Tag Archives: Social Studies Teachers

Paul Howard recognized as District of Columbia Teacher of the Year, 2018

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Paul Howard

Chalkboard champion Paul Howard, a middle school social studies teacher from Washington, DC, was selected the 2018 District of Columbia Teacher of the Year

Chalkboard champion Paul Howard, a middle school social studies teacher from Washington, DC, was selected the 2018 District of Columbia Teacher of the Year. Paul teaches 7th and 8th grade at LaSalle-Backus Education Campus. His career as an educator has spanned six years.

LaSalle-Backus, part of the Washington DC Public School system, describes itself as a diverse community school united to inspire global thinkers, creators, and world leaders by honoring and developing the whole student.

Paul brings a unique, and pragmatic, perspective to his career as an educator. “It is impossible for a teacher to satisfy all the needs of all their students. No one person can pass on enough wisdom, knowledge, and love to children to prevent all of them from suffering,” Paul asserts. “While most people understand this conceptually at a societal level, teachers experience this first hand. At some point you will fail as a teacher, and that failure will impact a child. Your failures will have names and faces attached to them,” he continues. “A teacher is not the sole reason for a student’s success, nor is a teacher the sole reason for their failure; however, young teachers should know that they will experience both and they both shape you as an educator,” he concludes.

Oregon’s Matthew Bacon-Brenes earns prestigious awards

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Matthew Bacon-Brenes

Portland’s Matthew Bacon-Brenes recognized as Oregon’s 2018 Teacher of the Year.

The 2018 Oregon State Teacher of the Year is Matthew Bacon-Brenes, a middle school social studies teacher from Portland.

Matthew, a California native, spent his childhood in Oregon’s Lake Oswego. After his graduation from Whitman College, he inaugurated his career as an educator teaching English in Japan through an exchange program. After three years there, he returned  to Oregon to teach at Gladstone High School for ten years and then fifteen years Mt. Tabor Middle School. In all, his career as a professional educator has spanned 29 years.

Matthew is credited as instrumental to the success of Portland’s popular Japanese immersion program. He supervises an annual two-week-long trip for eighth-graders that allows students to study Japanese culture and history. The course concludes with a culminating project that is influenced by their findings. He has run the program for 20 years.

In addition to his 2018 honor, Matthew has also been awarded a Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence for 2019 from the National Education Association (NEA)  Foundation and Horace Mann.

The award is one of five given nationally, and comes with a $10,000 prize. The five winners are also finalists for the NEA Member Benefits Award, one of whom will garner a $25,000 prize in February at a gala to be held in Washington, DC.

Educator and UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl

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Alex Caputo Pearl

Alex Caputo-Pearl, President of United Teachers Los Angeles, spokesperson for LA teachers currently on strike for the first time in 30 years.

One hardworking and dedicated educator whose name and picture have been prominent in the news this past week is Alex Caputo-Pearl, President of United Teachers Los Angeles. He’s currently acting as the spokesperson for LA teachers as they stage their first teachers’ strike in 30 years.

The strike follows a complete breakdown in 20 months of negotiations between the teachers union and the school district. There is much at stake, says Alex. “United Teachers Los Angeles’ struggle for a fair contract is just one part of a broader movement for students, families and schools,” asserts Alex in an op-ed piece published in the Los Angeles Times on January 6, 2019. “But at its heart, the standoff between L.A. Unified and United Teachers Los Angeles is a struggle over the future of public education,” he continues. To read the entire editorial, click on this link: Why Los Angeles teachers may have to strike.

A veteran teacher, Alex taught for 22 years in the Compton and Los Angeles school districts. He worked most of those years at Crenshaw High School, before he was elected president of UTLA in 2014. Over the years, Alex has earned many accolades for his work in the classroom. He has been recognized with LA Academic English Mastery Program Award, UCLA Social Justice Award, and UTLA Bilingual Education Committee Awards.

Throughout his career, Alex been heavily involved in community organizing, helping to strengthen the efforts of the Labor/Community Strategy Center and the Bus Riders Union, as well as helping to establish the Coalition for Educational Justice, the Crenshaw Cougar Coalition, and the Extended Learning Cultural Model.

Alex earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at Brown University and his Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA. He has many published articles to his credit, and in addition has been a guest lecturer speaking about labor and community organizing at various Los Angeles area universities. He is an active member of the California Federation of Teachers, the California Teaches Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Education Association.

Teacher John Waldron bids for seat in Oklahoma House of Reps

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John Waldron

Teacher John Waldron bids for a seat in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives.

Today’s political atmosphere has opened up a myriad of opportunities for dedicated, hardworking educators to run for political office. One educator who has decided to take advantage of these opportunities is John Waldron, a Tulsa high school social studies teacher who is bidding for a seat in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives.

John is running on the Democratic ticket to represent District 77. The seat is currently held by Representative Eric Proctor. Proctor, also a Democrat, has reached his term limits and asked the respected educator to run as his replacement.

If elected, John intends to make funding for education one of his priorities. “I hope to be part of a movement that reverses policies of tax cuts for the rich and service cuts for everyone else,” declares John. “I hope to make Oklahoma more fair, more equitable and more mindful of its responsibility to future generations.”

John earned his Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Virginia in 1990 and his Master’s degree in International Relations and Affairs from George Washington University in 1995. His first teaching position was at the School Without Walls in the DC Public School System. He worked there from 1991 to 1999. Since 1999, the candidate has worked at Booker T. Washington High School in the Tulsa Public School District, where he teaches courses in World History, European history, and the History of East Asia and Oceania for the school’s International Baccalaureate program.

“After 20 years of teaching, I still appreciate the chance to help a kid move along his or her path of development,” says John. “Kids need to be taught to believe in their own capacity to shape the world. They need a little discipline, perhaps, but there is nothing more exciting than seeing a child begin to envision how they might change the world,” he says.

To learn more about John Waldron and his campaign for public office, you can visit his website at www.waldron4ok.com.

Educator Janna Lind runs for seat in the Montana House of Reps

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Janna Lind

Educator Janna Lind is running for a seat in the Montana House of Representatives.

This year’s mid-term elections have offered a multitude of opportunities to dedicated and civic-minded educators who hope to make a significant positive impact on their communities. One of these educators is Janna Lind, a high school social studies teacher from Montana. Janna is running for a seat in her state’s House of Representatives.

Janna is running on the Democratic ticket to represent District 56. She faces off against Republican candidate Sue Vinton. If elected, Janna intends to work towards increased school safety, improving the economy, strengthening Montana’s infrastructure, and providing better health care for the state’s citizens. “I am running to be a voice for those who are underrepresented in Montana: the youth and young mothers, and the disenfranchised,” declares Janna.

Janna graduated from high school in Hysham, Treasure County, Montana. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from Rocky Mountain College located in billings, Montana. She earned her Master’s degree in School Counseling from the University of the Southwest located in Hobbs, New Mexico.

For the past seven years, Janna has taught government and social studies at Hardin High School in Hardin, Montana. In addition, she currently serves as a Lockwood School Board Trustee in Yellowstone County, Montana. She has also worked at the Boys and Girls Club in Lockwood.