Tag Archives: Teacher Authors

Texas Theater Arts teacher Brad DeBorde named a 2020 Top Teacher

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Middle school and high school Theater Arts teacher Brad DeBorde of Texas has been named a 2020 Top Teacher by Fort Worth Magazine. Photo credit: Brad DeBorde

I enjoy sharing stories about exceptional educators who have earned awards for their work in the classroom. One of these is Brad DeBorde, a Theater Arts teacher from Grand Prairie, Texas. He has been named a 2020 Top Teacher by Fort Worth Magazine.

Brad comes from a family of teachers. His father taught physical education to special needs students, and his mother served as an Athletic Director of DeSoto Independent School District. The honored educator earned his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of North Texas in 2006. Currently, he teaches middle and high school Drama at the Oakridge School in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District. In his spare time, he has directed productions at Ellis County Children’s Theater in Waxahatchie, Texas.

Brad says he sees a lot of parallels between himself and his students. They’re all growing together. “Those first five years as a teacher, you’re a young punk and think you know everything,” Brad confessed. “And then you settle in and realize ‘Oh, teaching is also a lifelong learning position.’ So, like your students, you grow and you mature,” he continued.

In addition to theater, Brad is also a writer of five fantasy novels for young adults in a series he dubbed Paydunor. Check out his publications on amazon.com. He also teaches a seminar course on independent publishing. “My students spend half the semester writing a novel or novella, and I teach them how to self-publish or find literary agents,” he described. “We’ve actually had about 12 students published now. It’s kinda cool that a kid can enter a college interview and say, ‘Hey, here’s my novel,'” he concluded.

 

Talented teacher and celebrated poet Rosemary Thomas

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There are many talented educators who have also earned acclaim as authors. One of these was Rosemary Thomas, a creative writing instructor who also authored and published excellent poetry.

Rosemary was born on February 16, 1901. As a young woman, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Smith College in 1923. She earned her Master’s degree from Columbia University in 1950.

Rosemary taught creative writing at a number of prestigious schools, including Spence School and Brearley School in New York. She also taught at the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania, and Oxford Schooling Hartford, Connecticut.

The talented educator was also a successful poet. Her poems were published in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and in other distinguished magazines. In 1951, Rosemary garnered the Twayne First Book Contest for her inaugural book of poems, Immediate Sun. The book featured a foreword written by celebrated poet Archibald MacLeish, who described her poems as having “a common quality, a characteristic idiom, and inflection the reader would recognize again as a man recognizes the inflection of a decisive voice.” The volume included a poem about her brother-in-law, Canadian tennis star J. F. Foulkes, entitled The Colonel. A second collection of Rosemary’s poems entitled Selected Poems of Rosemary Thomas was published posthumously in 1968.

Rosemary passed away on April 7, 1961, in New York City. In her honor, the English Language and Literature Department at her alma mater, Smith College, awards the Rosemary Thomas Poetry Prize each year to the best poem or group of poems.

Alabama’s Catharine Brown: Cherokee teacher and author

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Alabama’s Catharine Brown, a Cherokee who, during the early 19th century, worked as a missionary teacher, also became a celebrated author. Her memoirs were widely distributed and immensely popular.

There are many examples of Native Americans who became teachers and leaders in their community. Some have also become celebrated authors. One of these was Catharine Brown, a Cherokee who, during the early 19th century, worked as a missionary teacher and writer.

Catherine was born at the turn of the century, circa 1800, in a small village in Cherokee Indian Territory, Alabama, approximately 25 miles southeast of the Tennessee River. Her parents, Yau-nu-gung-yah-ski (“Drowned by a Bear”), known by Westerners as John Brown, and Tsa-luh, known as Sarah, held a place of prominence in their tribe.

As a young girl of about 17, Catharine attended the Brainerd Missionary School. Her progress there was impressive. In only three months, she learned to read the Bible in the English language. Then she became a tutor to younger students in the school. May 1820, Catharine accepted a position as a teacher at a school for Native Americans established at Creek Path, her home town. The school opened with 20 students, but enrollment continued to grow, as both children and their parents were eager to learn.

In 1821, Catharine left the school to nurse her brother John, who had contracted tuberculosis. Unfortunately, he did not survive. Soon after he died, Catharine began to show symptoms of the deadly disease. By 1823, her condition was so serious that she was transported by canoe to the home of a missionary doctor. But, sadly, she died on July 18, 1823. She was not older than 23.

One year after her passing, Catherine’s biography was published. The volume, entitled Memoir of Catharine Brown, A Christian Indian of the Cherokee Nation, was widely distributed and became immensely popular. Largely forgotten in the following centuries, Catharine Brown has recently been rediscovered as an influential Native American leader and writer. You can find her memoir on amazon.

Illinois’ Ola “Madge” Miller Green: Teacher, author, and politician

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Ola “Madge” Miller Green: Educator, author, and political. Photo credit: Findagrave.com

Many dedicated educators also make excellent authors and fine politicians. One of these was Ola “Madge” Miller Green, an Illinois school teacher who published an important school textbook and who also served her community in the Illinois Senate.

Ola was born on April 19, 1900, in Palestine, Crawford County, Illinois. As a youngster, she attended public schools in her home town. Once she graduated from high school, she earned her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Education from Indiana State University in Terra Haute.

Once she completed her education, Ola accepted a position as a school teacher in a public school in Palestine. Later she taught in Richmond, Indiana. While working as a teacher, Ola authored the book Through the Years in Indiana, published in 1954. The volume was widely used as a textbook in Indiana schools.

When Ola’s husband, Herschel S. Green, an Illinois State Senator, passed away in office in 1962, the veteran school teacher was appointed to serve the remainder of his term. Later she was elected on her own merit on the Republican ticket to a full term in the Senate. She served until 1965. Once she left office, Ola served as the postmistress for the Illinois Senate.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away December 11, 1989, in Springfield, Illinois. She was 89 years old. Her remains are interred at Hutsonville Cemetery in Hutsonville, Illinois. To read more about Ola “Madge” Miller Green, see her obituary published by Findagrave.

English teacher and successful novelist Sara Hawks Sterling

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English teacher and successful novelist Sara Hawks Sterling of Pennsylvania wrote popular works about well-known figures of European history and legend. Photo credit: Public Domain.

Many a talented classroom educator has also achieved acclaim as an author. One of these is Sara Hawks Sterling, a high school English teacher from Pennsylvania who became a successful novelist. Her published works include popular fiction tales about well-known figures of European history and legend.

Sara was born in Philadelphia. As a young woman, she attended schools in her home town, including the Girls’ High and Normal School and the M. M. Jones’ School. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania in 1918.

Once she earned her degree, Sara inaugurated her career as a teacher of English at the Philadelphia High School for Girls, where she worked from 1906 to 1912. She left that position to teach at the West Philadelphia High School for Girls. During her years as a professional educator, she became a member of the Women Teachers’ Organization.

While teaching, Sara published many novels about historical and legendary figures, including King Arthur, Robin Hood, and Anne Hathaway. Her novel entitled Shakespeare’s Sweetheart, published in 1905, was an early effort to portray William Shakespeare’s life and romances from the woman’s perspective. In 1900, Sara published Hamlet’s Brides: A Shakespearean Burlesque in One Act. In 1907, she wrote A lady of King Arthur’s Court: Being a Romance of the Holy Grail. In 1921, she published Robin Hood and His Merry Men.

In addition to her classroom responsibilities and her writing, Sara was a member of the Browning Society of Philadelphia, the Dickens Fellowship, the Shakespeare Company, and the Women’s Press Association.

You can read the most popular novels by Sara Hawks Sterling online for free at the following link to the Online Books Page.