Louis Leithold

Mathematics teacher Louis Leithold revolutionized the teaching of calculus.

Every once in a while an educator comes along who completely revolutionizes the way his or her subject is taught. This is true of mathematics teacher Louis Leithold of California, who completely revolutionized the instruction of calculus in American high schools and universities.

Louis was born on November 16, 1924, in San Francisco, California. As a boy, he was academically gifted. He attended Lowell High School, an elite public school that accepted only the brightest students in the city. He later worked his way through the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees in Mathematics.

In 1968, Louis published The Calculus, a volume which soon revolutionized the teaching of calculus. The book was instantly a blockbusting best-seller, and became the launching pad for Louis’s instructional workshops where he taught his innovative methods to other calculus teachers. One of the people Louis greatly influenced was Jaime Escalante, a legendary educator at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Escalante’s experience as a calculus teacher of inner-city minority students is portrayed in the highly-acclaimed movie Stand and Deliver (1988).

During his long and distinguished career as an educator, Louis taught at numerous institutions, including California State University, Los Angeles; the University of Southern California; Pepperdine University; Phoenix College in Arizona; and the Open University in Britain.

When Louis was 72 years old and had already retired from teaching at the university level, Louis inaugurated a calculus program at Malibu High School in Malibu, California. He taught there for eight years. Each year, before the AP test, Louis assigned two to three hours of homework every night. He also held marathon training sessions at his home on Saturdays and Sundays. His teaching methods were praised for their liveliness, and his love for his subject was well known. And the success of his efforts could be statistically documented. While the national average score on the AP exam is 3.01 on a 5-point scale, Louis’s students averaged an impressive 4.5.

Sadly, this talented educator passed away on April 29, 2005, from natural causes. He was 80 years old. You can read more about Louis Leithold in his obituary in the Los Angeles Times at this link: Leithold LA Times.

Give an Inspirational Book to Dad on Father’s Day

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Give an inspirational book to Dad on Father’s Day! If he is an educator. a history buff, or an avid reader, I can recommend two great choices: Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes.

Chalkboard Champions presents stories of 12 gifted and dedicated teachers who worked with some of America’s most disenfranchised and disadvantaged students.  Among the captivating stories included is that of Charlotte Forten Grimke, an African American born into freedom in the North, who during the Civil War volunteered to teach emancipated slaves in a South Carolina school established just behind the battle lines. There’s the gripping eyewitness account of the Wounded Knee Massacre by teacher Elaine Goodale Eastman, the talented New England child poet who founded a school for Sioux Indians on a south Dakota reservation. There’s the story of Leonard Covello, the Italian immigrant turned school teacher who enlisted in the US Army during World War I to fight alongside his students, and educator Mary Tsukamoto, imprisoned in a World War II Japanese internment camp.

Then there’s Mississippi Freedom Summer teacher Sandra Adickes who, together with her students, defied the Jim Crow laws of the South and integrated the Hattiesburg Public Library. And Clara Comstock, who found homes for thousands of Orphan Train riders. And what collection about remarkable teachers would be complete without a discussion of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher of Helen Keller, and the dedication of Jaime Escalante, the East LA educator who proved to a skeptical establishment that inner city Latino youths could successfully meet the demands of a rigorous curriculum.

Chalkboard Heroes shines a spotlight on courageous teachers in American history who were both exemplars of teaching and role models of society. There are the veterans, such as Henry Alvin Cameron, who fought in World War I, and Francis Wayland Parker, a Civil War veteran. There are the social reformers who put themselves at risk to fight for improved conditions and better lives for disenfranchised citizens, such as Dolores Huerta, the champion of migrant farm workers; Robert Parris Moses, the Civil Rights activist; Prudence Crandall, who defied prevailing 19th-century convention to open a school for African American girls; Carrie Chapman Catt, the suffragist; and Zitkala-Sa, who campaigned for the constitutional rights of Native Americans.

Readers also learn about the brave pioneers who took great risks to blaze a trail for others to follow, such as Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space; Willa Brown Chappell, the aviatrix who taught Tuskegee airmen to fly; Etta Schureman Jones, who was interned for four years in a POW camp in Japan during World War II; and Olive Mann Isbell, who established the first English school in California while the Mexican American War raged around her. And then there are the savior teachers like Dave Sanders of Columbine High School, who put their own life at risk to protect the students whose safety was entrusted to their care.

Share these stories with your Dad this Father’s Day. He’ll be pleased.

New York’s William R. Everdell: Talented classroom teacher and successful author

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William R. Everdell

New York’s William R. Everdell: Talented classroom teacher and successful author.

Some of America’s most talented classroom teachers are also highly successful authors. This is true of William R. Everdell, a high school history teacher from Brooklyn who has published several acclaimed books about history and intellectual history.

William Romeyn Everdell was born in 1941.  As a youngster, he attended St. Paul’s, a private Episcopalian school located in Concord, New Hampshire. Following his high school graduation, young William enrolled in prestigious Princeton University in New Jersey. While a student in college, William was named a Woodrow Wilson Scholar and designated a Fulbright Scholar. Later William earned his Master’s degree from Harvard University and his doctorate in Modern Intellectual History from New York University.

This chalkboard champion is also a veteran. During the Viet Nam War, William served in the United States Marines. However, following his discharge in 1968, he became an outspoken critic of the war and even participated in anti-war marches.

In 1970, William accepted a teaching position at St. Anne’s School in Brooklyn, an arts-oriented private school located in the Brooklyn Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. There he taught world history until his retirement in 2016.

For many years William has been a regular contributor to the New York Times Book Review. In addition, he has authored several books and articles on intellectual history and the history of ideas. His books are: Christian Apologetics in France published in 1989; The End of Kings, first published in 1983; and The First Moderns, 1872-1913, first published in 1998.

He has also written about the pedagogy of teaching history, and he has served on the committee to develop tests for the Advanced Placement World History Exams. The former educator has served as the president of the Organization of History Teachers and the East Central American Society for 18-Century Studies. In addition, he is a member of the American Historical Association.

Now 77 years old, William lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Barbara.The couple has two grown sons.