Margaret Hamilton: A Wickedly Wonderful Chalkboard Champion

Not many people would recognize the name or photograph of actress Margaret Hamilton, but just about everyone knows the iconic movie roll she played. Bedecked in green make-up and black pointed hat, this pleasant face was the Wicked Witch of the West in MGM's version of The Wizard of Oz. It's ironic that this very sweet and loving former kindergarten teacher is best known for her her frightful disposition and her villainous behaviors, not to mention for scaring the daylights out of generations of little children. The true Margaret Hamilton was a lifelong advocate for educational causes, devoting much of her energy and money to benefit causes that improved the lives of children and animals. She passed away in 1985 at the age of 83.

Susan B. Anthony: She Championed Women's Suffrage

Many people are familiar with Susan B. Anthony, a tireless champion for women's suffrage who lived during the nineteenth century. Her political accomplishments are legendary. But did you know that this American civil rights champion was also a schoolteacher?

Beginning in 1939, Susan taught first at Eunice Kenyon's Friends' Seminary in New Rochelle, New York, and then at Canajoharie Academy in Canajoharie, New York. She left the profession in 1849 to devote her energy full-time to the women's suffrage movement.

Although she did not live to see the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote, this historical achievement would not have been possible without Susan B. Anthony's many years of devotion to the cause. You just know that someone who worked that hard for women's rights worked equally diligently in the classroom.

Recognizing Chalkboard Athlete Frank Eufemia

Recognizing the value of making a contribution to the field of education, sometimes a professional athlete will become a teacher after they leave the game. This is true of major league baseball player Frank Eufemia.

Frank was born in 1959 in the Bronx, New York. He was drafted as a relief pitcher for the Minnesota Twins during the 1985 season. Frank finished the season with a record of 4 wins, two losses, an earned run average of 3.79, and thirty strike-outs.

This chalkboard athlete currently teaches physical education and health and coaches baseball at Pascack Hills High School in Montvale, New Jersey.

Olive Mann Isbell: The Chalkboard Champion of Mission Santa Clara

A little-known figure in California history is educator Olive Mann Isbell, who is credited as being the first teacher in California. In 1846, when Olive was only 22 years old, she and her husband, Dr. Isaac Isbell, traveled west by wagon train. The territory had recently been severed from Mexico, and the Isbells arrived just as the Mexican army was poised to attack in an attempt to reclaim the land.

Olive and over two hundred American women and children were barricaded inside Mission Santa Clara de Asis, while the men were quickly drafted to defend the dilapidated fort. Inside the shelter, Olive, sensing the anxiety of the children, decided to organize a school to occupy their attention. The newly-arrived pioneer was well-suited to this work, being the niece of the famous educator Horace Mann and an experienced teacher from her home state of Ohio. When  Mexico finally laid down their arms and signed a truce with the United States on January 3, 1847, Olive's Santa Clara Mission School became recognized as the first American school on California soil.

You can read more about this amazing educator in Women Trailblazers of California: Pioneers to the Present, available on amazon.

Honoring Chalkboard Hero Henry Alvin Cameron, an American Veteran

As our nation pauses this Memorial Day to honor our men and women in uniform, we must recognize that many of our chalkboard champions have served not only in the classroom, but also in our county's military. One such hero is Henry Alvin Cameron, an African American schoolteacher who served as an officer in the United States Army during World War I. Henry taught science and coached basketball at Pearl High School in Nashville, Tennessee. At the age of 45, well past the usual age of enlistment, Henry answered the call for African Americans to serve as officers in all-black regiments that were deployed to Europe. Henry served in France and, tragically, was killed in the Battle of the Argonne Forest just days before the war ended.

With Henry's death, the educational community lost a talented and popular teacher, the African American community lost a respected leader, and our country lost a valiant serviceman. His sacrifice deserves to be remembered. I have devoted a chapter to this chalkboard champion in the book I am currently writing, tentatively entitled Chalkboard Heroes.

Elaine Goodale Eastman: Chalkboard Champion who Taught the Sioux

Elaine Goodale Eastman was a talented teacher who established a day school on a Sioux Indian reservation in the territory of South Dakota. She believed very strongly that it was best to keep Native American children at home rather than transport them far away from their families to Indian boarding schools. She hadn't taught on the reservation very long when she was promoted to the position of Superintendent of Indian Education for the Two Dakotas. In this capacity, she travelled throughout the five Dakota reservations, visiting the more than 60 government and missionary schools within her jurisdiction, writing detailed evaluation reports on each school she visited.

It was because of her work that Elaine just happened to be visiting the Pine Ridge Reservation when the tragic Wounded Knee Massacre took place. Following the massacre, she and her fiance,  physician Charles Eastman of the Santee Sioux tribe, cared for the survivors and wrote detailed government reports to accurately describe what happened.

In her later years, when America was experiencing a back-to-nature revival, Elaine and her husband operated Indian-themed summer camps in New Hampshire. Read more of the life story of this fascinating educator in Theodore D. Sargent's biography The Life of Elaine Goodale Eastman, or an encapsulated version in  Chalkboard Champions, both available on amazon.

Joint Use Libraries: Connecting The School and the Community

Those of us who work in the educational community are always contemplating effective ways to connect the school with the community. In my opinion, joint-use libraries are one of the best ways to accomplish this. I have had the pleasure of working in my school's joint-use library for the past four years. During the day, the library is used by the students and staff. In the evenings, weekends, and school vacations, the library becomes the public facility which serves our local community.

Our joint-use library offers a wealth of resources to students and teachers, all conveniently located right here on our campus. Print books, reference materials, DVDs, audiobooks, and magazines are among the offerings available through the public library. And here's the thing I think is really great: if a particular item is not available in the on-site collection, it can be ordered from one of the other 43 branches in the public library system. The item is transported to our campus where the student can check it out with their public library card, and when the patron is finished, the item is returned to its home branch. It's very convenient, and best of all, it's free!

In a joint-use facility, another convenience is added if the public library will provide a limited-access password to school personnel so that public library materials can be checked out to students and staff during school hours. The manager of the public library at our facility allows me to do this. This is just one example of the many ways we all work together to provide the best services and resources to everyone.

I absolutely adore the public librarians that are employed in our joint-use library. These dedicated public servants work tirelessly to provide our students and teachers with useful resources, pleasurable leisure reading materials, and meaningful teen programming. Our library has truly become a popular gathering place for kids after school, not only for the high school students, but for the junior high and elementary students in our neighborhood as well. And the public librarians accomplish all this in addition to providing the family story time and craft programs, adult programming, and community resources that many patrons have come to expect from their local library.

As modern educators, we are committed to the concept of lifelong learning, and joint-use facilities are a great way to foster this. The first time I saw a former student of mine come back to the library as an adult patron, I got really excited! It's gratifying to know that we have instilled a love of books and learning that extends beyond the fleeting years our students spend with us. For this reason, every year in the fall I campaign to get public library cards into the hands of as many students as possible.

Many established communities already offer great library facilities, but in new or growing areas, it might be worth considering the installation of a joint-use library in your community!