Tag Archives: Social Studies Teachers

Elem teacher Trinity Whittington named 2023 Florida Teacher of the Year finalist

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Elementary school teacher Trinity Whittington has been n Amed one of five finalists for the title of 2023 Floria Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Florida Department of Education

It is always my pleasure to share the story of an exceptional educator who has earned accolades for their work in the classroom. One of these is Trinity Whittington, an elementary school teacher from Gilchrist County, Florida. She has been named one of five finalists for the title of 2023 Florida Teacher of the Year.

Trinity teaches English Language Arts and Social Studies to fourth graders at Bell Elementary School in the Gilchrist County School District. She has worked in this position for the past five years.

Trinity has obviously earned the respect of her colleagues. “Mrs. Whittington’s classroom is a place of magic, where children are hooked from the moment they enter until the moment they leave,” declares Bell Elementary Principal Suzanne Matte. “The relationships she develops with students, parents, and colleagues are true and binding.”

This exceptional educator focuses on creating engaging lessons that affect her students in positive ways. One of the ways she emphasizes community service is by leading school-wide efforts to provide blankets to the local nursing home. She has also established a library swap program to promote literacy.

It was her mother’s influence that caused her to pursue a career in education, says Trinity. “She has been a teacher for my entire life. I have seen firsthand the impact that she has been able to make on the children that she has been blessed to teach,” Trinity explains. “Mama has a true passion for teaching and working to better the lives of our children. I wanted to make that same impact on the students in our community,” she continued.

Trinity earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 2017 from Saint Leo University, a private university located in St. Leo, Florida. She graduated summa cum laude.

Five finalists were chosen for 2023 Teacher of the Year from nearly 185,000 public school teachers nominated throughout the state. The finalists were selected on the basis of outstanding ability to teach and communicate knowledge of the subject taught, professional development, philosophy of teaching, and outstanding school and community service.

Celebrating the birthday of first teacher in space Christa McAuliffe

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New Hampshire Social Studies teacher Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space, was lost when the space shuttle Challenger exploded seconds after lift-off on Jan. 28, 1986. Photo credit: NASA.

Today we celebrate the birthdate of Chalkboard Champion Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher to go into space. I remember well the day she climbed aboard the space shuttle Challenger, with excitement and a huge smile, when it was launched on Jan. 28, 1986. In only my fifth year of teaching, I was so proud that a fellow educator had been selected to represent the teaching profession as the first civilian in space. I was more than a little star-struck by the professionalism, intelligence, and infectious enthusiasm of the chosen candidate, who was selected from among 11,000 other highly-qualified applicants.

Christa was born on Sept. 2, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education and History from Framingham State College in 1970, and her Master’s degree from Bowie State University in 1978. At the time of her space flight, she was working as a Social Studies teacher at Concord High School in Concord, New Hampshire.

During her mission in space, Christa planned to write a journal of her experiences as an astronaut from the perspective that even an ordinary citizen can take center stage in the making of history. She was to have been the perfect example of that. In addition, the intrepid educator was scheduled to perform lessons and simple scientific experiments aboard the space shuttle which would be viewed by students in classrooms all over America.

Tragically, Christa was one of seven astronauts killed when the Challenger exploded on that fateful day, just 73 seconds after lift-off. The journal she never got to finish was replaced by A Journal for Christa: Christa McAuliffe, Teacher in Space, written by her grief-stricken mother, Grace George Corrigan. This book is a tender tribute to an extraordinary teacher. A Journal for Christa can be ordered from amazon. I have also included a chapter about Christa McAuliffe in my second book, Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve Courageous Teachers and their Deeds of Valor, also available on amazon.

Illinois social studies teacher Samantha Stearns earns honors

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Illinois social studies teacher Samantha Stearns named a finalist for the Illinois State Teacher of the Year Award.  Photo credit: Wednesday Journal

I always enjoy sharing stories about excellent educators who have earned accolades for their work in the classroom. Today, the spotlight falls on Samantha Stearns, a social studies teacher from Illinois. She is the recipient of the 2023 Cook County Co-Regional Teacher of the Year and one of 13 finalists for the Illinois State Teacher of the Year Award.

Currently, Samantha teaches social studies and serves as the Department Chair at Roosevelt Middle School in River Forest, Illinois. Samantha also advises her school’s Mock Trial team and the History by Hollywood Club, a group where students are encouraged to consider how film can have an impact on historical narratives. She has worked at Roosevelt for 11 years. Previously, she taught for two years in Plainfield, Illinois.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Samantha is a member of the Illinois State Board of Education and University of Illinois’s I3, Inclusive, Inquiry-Based Social Studies program. The types of projects her eighth-graders work on reflect the goals of this program. “My students really enjoyed our election unit,” Samantha reveals. “We focused on building background knowledge on voter suppression and how limited access to the ballot has been a challenge in the US historically,” she explains. “To then see how people like Stacey Abrams worked to increase voter turnout in Georgia was the perfect culmination of our study and really let students connect the past to the present,” she says. “I think it let students see that past historical injustices still impact Americans today, but also how we can work to correct our course,” she concludes.

Samantha’s selection as a Regional Teacher of the Year is not the only recognition the stellar teacher has earned. In 2022, she represented Illinois in the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History National History Teacher of the Year program. In addition, she has been a guest writer for the American Historical Association’s Perspectives on History. In this capacity, she serves as an advocate for improved social studies education and increased collaboration between K-16 social studies educators.

Samantha earned her Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and History in 2010 from University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. She earned her Master’s degree in History in 2019 from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana.

To learn more about Samantha Stearns, click on this link to an article published by Wednesday Journal.

Florida teacherJennifer Jaso encourages innovative projects

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Florida Social Studies teacher Jennifer Jaso encourages her students to create innovative projects to demonstrate their knowledge of democratic processes. Photo credit: Florida Department of Education

There are many fine educators working in public schools in the Sunshine State of Florida. One of these is Jennifer Jaso, a middle school social studies teacher. She encourages her students to create innovative projects to demonstrate their knowledge of democratic processes.

Jennifer teaches social studies to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at Sarasota Middle School in Sarasota, Florida. This Chalkboard Champion is highly-regarded for her ability to build relationships with students and working with them to develop critical thinking skills amid content knowledge.

“I want my students to know their role as citizens,” declares Jennifer. “I’m here to help them become contributing members of society and prepared for whatever they face when they leave my classroom,” she continues. “If we want our country to resemble the democracy that our forefathers spent many hours, days and years creating as they worked toward a more perfect union of states, we have got to keep our people informed and participating,” she concludes.

To this end, Jennifer encourages her students to use a variety of ways to demonstrate their knowledge of democratic processes. They can create a website, write a paper with footnotes, design a documentary-style movie, sing or act in a performance, or create a museum-style exhibit with 3D models and lights.

In a career that has spanned a total of 18 years, her teaching experience includes teaching assignments that involve students in Montessori, Gifted and Talented, Title I, and virtual learning environments. She also serves as her school’s Social Studies Department Chair and was a professional learning community leader.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Jennifer is an educational trainer and consultant specializing in classroom management. She is the District Co-ordinator for her District’s National History Day, and she is a co-founder and Executive Board Member of the Florida Council for History Education, a nonprofit dedicated to the advocacy of history in education.  She has also presented many times at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference and at the Florida Council for the Social Studies Conference.

For her work as an educator, Jennifer has earned many accolades. She was named the 2022 Sarasota County Middle School Teacher of the Year, the 2022 District Teacher of the Year for Sarasota County Schools, and a 2023 Florida Teacher of the Year Top Five Finalist.

Jennifer earned her Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies from Florida State University in 2003. She earned her Mater’s degree in Secondary Social Studies Education from the University of South Florida in 2006. She completed the requirements for her PhD in Teaching and Learning with a concentration in American History from Argosy University in 2014.

To read more about this amazing educator, see this article about her published by the Herald-Tribune.

Social Studies teacher Al Young was also a celebrated race car driver

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Asian American Social Studies teacher Al Young , who taught in public schools in Washington state, was also a celebrated race car driver. —Photo credit: Atlas Obscurer

Many Chalkboard Champions have earned recognition in fields other than education, and Al Young is a great example of this. Al taught high school in Seattle, Washington, for 37 years, but he is also famous as a former world champion drag racer.

Alfred John Young, a Chinese American, was born in 1946 in Whittier, California. His father was a colonel in the US Army Reserve, and later a businessman His mother was an artist and art collector. Al and his two siblings were raised in San Francisco, where Al graduated from George Washington High School. After his high school graduation, he enrolled at the University of Washington where he majored in English literature. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1968 and his Master’s degree in 1972.

After his college graduation, Al served for many years as a teacher, tutor, counselor, and advocate for the Upward Bound program. He also founded one of Seattle’s first alternative schools, the Summit K-12 School, in 1972. In the 37 years that this gifted teacher worked in Seattle public schools, Al instructed vocational courses such auto shop and physical education, electives such as film study and Chinese cooking, and rigorous academic courses such as history, AP American Government, and AP Comparative Government and Politics. He also served as the adviser to school teams that participated in the Chrysler Trouble Shooting contests, YMCA Mock trial competitions, Junior State of America conventions, and he has led high school groups to the South Pacific and Washington, DC, for close-up learning. As if all this were not enough, this remarkable educator also coached volleyball, softball, and basketball.

In the world of drag racing, Al competed in Pro Bracket racing. He has won the American Hot Rod Association World Championship, and between the years of 1976 and 1996, he twice won major drag racing events, and three times was declared the winner of Bremerton Raceway’s Day Fire Nationals. In 1988, Al was inducted into the Firebird Raceway Bracketeer All-Stars in Boise, Idaho. Al has also been involved with the preparation of classic high performance race cars. For his accomplishments as a race car driver, he was inducted into the Bardahl Corporation Hall of Fame in 2015. In 2019, he was inducted into the National Hot Rod Association Hall of Fame, Northwest Division.

For his work in the classroom, Al has earned many accolades. He has been honored as one of Seattle Public Schools’ “Heroes in the Classroom” by such entities as Vulcan, Inc., Russell Investments, and the Seattle Seahawks organization. In 2008, this accomplished Chalkboard Champion retired from the teaching profession. His wife, Vicki Johnson Young, is also a retired school teacher, having taught in the Seattle public school system for 28 years. As retirees, Al and Vicki drove throughout the United States and Canada in their 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner Muscle car. Al has also practiced martial arts and actively served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle and worked for the Chinese Historical Society of America.

Al passed away in Shoreline, Washington, on Dec. 11, 2022, at the age of 76.