Tag Archives: Teacher Authors

Retired Ohio English teacher Sharon Mills Draper is an award-winning author

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Retired high school English teacher Sharon Mills Draper has won a plethora of awards as an author of books for children and adolescents. Photo credit: Creative Commons

I always enjoy sharing stories about exceptional educators who have earned recognition as an author. One of these is Sharon Mills Draper, a former high school English teacher who has won a plethora of awards as an author of books for children and adolescents.

Sharon was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on Aug. 21, 1948, the oldest of the three children of Victor and Catherine Mills. Her father was a hotel maitre d’ and her mother worked in the advertising department of a local newspaper. As a child, Sharon loved to play the piano and to read. By the time she was 11 years old, she had read every children’s book in her local library. The librarian then gave her a special library card that she could use to check out books from the adult section.

When she grew up, Sharon earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Pepperdine University and her Master’s degree from Miami University of Ohio. Once she completed her education, she inaugurated her teaching career in pubic schools in Cincinnati. As a teacher, Sharon earned fame among her students for a challenging research paper she assigned to her seniors. They dubbed the assignment the “Draper Paper.”

Sharon’s career as an author began in 1990 when she was challenged by one of her ninth grade students to “write something.” She submitted a short story entitled “One Small Torch” to a writing contest sponsored by Ebony Magazine. The magazine published her story and gave her a cash prize of $1,000. She even earned praise from Roots author Alex Haley! In 2000, after a career as an educator that spanned 25 years, Sharon retired to spend more time on her writing.

For her work as an educator and as an author, Sharon has earned many accolades. She was named the National Teacher of the Year in 1997. The same year, the Ohio Department of Education honored her as an Ohio Pioneer in Education, and she garnered a National Educator Award from the Milken Foundation. She also won the Career Woman of Achievement, the Dean’s Award from Howard University School of Education, the Pepperdine University Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Marva Collins Education Excellence Award, and the Governor’s Educational Leadership Award. In addition, Sharon earned the Coretta Scott King Award for books about youngsters and adolescents. But she is best known for her Hazelwood and Jericho series.

To learn more about the work of Sharon Mills Draper, see her bio info at Simon & Schuster.

During Women’s History Month, we recognize Alaska pioneer teacher Carrie McLain

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Alaska teacher Carrie McLain was a pioneer in the classroom at the turn of the century. Photo credit: Pubic Domain

During Women’s History Month, we pay homage to America’s pioneers in the classroom, including the many teachers who worked Alaska’s wilderness territories. One of them was Carrie McLain, who taught in Nome, Alaska, at the beginning of the 19th century.

Carrie was born on January 26, 1895, in Astoria, Long Island, New York. When she was just a child of ten, her father moved Carrie and her four siblings to the fledgling village of Nome on the ice-crusted coast of northwestern Alaska. There she grew to adulthood and became a young teacher at a pioneer school on the Seward Penninsula. During those years, she also married and reared a family of one son and three daughters. She lived and taught through a rugged existence on the frigid Alaskan frontier, and she even taught through the Klondike Gold Rush.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on May 30, 1973, at Palmer Pioneers Home, and was buried in Nome. The city of Nome dedicated a community museum in her honor. The Carrie McLain Museum highlights the history of Nome and Western Alaska. Many of the institution’s more than 15,000 artifacts are relates to gold-rush days, including racks of mining equipment, historical documents, and photo albums.

Carrie tells the fascinating story of her provincial life in Alaska in Pioneer Teacher: Turn of the Century Classroom in Remote Northwestern Alaska. Anyone interested in learning more about her experiences should read the slender volume—it’s only 70 pages, including photographs. The book, published in 1970, can be found on amazon at this link: Pioneer Teacher. She also wrote Gold Rush Nome, which is only 46 pages in length, published in 1969, can also be found on amazon.  In addition to Carrie’s text, the volume contains 23 pages of black and white photographs.

 

Ohio’s Helen Maria Chesnutt: Latin teacher, author, and notable African American

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Helen Maria Chesnutt was an African American teacher of Latin. She was also the author of a praiseworthy Latin textbook. Photo credit: Public Domain

Many excellent educators have taught in our nation’s public schools. One of these is Helen Maria Chesnutt, a secondary teacher in Washington, DC, and notable African American.

Helen was born on Dec. 6, 1880, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. When she was still a child, her family relocated to Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from Central High School there in 1897.

As a young woman, Helen and her sister Ethel enrolled at Smith College, a private women’s liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. The sisters were the first to integrate that college. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in 1902. In 1925 she completed the requirements for her Master’s degree in Latin from Columbia University in New York City.

Once she earned her degree, Helen inaugurated her career as an educator at her alma mater, Central High School in Cleveland, in 1905. She first taught biology and Algebra, and later taught Latin for many years there. In fact, one of her students was celebrated poet Langston Hughes. Her career at Central High continued until 1943.

In addition to her duties in the classroom, Helen co-authored a beginner’s Latin textbook entitled The Road to Latin. The volume was originally published in 1932 to positive reviews, and was republished in 1938, 1945, and 1949.. The book emphasized oral presentation of Latin, intensive rather than extensive reading, and a paraphrase method.

After her retirement, Helen authored a biography of her father titled Charles Waddell Chesnutt: Pioneer of the Color Line in 1952. She was also an active member of the American Philological Association for many years. She was elected to their Executive Committee in 1920.

Sadly, Helen passed away on Aug. 7, 1969. She was 88 years old. In 2018, she was featured in an exhibition at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC. The exhibit celebrated the role of African Americans in classics.

Herbert Parmat of NYC was also a successful author of presidential biographies

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High school social studies teacher and college professor Herbert Parmat earned acclaim as the author of many well-received biographies of American presidents. Photo Credit: The Portal to Texas History

Many talented educators have earned acclaim as accomplished authors. One of these is Herbert Parmat, a high school social studies teacher and historian who wrote many well-received biographies of American presidents. In fact, he has been described as a major historian of the American presidency and politics.

Herbert was born on Aug. 28, 1929, in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. As a youngster, he attended DeWitt Clinton High School in New York, graduating in 1948. He earned his Bachelor’s degree at State University of New York, Oswego, in 1951, and his Master’s degree from Queens College in 1957. During these years, Herbert also completed a stint in the US Army, where he served from 1952 to 1954, achieving the rank of Corporal.

In the 1960s, Herbert taught social studies at North Babylon High School in Long Island, and then at Mineola High School in Mineola in Long Island. At Mineola, he served as the school’s Social Studies Department. He also taught history courses at the Graduate Center of City University of New York and at Queensborough Community College. By all accounts, Herbert was an outstanding classroom teacher, dynamic and charismatic. When he retired in 1995, the former high school teacher was named a Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

While teaching at Mineola, Herbert decided to tackle a writing project with colleague Marie B. Hecht. The pair authored their first biography, Aaron Burr: Portrait of an Ambitious·Man (1967). Together, they also wrote Never Again: A President Runsfor a Third Term: Roosevelt versus Wi/lkie, 1940 (1968). This was followed by a pioneering biography, Eisenhower and the American Crusades (1972). Next, Herbert wrote The Democrats: The Years After FDR (1976). In a return to the biography genre, he authored Jack: The Struggles of John F. Kennedy (1980) and JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (1983). Next, he penned the biographies Richard Nixon and His America (1990) and George Bush: The Life of a Lone Star Yankee (1997). His later works were Presidential Power from the New Deal to the New Right (2002) and a return to an earlier biographical subject in Richard M. Nixon: An American Enigma (2008).

This outstanding educator passed away on Jan. 25, 2017, in Newton, Massachusetts. He was 87 years old. To read more about Herbert Parmat, click on this link to History News Network.

CA teacher Alex Friedrichs publishes award-winning children’s book

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Elementary school teacher Alex Friedrichs of California has written a children’s book that has garnered a Parents’ Pick Award. Photo credit: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Many outstanding classroom teachers achieve success as authors. One of these is Alex Friedrichs, an elementary school teacher from Menifee, California. He has written and published a children’s book that has garnered a Parents’ Pick Award!

Alex’s book, entitled Sweet Rescue, is a story about a caterpillar named Hungry Joe. When the caterpillar falls into a pie, his sister, Becky Butterfly, spearheads a major rescue effort. Once he is safe, Hungry Joe declares that he’s still hungry. The tale was was inspired by Alex’s experience competing with his former students on the game show Play-Doh Squished. A former instructional aide at the school, Kayne Carter, illustrated the volume. Sweet Rescue, recommended for children between the ages of 3 and 6, can be purchased on amazon.com.

Sweet Rescue earned the Parents’ Pick Award for 2025 because of its high entertainment value and its universal themes about teamwork and sibling love. The Parents’ Picks Award is the leading national program recognizing products approved by parents.

Alex teaches third graders at Callie Kirkpatrick Elementary School. He has worked as an educator for the past 31 years. He is unusual among elementary school teachers: he is a man. In fact, in 2025, CareerExplorer reported that only 13% of elementary school teachers nationwide are male. Alex also uses unconventional instructional strategies. “My classroom is very unique,” he asserts. “It is extremely competitive, and we have competitive games going on throughout the day to keep the kids’ interest and attention,” he continues. “I tell parents every year that I have to compete with You Tube and Tic Tok, so my classroom is extremely interactive.”

Alex, now age 55, was raised in Riverside, California, where he attended schools in the Alford Unified School District. He earned his degrees from California Baptist University, a private school which he attended on a baseball scholarship.