Tag Archives: Secondary Teachers

High school English teacher and author Frederick Houk Law

Posted on by

High school English teacher and widely-published author Frederick Houk Law. Photo credit: Garrison House Ephemera

Many talented classroom teachers have also earned fame in areas other than education. One of these was Frederick Houk Law, a New York teacher who also earned acclaim as an author.

Frederick was born on September 7, 1871, in New York.

Frederick taught courses in English at Stuyvesant High School n New York. Throughout his life, the accomplished educator traveled widely, treking across Europe on bicycle, touring the African continent from Cape Town to Cairo, and exploring the interior of British Guiana.

This intrepid teacher wrote essays, reference works, biographies, textbooks, and other nonfiction books. In all, he published 102 works in 277 publications. The volume most often found in library collections is his Mastery of Speech: A Course In Eight Parts, published in 1918. His How To Write And How To Deliver An Oration published in 1926 is also frequently found in libraries.

Frederick also wrote plays, children’s tales, legends, and short stories for pulp fiction magazines such as Munsey’s. The periodical advertised itself as “a magazine of the people and for the people, with pictures and art and good cheer and human interest throughout.” The teacher’s most famous fiction work was The Heart of Sindhra: A Novel, published in 1898. The novel is set in 19th-century northern India, and relates the story of a revolutionary force that derives its inspiration from wisdom and treasure emanating from a lost world in the mountains.

This talented educator and gifted author passed away in his home state of New York on his birthday, September 7, in 1957.

See this link for a list of books by Frederick Houk Law that are available on amazon.

Two Georgia teachers become internet sensations

Posted on by

Although it has been a few months since two teachers Georgia were featured on an episode of Good Morning America (GMA), I just stumbled across this story on You Tube today. The story of these colleagues, who have since become internet sensations, is so inspirational, I wanted to share it with you today.

The teachers, Audrianna Williams and Callie Evans, work at Monroe Comprehensive High School in Atlanta. Last August, these Chalkboard Champions created a rap video for their students to generate enthusiasm for a new year of online learning. The video was a remake of the song “What’s Poppin’,” originally penned by rap star Jack Harlow.

When Audrianna and Callie were interviewed on Good Morning America, they were surprised by a greeting from the rapper. “I grew up with teachers who had a huge influence on me all my life,” Harlow told the delighted teachers. “What y’all provide to society is invaluable,” he continued. “Thank you for making my song better.”

Here’s the GMA interview, and a snippet of the original rap video. Enjoy.

Minnesota educator Roger Lehne falls to coronavirus

Posted on by

Minnesota’s Roger Lehne, retired educator, becomes a casualty of the coronavirus.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of several beloved educators. One of these is Roger Lehne, a retired teacher and US Navy veteran from Fargo, North Dakota.

Roger was born on March 26, 1927. He was raised in Audubon, Minnesota. In the closing months of World War II, Roger enlisted in the US Navy. He was only 17 years old. While in the service, Roger served as a medic.

When the war was over, the veteran attended what is now Minnesota State University at Moorhead. He also enrolled at the University of North Dakota, where he completed the requirements for his Master’s degree.

In 1954, Roger inaugurated his career as an educator at Waubun, Minnesota.. In 1966 he transferred to Mahnomen High School. Eventually he was named Vice Principal at Mahnomenl. “Everyone could go to him with problems,” remembered his niece, Julie LaVoy. “He was very beloved.” The respected educator retired in 1984.

It was at the Mahnomen where he met Teresa London, a local elementary school teacher. The couple married on May 31, 1958. Roger and Teresa made their home in Mahnomen, until recent years when they moved to Fargo. Teresa, now age 84, survives her husband.

Sadly, this chalkboard champion passed away on his birthday, March 26, 2020, at the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Fargo, a casualty of the coronavirus. He was 93 years old. To read more about him, see this obituary published by the Grand Forks Herald.

Texas educator Ruby Terrill Lomax: One of the founders of Delta Kappa Gamma

Posted on by

Texas educator Ruby Terrill Lomax: One of the founders of the Delta Kappa Gamma International Society.

Throughout history, there have been many superb educators that have served in Texas public schools. Many of these have even become the teachers of teachers. Among these is Ruby Terrill Lomax, a high school Latin teacher from Dallas.

Ruby was born in 1886 and raised in Denton, Denton County, Texas. As a young woman, she earned her high school diploma at North Texas Normal College. In 1905, she completed the requirements for an Associate’s degree at John B. Denton College, and in 1906 she earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas.

Once she earned her Bachelor’s, Ruby accepted a position as a teacher of Latin at Dallas High School. While teaching in Dallas, Ruby spent four of her summers furthering her education at the University of Chicago. The other two summers she spent completing courses in Latin and Greek at Columbia University in New York.

Ruby’s work as an educator at Dallas High was so highly prized that in 1924 she garnered a Latin fellowship to the University of Texas, Austin. In 1918, she was offered a faculty position at East Texas State Teachers College in Commerce. There she taught Latin and served as the Dean of Women.

Ruby completed the coursework for her Master’s degree in 1925. That year, she accepted a position as the Dean of Woman and Associate Professor of Classical Languages at the University of Texas. She held that position until 1937. During her years at the University of Texas, Ruby met and married the well-known folklorist John A. Lomax.

In 1929, Ruby was one of 12 educators who founded the Delta Kappa Gamma International Society (DKG). By long-standing custom, the women were prohibited by from meeting together professionally, yet they believed there was a pressing need for an organization in which women educators could assist each other in their efforts towards becoming better teachers. They extended membership in the organization to rural and urban teachers; preschool, elementary, high school, college, and university teachers; librarians; and school administrators. DKG members worked to better professional preparation, to recognize women’s work in the teaching profession, and to fund scholarships to those who needed support to improve their professional skills.

Ruby served the organization as its Parliamentarian, a National First Vice President, and its Keeper of the Records. She also served on numerous national committees, including Constitution (1929-1930), Membership (1933-1937), Initiation (1933-1934) Letters and Publications (1940-1942), Nominations (1941-1942), Awards (1946-1952), and Teacher Welfare and Morale (1954-1956). She represented the Founders on the National Planning Committee from 1946-1950.

This amazing chalkboard champion passed away on December 28, 1961. She was 75 years old. She is interred at Grove Hill Memorial Park in Dallas.

To read more about Ruby, click on this link at the DKG website: Ruby Terrill Lomax.

High school teacher, explorer, cartographer, and writer  Prentice G. Downes

Posted on by

High school teacher, explorer, cartographer, cultural anthropologist, and writer  Prentice G. Downes.

Many fine educators have distinguished themselves in areas outside the field of education. One such individual was high school teacher Prentice G. Downes, known to his friends by the nickname “Spike.” In addition to his career as an educator, Prentice made a name for himself as an explorer, cartographer, cultural anthropologist, and writer.

Prentice was born 1909 in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of an Episcopal clergyman. After his 1928 graduation from Kent School in Kent, Connecticut, Prentice enrolled at Harvard University. Once he was ready to begin his career as a teacher, he accepted a position at Belmont Hill School, a prestigious New England prep school for boys located in Belmont, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.

Prentice was well-known for hurrying back to class in unkempt condition each fall. Between 1936 and 1947, the native of Concord, Massachusetts, made several summer-long expeditions into the sprawling uncharted wilderness of subarctic Canada. Working on a shoestring budget, Prentice would round up a canoe, gear, food, and a local traveling associate. Then he would set out for the great unknown. He was notorious for cutting trips close to the wire, rushing back to Boston bearded, tanned, and garbed in threadbare bush clothes just in time for the beginning of school.

This intrepid teacher traveled by canoe to explore subarctic areas in the Great Barren Lands and learn about the lifestyles of the Native American tribes. During his travels, Prentice kept extensive journals recording a disappearing people and a landscape unknown to all but the Canadian natives at that time. He recorded not only daily events, but also the stories and traditions of the peoples he encountered, particularly people of the Cree and Dene tribes.

In 1939, Prentice traveled from the Brabant Lake area to the Cochrane River, starting at the town of Brochet on Reindeer Lake. Without the aid of maps, the intrepid teacher relied completely on local legend to find his way to the Thlewiaza River and his final destination, the Hudson Bay outpost on Nueltin Lake. Based on this trip, Prentice wrote the travelogue Sleeping Island: The Story of One Man’s Travels in the Great Barren Lands of the Canadian North. First published in 1943, this classic adventure story received a stellar review from the New York Times for its engaging descriptions of the expedition across a rugged landscape of lakes and rivers in northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and present-day Nunavut. Besides the polished and captivating writing style, Sleeping Island stands out because it documented ways of life that no longer exist.

In his later years, Prentice delivered lectures about his travels for Harvard’s Institute of Geographical Exploration. Additionally, he was commissioned by the US government to map portions of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. He also became a member of the prestigious Royal Geographical society.

This chalkboard champion passed away in 1959 at the young age of 50.