Tag Archives: Secondary Teachers

Chicago’s Ricky Castro named Illinois Teacher of the Year 2017

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Ricky Castro

Chicago’s Ricky Castro named Illinois Teacher of the Year 2017

It is always inspirational when a member of the teaching profession is recognized for their dedication and hard work. One such dedicated educator is Chicago’s Ricky Castro, a high school World Languages teacher who was named the 2017 Illinois Teacher of the Year.

Ricky was raised in Humboldt Park, a Puerto Rican community on Chicago’s west side. As a youth, he got involved with gangs, ditched school, and struggled in his classes. He credits a caring junior high school teacher for helping him turn his life around. As a young man, Ricky earned his Bachelor’s degree in English from DePaul University and his Master’s degree in Education from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Because mentoring was such a positive experience in his own life, Ricky wanted to create similar experiences for students who were struggling with making unwise life choices. Shortly after going to work at Elk Grove, Ricky established Estudiantes Unidos, an after-school mentoring program. The program is staffed by 40 high school student mentors who are paired with Grove Junior High School students that are in need of positive influences. The students meet every two weeks to discuss principles of character and leadership, participate in team-building activities, and work on community service projects. The hope is that these mentors will encourage their younger peers to make wiser decisions with their lives.

Ricky also helps lead Elk Grove High School’s Latino parent outreach organization, Familias Unidas. This organization helps parents become part of the school setting. As part of the outreach, Ricky inaugurated Saturday outreach events out in the community where Spanish-speaking teachers host parent-teacher conferences.

“What makes Ricky remarkable is his constant dedication to long-term solutions,” asserts Elk Grove High School Principal Paul. “He’s not a teacher who only thinks what a class day should be like. He thinks about what a whole society should look like.”

Under his teaching, 80% of Elk Grove’s ninth grade Latino English Language Learners qualified to move into “mainstream” courses in just one year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education website. For his outstanding work with his students and their parents, Ricky was named the Illinois Teacher of the Year in 2017. This award is sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education.

To read more about this amazing chalkboard champion, read this article published in the Daily Herald.

Dr. Gertrude M. Clarke: Classroom teacher and brilliant scientist

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Dr. Gertrude M. Clarke

Dr. Gertrude M. Clarke

Students throughout America are incredibly lucky to be taught by some of the most brilliant educators that our country has to offer. One of these is Gertrude M. Clarke, a high school science teacher who has earned recognition in the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame.

In 1954, Gertrude earned her Bachelor’s degree from Douglass College in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She also completed courses in radiology at Rutgers University; electronics courses at the RCA Institute; chemistry and physics at Seton Hall University; and courses in atomic, nuclear, and solid waste physics at the Yale University Graduate School. By 1987 the talented educator had earned her Ph.D. from Rutgers University.

In the high school classroom, Gertrude taught courses in basic science, physics, chemistry, and environmental science at Chatham High School. Chatham is a public institution located in Chatham, Morris County, New Jersey. While teaching there, she also designed an Advanced Placement course in nucleonics, a class that focused on aspects of nuclear physics.

For her excellent work in the classroom, Princeton University recognized her with Distinguished Secondary School Teaching in the State of New Jersey in 1978. In 1981, she garnered the Citation for Distinguished Service to Science Education Award from The National Science Teachers Association. In 1985, she was named a finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching.

Gertrude keenly wanted K-12 students in New Jersey to be excited about science, and to recognize the relevance of science, mathematics, computer science, and technology in their lives. To achieve this goal, she founded the New Jersey Business, Industry, and Science Education Consortium. She served as the consortium’s executive director from 1981 to 1999. In addition, she served for 16 years on the Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame (NJIHF). Now retired, Gertrude herself became an inductee into the NJIHF in 2011.

To read more about the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame, click on this link: NJinvent.org.

 

Alan Lawrence Sitomer: Nationally recognized educator, public speaker, and novelist

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Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Alan Lawrence Sitomer

You know, sometimes teachers make the best authors. One educator who proves this is true is high school English teacher Alan Lawrence Sitomer. Alan has earned a reputation nationally for his success in engaging reluctant readers and his aptitude as an engaging motivational speaker. He is also the celebrated author of children’s books, young adult fiction, and books about teaching pedagogy.

Born in 1967, Alan earned his Bachelor’s degree from University of Southern California, his teaching certificate through San Diego State University, and his Master’s degree from National University. He has taught English, creative writing, speech, debate, and AVID at Lynwood High School, an inner city school located in Lynwood, Los Angeles County, California. He has also worked as a professor in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Alan’s published novels for kids include The Hoopster, Hip Hop High School, and Homeboyz. He has also authored Hip-Hop Poetry & the Classics, a text that is currently being used in classrooms throughout the United States to teach classic poetry through hip-hop. The approach is intended to engaged reluctant students in both poetry and academics. Other titles published by Alan are a teacher’s methodology book entitled Teaching Teens & Reaping Results: In a Wi-Fi, Hip-Hop, Where-Has-All-The-Sanityh-Gone World and The Alan Sitomer BookJam.

Recently, Alan has been working on a series of “BookJams.” These projects are designed to raise test scores by promoting his standards-based activities and lesson plans, hands-on learning projects, useful grading rubrics, differentiated assessments, and award-winning literature. See more about this at The Alan Sitomer BookJam.

This amazing teacher was named California Teacher of the Year by the California Board of Education in 2007. You can find his books on amazon.com and his website at www.alanlawrencesitomer.com.

Gregory S. Clark: Social Studies teacher and member of Vermont House of Representatives

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Gregory S. Clark

Social Studies teacher and member of the Vermont House of Representatives Gregory S. Clark

Often classroom teachers make the most tenacious advocates for students and teachers once they get elected to political office. This is certainly the case with Gregory S. Clark, a high school social studies teacher who was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives.

Greg Clark was born on July 19, 1947, in the small town of Vergennes, Addison County, Vermont. He lived in Vergennes his entire life. Gregory attended Johnson State College, a small public liberal arts college located in Johnson, Vermont. The institution was founded in 1828. Greg earned his Bachelor’s degree there in 1970.

After his college graduation, Greg taught social studies at Mount Abraham Union High School in Bristol, Vermont. He taught there since 1994, nearly 20 years. “I know that he was very highly esteemed by his students,” fellow Vermont Representative Duncan Kilmarten once said.

At the beginning of his political career, Greg served as a deputy mayor and a city councilman in his home town. He was also a member of the Dorchester Masonic Lodge and the Addison County Eagles Club. In 2002, Greg was elected on the Republican ticket to the Vermont State House of Representatives. During his five terms in office, he was a member of the Committee on Education. “He was deeply invested in Vermont’s children and their education, and he worked hard to enhance Vermont’s education system,” remembered House Minority Leader Don Turner.

On November 30, 2012, Greg was clearing ice and snow from his windshield while pulled over on the shoulder of Route 7 while he was on his way to school. Sadly, he was hit by a car and killed. He was 65 years old.

You can read the obituary published about this amazing chalkboard champion at Obituary Gregory S. Clark or the article at Colleagues Remember Representative Greg Clark.

Tony Zuzzio: Teacher, coach, NFL player, and veteran

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Tony Zuzzio

Tony Zuzzio

Many fine athletes devote their considerable talent as educators and coaches after they have concluded their professional careers. This is certainly true of Tony Zuzzio, a long-time teacher and coach who once played professional football for the Detroit Lions.

Anthony Joseph Zuzzio was born on August 5, 1916, in Irvington, Essex County, New Jersey. He grew up in nearby Belleville, where he attended Belleville High School. As a teenager, Tony excelled at multiple sports. For his achievements as an athlete, Tony was inducted into his high school Hall of Fame in 1977.

Following his high school graduation, Tony enrolled in Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he played the position of tackle on the football team. While there he was named an All-American. Following his college experience, Tony played professional football in the National Football League (NFL). The 5’11”, 215-pound youth played as both a guard and a tackle for the Detroit Lions during the 1942 season.

Tony was a true American hero. During World War II, the former football star served his country in the armed services, where he earned an American Theater Ribbon, a Good Conduct Medal, and a World War II Victory Medal. He was honorably discharged in 1946.

After his military service, Tony coached baseball in Coffeyville in Montgomery County, Kansas. There the consummate coach took his team to a national title. For the span of 34 years, Tony channeled his energy as a teacher and coach at nearby Edna High School in Kansas, then at Chetopa High School in Labette County, next at Elk City, Kansas, and finally at Humbolt High School in Humbolt, Kansas. In addition, from 1964 to 1966, Tony moonlighted as a professional scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On April 7, 2002, this chalkboard champion and American veteran passed away in Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas. He was 85 years old. He is interred at Mount Olive Roman Catholic Cemetery in Parsons, Kansas.