Have you met this amazing Chalkboard Champion? Her name is Jeanette Arellano. She is an educator, artist, and activist who lives and teaches in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Jeanette earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. She teaches art education at Hayes Bilingual School in Milwaukee. There she empowers students to use their creative skills in meaningful and impactful ways. In addition, she organized teacher leaders to successfully advocate with the local school board to ensure that every child in Milwaukee Public Schools has access to art, music, and gym.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Jeanette channels her considerable talent and effort into improving the workplace conditions for the working class and for immigrants. Through the organization Voces de la Frontera, a local immigrant rights organization, she tutors members of the community in English proficiency and literacy, and she prepares them to take the US citizenship exam. She also co-founded Raíces Revolucionarias, a Milwaukee-based women’s collective to focus on the importance of cultural work to strengthen Latino communities.

For this work, Jeanette has garnered the 2023 César Chávez Acción y Compromiso Award, which is one of the awards that falls under the category of Human and Civil Rights Award, from the National Education Association (NEA). In 2019, she received the Milwaukee Catalyst Award from National Americorp program, Public Allies.

To learn more about this remarkable teacher, view this four-minute YouTube video prepared by the NEA.