Tag Archives: Veterans

California’s Brett Benson: Exemplary educator, US veteran, and community leader

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California’s Chalkboard Champion Brett Benson: Exemplary educator, veteran, and community leader.

Many fine educators also happen to be leaders in their community. One of these was Brett Benson, a teacher, military veteran, and community leader from Chino Hills, California.

Brett was an exemplary teacher in the Chino Valley School District for 32 years. He retired in 2010. During his lengthy career as an educator, Brett worked with students at every grade level from kindergarten to grade 12, except for third grade. He was one of several educators who established his district’s Gifted and Talented Education program. He also inaugurated an independent study program within his district. “It’s a life-saving program,” Brett once declared. “Many kids are there for medical purposes, others are self-motivated to graduate early, and still others are a square peg when all the holes are round,” he continued.

After his retirement, Brett donated three years to working with troubled teens on his city’s Youth Accountability Board. He also served on a citizens oversight committee for school facilities bonds.

As if all that wasn’t enough, Brett served on the Chino Hills Day at the Fair Committee, the San Bernardino County Senior Affairs Commission, and the Hope for the Hills organization, a non-profit which sponsors community improvement projects, park clean-ups, and a local food bank. Brett’s most recent project was to serve as a charter member and treasurer for the 55+ Club. The Club helped fund and build a local monument to honor all US servicemen who have served or are currently serving in all branches of the military. Brett himself served in the US Army during the VietNam era.

For his exemplary work in the classroom, Brett was inducted into the Chino Valley School District Hall of Fame in 2019. He was named a Volunteer of the Month for the City of Chino Hills in 2008. This Chalkboard Champion passed way on Monday, June 22, 2020. He was 72 years old.

To read more about Brett, see this story published in the Chino Valley Champion.

Educator, writer, and US veteran James Francis Price

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Educator, writer, and veteran James Francis Price earned success as a screen writer.

Many educators have logged some successes in areas outside of the classroom. One of these is James Francis Price, an English teacher from Los Angeles who has also earned some success as a screen writer.

James was born on January 2, 1935, in Hollywood, California. As a youngster he attended St. Paul the Apostle School in Westwood. He spent his high school yeas at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, and transferred to Los Angeles High School, where he graduated in 1953. After high school, James enlisted in the US Army. He served his country in Korea near the DMZ after the Korean War Armistice was settled.

Once James returned to the United States, he enrolled at UCLA , where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in History in 1960. He also completed graduate courses there. During this years, James authored many original screenplays, novels, and short stories. In fact, he earned an Honorable Mention in the Samuel Goldwyn Creative Writing Competition for his short stories “A Crow for One Day” and “Rolie Weed.” In that competition, Francis Ford Copola took the top honors.

After earning his degrees, James accepted a position as a  teacher in the Los Angeles. He earned a reputation as an excellent instructor of composition, reading, English literature, and government. His career there spanned 28 years.reading composition English literature

In 1972, he sold his screenplay The Stolen Moment. He joined the Screen Writers Guild, and continued to write scripts. He also produced at least one novel.

Sadly, this talented and creative teacher passed away on April 11, 2020, in Santa Monica, California. He was 85 years old. He is interred at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.

To learn more about James, read his obituary published in the Los Angeles Times.

Educator, jazz musician, and Tuskegee Airman LeRoy Battle

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Educator, jazz musican, and Tuskegee Airman LeRoy Battle with his 1995 autobiography, Easier Said.

I always enjoy sharing stories about superb educators who have also distinguished themselves in areas outside the sphere of education. One of these is LeRoy Battle, a high school music teacher who was also a fine jazz musician and a heroic Tuskegee Airman.

LeRoy was born Dec. 31, 1921, in the Harlem section of New York City, New York. His father owned a candy store, and his mother worked as a beautician and cook. While a youngster, LeRoy expressed an interest in music. He was able to take music lessons through both the Boy Scouts and the YMCA, where it was obvious he was a natural. By the time he was in the seventh grade, young LeRoy owned his own drum set. After years of learning and practice, the youthful musician was proficient enough to give music lessons as a private tutor.

As a teenager, LeRoy attended Alexander Hamilton High School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. There he played drums in the marching band and the school orchestra. He also performed in New York’s All-City Orchestra, the Harold Cabbell Orchestra, and the Al Bounds Orchestra. By the time LeRoy was a senior, he played with legendary singer Billie Holiday at the Three Deuces Jazz Club. He also worked with Pearl Bailey. After his graduation, the youthful musician joined a traveling band and went on the road.

Educator LeRoy Battle shown during World War II, when he served in the prestigious Tuskegee Airman group.

During WWII, Leroy was drafted. He served in the United States Army Air Corps from 1945 to 1947. Once he earned his silver wings and bars, LeRoy volunteered to join the Tuskegee Airmen. “I can’t say that I ever had any previous aspirations to be a pilot,” he once confessed. “But it sounded like a much better opportunity than anything else that was likely to come along.”  After completing the Tuskegee program at Tuskegee University, gunnery training at Tyndall Field, and bombardier training at Midland Air Force Base, LeRoy joined the 616th Squadron of the 477th Bombardment Group stationed at Freeman Army Air Force Base. For his heroism during WWII, LeRoy garnered the Congressional Gold Medal.

When the war ended, the former pilot continued his studies in music. He returned to New York City and enrolled at the Juilliard School of Music.Then Morgan State University, a historically Black college located in Baltimore, Maryland. There he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Musical Education. He also earned a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Maryland, College Park.

In 1950, LeRoy accepted a position as a music teacher at Douglass High School in Washington, DC. That year he established a stage band for his students. Over the next eight years, The Douglass High School Band placed garnered first place in 14 competitions. In 1958, the students became the first African American band featured in the prestigious yearbook First Chair of America. Jet Magazine  also printed a spread on the outstanding young musicians. Before LeRoy retired in 1978, he also served as a guidance counselor and assistant principal. For 17 of those years, he also served as a drummer in the Washington Redskins Marching Band.

Post-retirement, LeRoy continued to make music. From 1992 to 1996 he did session work with jazz musicians Eva Cassidy and Chuck Brown.In addition, he worked as a motivational speaker for the Tuskegee Airmen’s Speaker’s Bureau. And, as if all that wasn’t enough, he authored an autobiography entitled Easier Said, published in 1995.

Sadly, LeRoy passed away on March 28, 2015, in Harwood, Maryland. He was 93 years old. To read more about this remarkable Chalkboard Champion, see his obituary published in the Capital Gazette.

Chalkboard Champion and Army Veteran Jeremy Heckler

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Educator, Teacher Librarian, US Army veteran, and journalist Jeremy Heckler of Las Vegas, Nevada.

There are many talented teachers who have served our nation in the military before serving their students in the classroom. One of these is Jeremy Heckler, an educator and teacher librarian from Las Vegas, Nevada, who also did stints in Honduras, El Salvador, and Iraq as a member of the US Army.

Jeremy was born in Long Beach, California, and raised in Corona, California. He graduated from Centennial High School in Corona in 1993. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in History from California State University, San Bernardino, in 1997. He completed the requirements for a Master’s degree in Education Administration in 2010, and a Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in 2011, both from Grand Canyon University.

Jeremy Heckler served in the US Army, completing deployments in Honduras, El Salvador, and Iraq.

Once Jeremy completed his student teaching, he was eager to pursue a passion for journalism, so he put a career in education on the back burner and joined the military. Serving as a journalist in the US Army, Jeremy traveled to Honduras and El Salvador. “When I deployed, I finally understood new things about being a teacher,” Jeremy remembers. “I met kids in orphanages who were there because their parents couldn’t afford to take care of them. I talked to missionaries who went into prisons and talked to gang members that made some of the kids I worked with as a student teacher look like boy Scouts,” he described. “I deployed again to Iraq and saw the after effects of kids with no real education. They were the ones sucked into the violence against soldiers and civilians,” he said. “I never wanted that in my own country or my town. I hoped to help as many kids as I could,” he declared.

Once he was discharged from the Army, Jeremy inaugurated his career as an educator when we accepted a position as an Intermediate Resource Room teacher at JT McWilliams Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada. He made the move to the secondary level when he transferred to Marvin M. Sedway Middle School in North Las Vegas. There he taught 7th grade US History. Later he moved to Las Vegas’s East Career and Technical Academy, where he taught US History, Advanced Placement US History, and Journalism. “It was magic how all my crazy lesson worked,” remembers Jeremy. “My favorite was when my 11th graders practiced their own Civil Rights march and talked about the Movement’s needs and issues,” he recalls.

After many years in Las Vegas, the veteran educator decided to move with his family to Clarksville, Tennessee, where Jeremy taught at Fort Campbell High School on the Fort Campbell military installation. There he taught AP US History, World History, Digital Photography, and Journalism.

After completing his teaching assignment in Tennessee, Jeremy and his family returned to Las Vegas, where he accepted a position as a 7th grade history and 8th grade geography teacher at Garside Junior High School. Eager for yet another new adventure, he launched himself into courses on Library Science.

Currently, Jeremy serves as the Teacher Librarian at Robert Lunt Elementary School in Las Vegas. “I love being in the library,” expresses Jeremy. “I see every single student on campus. I help them develop a love of reading and books,” he continued. “My favorite day is Tuesday, because I get to read to my Pre-K students and help them enjoy reading for reading.” In addition to reading aloud to students, Jeremy organizes numerous Maker-Space activities. His projects include guiding students into researching ancient pyramids and building replicas with Legos, and researching and designing marble roller coasters. “I hope I give them inspiration to see the world,” Jeremy confesses.

Jeremy Heckler: a true Chalkboard Champion.

Wilbur Richardson: Music educator and World War II military hero

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Former music teacher and World War II military hero Wilbur Richardson of California.

When Wilbur Richardson stepped into his classroom for the first time, he was already a veteran. During World War II, Wilbur served in the US Army as a member of the 331st Bomb Squadron, 94th Bomb Group.

Wilbur was born in Long Beach, California, on November 17, 1922. He was only 21 years old when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in the midst of the second World War. While in the Army, Wilbur manned the ball turret as part of the crew of a four-engine B17 bomber. He flew 30 dangerous missions in 79 days, two of them on D-Day. The intrepid airman sustained wounds on his 30th mission over Munich, Germany, in July of 1944. He spent the next five weeks recovering in the hospital. Before the war was over, the future educator earned the Purple Heart, five Air Medals, the Presidential Citation, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Croix de Guerre Avec Palm. He earned the latter for dropping supplies to French Resistance fighters.

Once Wilbur was discharged in 1945, he enrolled in college., earning a Bachelor’s degree in Music from Brigham Young University in Utah. He earned his Master’s degree in Education from Cal State Long Beach in California. The the former bombadeir then secured a position teaching music, instruments, and history in the Los Alamitos School District. He worked as an eighth-grade teacher at Oak Middle School. His career as an educator spanned 33 years.

Once he retired from teaching, Wilbur moved to Chino Hills. As a retiree, he became active in a number of veterans groups, the Kiwanis Club, the Chino Valley Community Chorus, and the San Bernardino County Senior Affairs Commission. He also did volunteer work for the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino. The heroic educator was named the Chino Valley Outstanding Citizen in 2012.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on March 1, 2020, in Winchester, Virginia. He was 97 years old. To read more about Wilbur, see this link to The San Bernardino Sun.