Tag Archives: Teacher Authors

Retired music teacher Beth Herrington honored with life-size bronze statue

Posted on by

Retired music teacher Beth Herrington of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, has been honored by her town with a life-sized bronze statue in recognition of her contributions to education and her community. Photo credit: Tahlequah Daily Press

There are many fine educators who serve not only their students, but also their entire community. One of these is Beth Herrington, a retired music teacher from Tahlequa, Oklahoma. And her town is immensely grateful to her! She has been honored with a life-sized bronze statue to show their thanks.

Beth earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education at Northeastern State University (NSU) in Tahlequa, Oklahoma, and her Master’s degree in Music at George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. She also completed post-master’s work at the University of Tulsa and completed additional courses in Organ Performance from the University of Arkansas.

Before her retirement, Beth taught elementary and secondary music for 48 years in Tahlequah Public Schools. She also taught continuing education music classes at NSU. Furthermore, she traveled throughout Oklahoma to conduct professional development on best methods for music instruction.

In addition to music, one of Beth’s passions is history. “In my day, a classical education included history, literature, music, and art, and the diversity in the world. That was a classical education, so I’ve always been interested in history,” recalls Beth. In fact, she has authored three books and numerous articles that have been published in journals of music, history, and geneology. One of Beth’s books is Tahlequah Facts and Folklore. The volume describes the history of education in her area, including information about the first teachers in the town. In addition, Beth serves as the current Chair of the City of Tahlequah Historic Board.

Beth is also passionate about helping up-and-coming educators. She is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG), a prestigious professional organization that promotes the professional success of women educators. In fact, she served two years as the President of the Oklahoma Gamma Beta Chapter. She has served as Oklahoma State Organization president, the parliamentarian, and other offices at the state level. In addition, Beth has served DKG by helping to organize international conferences and conventions.

For her service to education and to her community, the town of Tahlequah has honored Beth with a street named in her honor and a life-sized bronze statue. In addition, she has garnered other awards, including the Tahlequah Public Schools Teacher of the Year (twice,) the Kiwanis Member Service Award, the Soroptimist Member Service Award, and the Tahlequah First Baptist Church Member Service Award.

Former English teacher Vanessa Siddle Walker is an expert on African American educational history

Posted on by

Vanessa Siddle Walker, a former high school English teacher, has earned a reputation as an expert on African American educational history. Photo credit: The New Press

Many superlative classroom teachers have devoted their careers to promoting better education for African American students. One of these is Vanessa Siddle Walker, a former high school English teacher who has earned a reputation as an expert on African American educational history.

Vanessa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She earned her Master’s in Education from Harvard University in 1985. She completed the requirements for her PhD in Education from Harvard University in 1988.

In 1980, Vanessa inaugurated her career in education when she accepted a position as an English teacher at Chapel Hill High School in North Carolina. Later she relocated to Cummings High School, a desegregated high school in Burlington, North Carolina. She taught there for four years. She also taught English seminars for two summers at a math and science program for minority students at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.

After leaving the high school classroom, Vanessa conducted exhaustive studies of segregation in the American educational system that spanned 25 years. As a result of her research, she published the nonfiction work The Lost Education of Horace Tate: Uncovering the Hidden Heroes Who Fought for Justice in Schools (2020). Her other books include Facing Racism in Education (2004) and Hello Professor: A Black Principal and Professional Leadership in the Segregated South (2009).

In addition, Vanessa has published numerous scholarly articles. Among the journals publishing her research are Review of Education Research, American Educational Research Journal, Journal of Educational Research, Harvard Educational Review, Journal of Negro Education, and Teachers College Record.

For her body of work, Vanessa has earned many accolades. She has garnered the Grawemeyer Award for Education; the Raymond Cattell Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association; the Spelman College Award for Outstanding Leadership in Education; the Young Scholars Award from the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools; the Best First Book Award from the History Division of the American Educational Research Association; and the Best New Female Scholar Award from the Research Focus on Black Education of the American Educational Research Association. She also received a Spencer Foundation post-doctoral fellowship. And she is a former Fellow of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of AERA.

Today, Vanessa is a Professor of African American Educational Studies at Emory University located in Atlanta, Georgia. She also lectures extensively both nationally and internationally.

NC PE teacher Jeanne Swanner Robertson also was a beauty pageant winner, public speaker, and author

Posted on by

PE teacher Jeanne Swanner Robertson of North Carolina was also a beauty pageant winner, public speaker, and successful author. Photo credit: The Almanac News

Many accomplished educators exhibit talents in areas outside the field of teaching. One of these was Jeanne Swanner Robertson, physical education teacher from North Carolina who was also a beauty pageant winner, public speaker, and successful author.

Jeanne was born on Sept. 21, 1943, in Boston, Massachusetts. But she was raised in the small town of Graham, North Carolina. As a child, she was exceptionally tall. In fact, by the age of 13, she had already grown to a height of 6’2″. Athletically inclined, Jeanne used her height to become an accomplished basketball player. In addition to that sport, Jeanne was a member of the cheerleading squad and was elected her high school secretary.

In 1963, when she was 19 years old, Jeanne entered the Miss North Carolina contest, where she played the ukulele and performed a comedy sketch during the talent portion of the competition. She captured the state title and, for extra measure, was named Miss Congeniality. Jeanne moved on to the Miss America contest, where she once again garnered the Miss Congeniality Award. To this day, she holds the record as the tallest contest to enter the Miss America competition.

After her reign as Miss North Carolina, Jeanne used her scholarship winnings to pay for her college tuition at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. There she majored in physical education, played college basketball, and joined the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. She completed the requirements for her Bachelor’s degree in 1967. Once she completed her education, Jeanne accepted a position as a PE teacher in Durham, North Carolina.

After leaving the classroom, Jeanne launched a career as motivational speaker and humorist, traveling on speaking tours across the country where her wholesome brand of comedy became popular with audiences. She was also a frequent guest at the Grand Ole Opry. Over the years, Jeanne served as the National President and National Board Member for the National Speakers Association. The organization gave her many of their most prestigious awards, including the CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), the CPAE (Council of Peers Award for Excellence), Master of Influence, Philanthropist of the Year, and the coveted Cavett Award. She also earned the Toastmaster Golden Gavel in 2010. She was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame in 1981.

As if all this were not enough, the former educator also authored four books. Humor: The Magic of Genie: Seven Potions for Developing a Sense of Humor (1989); Mayberry Humor Across the USA (1995); Don’t Let the funny Stuff Get Away (1998); and Don’t Bungee, Jump Naked, and Other Important Stuff (2020).

Although she had left the classroom many years before, Jeanne never lost her interest in supporting education. In her senior years, she and her husband Jerry both served on the Board of Trustees at Elon University. Jeanne involvement in this endeavor spanned a total of 18 years.

Sadly, Jeanne Swanner Robertson passed away on Aug. 21, 2021, in Burlington, North Carolina, following a short illness. She was 77 years old.

Educator Horatio Strother published volume about Underground Railroad

Posted on by

Educator Horatio Strother of Connecticut published a highly-acclaimed volume about the Underground Railroad in Connecticut. Photo: Wesleyan University Press

Many excellent educators have also authored influential books. One of these was Horatio Strother, a history teacher who published a highly-acclaimed volume about the Underground Railroad in Connecticut.

Horatio was born on Feb. 1, 1930, in Harlem, New York. As a very young child, his family relocated to Middleton, Connecticut. There he attended Woodrow High School. In addition to his studies there, he excelled in athletics, including football and track and field. In fact, he he set a state record in the broad jump. In 1950, Horatio enlisted in the US Air Force and served four years of active duty in the Korean Conflict.

When his military service was completed, Horatio earned his Bachelor’s degree in History in 1956 and his Master’s degree in History in 1957, both from the University of Connecticut. During college, he was a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the National Horos Society of History.

Once he earned his degrees, Horatio taught briefly at Killingsworth Elementary School. In 1959, he transferred to Nathan Hale-Ray High School in Moodys section of East Haddam. There he taught history and served as the Chair of the Social Studies Department. Later, Horatio taught history at South Central Community College in New Haven, where he earned a promotion to Assistant Professor.

Horatio spent years conducting research and collecting oral history interviews related to the Underground Railroad in Connecticut. This research culminated in a scholarly work that was published by Wesleyan University Press in 1962. The volume, regarded as the definitive text on the Underground Railroad in Connecticut, is still in print and is held in the collections of nearly 2,000 libraries around the country.

Sadly, Horatio Strother drowned on Sept. 14, 1974, while swimming in Hidden Lake near his home. He was only 44 years old. To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this link to the Haddam Killingworth News.

Best-selling author Stephen King was once a high school English teacher

Posted on by

Best-selling author Stephen King was once a high school English teacher. Here he is in his classroom in Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine, in 1973. Photo Credit: Reddit

Most people are very familiar with the popular novels and short stories of talented horror fiction writer Stephen King, but did you know he was once a high school teacher?

Stephen was born on September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. His father was a merchant seaman, and his mother was a kitchen worker in a facility for the developmentally handicapped. When Stephen was only two years old, his father abandoned the family, and after that his mother struggled to support herself, Stephen, and Stephen’s older brother, David.

When he was young, Stephen attended Durham Elementary School, and then Lisbon Falls High School in Lisbon Falls, Maine, where he graduated in 1966. Even as a child, Stephen displayed an interest in horror fiction. He was an avid reader of EC’s horror comics, which included the stories of Tales from the Crypt.  He began writing for his own amusement, contributing articles to Dave’s Rag, a home-based newspaper his brother published with a mimeograph machine. Later he began selling stories to his classmates based on movies he had seen, though he was forced to return his profits when his teachers discovered the enterprise. The first of Stephen’s stories to be independently published was “I Was a Teenage Grave Robber,” published in a popular fanzine in 1965.

Following Stephen’s graduation from high school in 1966, he enrolled as a student at the University of Maine, Orono, declaring a major in English. During his college years, he wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Maine Campus, entitled “Steve King’s Garbage Truck,” participated in writing workshops, and took odd jobs to help meet his living expenses, including one stint at an industrial laundry.  He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He sold his first professional short story, “The Glass Floor,” to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967.

After graduating from the University of Maine in 1970, Stephen earned his high school teaching credential, but was unable to find a teaching position right away. To earn a living, he sold short stories to men’s magazines such as Cavalier. In 1971, Stephen was hired to teach at Hampden Academy, a public high school in Hampden, Maine. He continued to contribute short stories to magazines and worked on ideas for novels. After his novel Carrie was published, Stephen left his job as a high school teacher to write full time, but he continued his career as an educator when he was hired as a professor of creative writing at the University of Maine, Orono.

Today, at age 75, Stephen King lives in Bangor, Maine. His wife, Tabitha King, is also a successful author. Stephen and Tabitha provide scholarships for local high school students and  contribute to many other local and national charities.