Former English teacher and Michigan State Senator Dayna Polehanki. Photo credit: www.senatedems.com.

It is no secret that many times, talented classroom teachers become very successful politicians. An excellent example of this is Dayna Polehanki, a former English teacher who now serves in the Michigan State Senate.

In  2018, Dayna was elected on the Democratic ticket to serve in the Michigan State Senate. She represents the 7th District there. She serves as the Minority Vice Chair on the Committees for Education and Career Readiness; Regulatory Reform; and the K-12 and Michigan Department of Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

Dayna is a long-time resident of Michigan. She graduated from Flushing High School in Flushing, Michigan. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Central Michigan University; her teaching credentials from Alma College, a private liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan; and her Master’s degree in Teaching from Marygrove College in Detroit. She also earned an administrator credential from the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. Dayna taught English in the New Haven Community Schools District. Her career as an educator has spanned 19 years.

For her work in the classroom, Dayna has earned many accolades. In 2018, she was recognized as the Teacher of the Year for New Haven Community Schools, and the year before, she was one of two recipients of the Michigan Schools and Government Educator Advantage Scholarship.

Before Dayna became a teacher, she was the manager of Features Casting at Paramount Pictures. She is also the owner of a small business. For the past ten years she has been the owner of Detroit Casting Company, and she has also served as the Michigan casting director of such productions as Alex Cross, Into the Storm, and The End of the Tour.

Many superb educators also achieve successful careers in politics. One was Utah’s LaWanna Shurtliff, a high school English teacher who was elected to her states House of Representatives. Photo credit: Utah House of Representatives.

Many superb educators also achieve successful careers in politics. One of these was Utah’s LaWanna Shurtliff, a high school English teacher who was elected to her state’s House of Representatives.

LaWanna was born in Smoot in Star Valley, Wyoming, on June 13, 1935. As a youngster, she spent much of her childhood on her grandfather’s farm engaged in various farm chores. She milked cows, tended sheep, fed chickens, gathered eggs, and hauled hay. That’s how she learned the value of hard work.

After she graduated from Star Valley High School in 1953, LaWanna attended Utah State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in 1957. She inaugurated her career as an educator at Roy Junior High in Utah, and later transferred to Ogden High School in Ogden, Utah. There she taught English, accounting, and business. Her career as an educator spanned from 1966 to 1994, a total of 29 years. In addition to her classroom duties, she was elected the President of the Ogden Education Association, the Director of the Utah Education Association, and a member of the National Education Association.

For her work in the classroom, LaWanna earned many accolades. Over her lifetime, she received the Alumni Merit award from Utah State University; the Lt. Governor’s Volunteer Recognition Certificate for her work with the Weber County League of Women Voters; the Lewis W. Shurtliff Award for Contributions to Education; the Utah Domestic Violence Council Award; the Weber County Commissions’ Hero Award; the UEA honor Roll; the Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence; and the Order of the Pearl Kappa Delta Sorority.

In 1998, LaWanna was elected to the Utah State House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket. She represented District 10 until 2008. Her decision to pursue politics sprang from her background in education and her wish to increase funding for public schools and Utah teachers. During her time in the legislature, the former educator passed bills that assisted victims of domestic violence and increased funding for Utah schools and teachers. The legislation she championed showed her fierce determination to protect women and children.

Sadly, LaWanna succumbed to pneumonia on Dec. 30, 2020. She was 85 years old. To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this article about her published by The Salt Lake Tribune.

High School English teacher Sharon Ambrose established herself as a distinguished political leader on the Council of the District of Columbia. Photo credit: The Washington Post.

Many hardworking educators leave the classroom to establish themselves in politics. One of these was Sharon Ambrose, a teacher from Illinois who went on to become a distinguished political leader on the Council of the District of Columbia.

Sharon was born on Sept. 3, 1939, on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. In 1961, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Saint Xavier University in Chicago. Saint Xavier is a private Catholic women’s school. While in high school and college, Sharon was actively involved in forensics and public speaking. In fact, she met Mike Ambrose, the man she eventually married, at a forensics event. Following her graduation, Sharon worked as a high school English teacher and a PTA leader in Chicago for several years.

In 1964, Sharon’s husband accepted a job with the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, DC, and the family relocated to that city. Almost immediately, Sharon launched herself into volunteer work for the presidential election, a supporter of Lyndon Johnson. She also became very involved with volunteering at the school her children attended, teaching an elementary after-school writing program and becoming president of the school’s PTA. Later she taught courses at the city’s Friendship House that helped individuals earn their GED, a high school equivalency program.

Sharon was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Council of the District of Columbia representing Ward 6. She held this post from 1997 to 2007. When the former teacher took office, the city was struggling to recover from insolvency. Sharon became the Chair of the Council’s committee on economic development, opposing projects that she saw as unreasonably expensive. At the same time, she successfully lobbied for major developments in her ward, which includes Capitol Hill and the Southwest Waterfront and Navy Yard. She was largely responsible for persuading the Washington Nationals to locate their ballpark in a formerly industrial section of the waterfront.

Sadly, this Chalkboard Politician passed away on April 4, 2017, in Washington, DC. She was 77 years old. To learn more about this amazing educator and politician, see this interview published by the Capitol Hill History Project.