Inspiration

Leo Elthon: The teacher who became the governor of Iowa

Throughout history, there are many instances where talented teachers have gone on to successful careers in politics. One such example is Leo Elthon, an Iowa educator who became the 32nd governor of his state.

Leo Elthon was born on June 9, 1898, in Fertile, Iowa. As a child, he attended schools in Fertile. He graduated from Fertile High School. Following his graduation in 1917, Leo enrolled first at Augsburg Seminary in Minneapolis, then at Iowa State Teacher's College in Cedar Falls, and finally at Hamilton College of Commerce in Mason City, Iowa.

After his college graduation, Leo taught manual training and athletics for two years at Clear Lake. In 1920, he accepted a position as principal at Fertile High School. Two years later, he married his sweetheart Synneva Hjelmeland. The couple established a farm and enlarged their family to include six children, two sons and four daughters. During this time, Leo became active in local civic affairs, serving as the president of the local school board and the director of the Fertile Township Farm Bureau.

In 1932, this talented educator was elected to the Iowa Senate on the Republican ticket. He served more than twenty years there until he was elected the lieutenant governor of Iowa in 1953. Upon the unexpected death of Governor William S. Beardsley due to a car accident on November 21, 1954, Leo was sworn in as governor of his state and served in that capacity until January 13, 1955.

During his tenure in politics, this dedicated educator campaigned for additional state school aid, a revision of school reorganization laws, enhanced highway safety, and increased unemployment insurance and workers' compensation.

This chalkboard champion suffered a heart attack in 1964 which left him in poor health. He passed away on April 16, 1967, and is interred at Brush Point Cemetery in Fertile, Iowa.

Cheryl Chow: The Chalkboard Champion of Seattle, Washington

There are many fine examples of dedicated and talented educators who make immense contributions to their local communities. One such educator is Cheryl Mayre Chow of Washington State.

Cheryl was born in Seattle on May 24, 1946, the daughter of Chinese restaurant owners Ping and Ruby Chow. As a young teenager, Cheryl graduated from Franklin High School, and then enrolled at Western Washington University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in teaching. She also earned a master's degree in administrative management from Seattle University.

Upon her graduation from college, the neophyte educator became a physical education teacher. As a teacher, she was known for her toughness, high standards, and tenacious advocacy for children. Eventually she became a principal of first Sharples Junior High (renamed Aki Kurose Junior High) and then Garfield High.

Cheryl's devotion to young people is very evident. Among her many achievements, she served as the assistant director for the Girl Scouts of Western Washington, a girls' basketball coach for the city parks and recreation department, and she also directed the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team. "Everything that Cheryl did, she worked to instill leadership among the girls and kind of mentor them for their adult lives," remembers friend Lorena Eng. In addition to this work, Cheryl helped to form an outreach program for teens involved in Asian street gangs.

Cheryl also served as the president of the Seattle School Board and worked at the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. In addition, she served two terms on her local city council.

This chalkboard champion passed away from a central nervous system lymphoma on March 29, 2013, at the age of 66. She is interred at Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park in Seattle. She is survived by her partner, Sarah Morningstar, and their daughter, Liliana.

Teacher Tidye Pickett: She was the first African American woman to represent the US in the Olympics

There are many examples throughout American history of talented educators who have also distinguished themselves in the field of sports. One such example is the remarkable Tidye Pickett.

Theodora Anne Pickett was born on November 13, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. Known by everyone as Tidye, she was the second of two children born to Louis and Sarah Pickett.

As a teenager, Tidye took up running. She quickly established a reputation as a high school track star at her alma mater, Englewood High School in Chicago. She was one of two African American women selected to represent the United States women's track team in the 1932 Olympic Games held in Los Angeles. She was scheduled to serve as part of an eight-woman relay team and as an alternate sprinter in the 80-meter hurdles, the broad jump, and the 100-meter sprint, but did not actually compete in those games. When the 1936 games rolled around, Tidye was again selected to represent the US. A foot injury prevented Tidye from medaling in those games; however, she did earn the distinction of being the first African American woman to compete in an Olympic Games.

Tidye earned her bachelor's degree from Pestalozzi Froebel Teachers College in Chicago and her master's degree in education from Northern Illlinois University in August, 1956. Following her college graduation, Tidye accepted a position as a teacher at Cottage Grove Elementary in East Chicago Heights. She taught there for just one year, and then the talented educator was promoted to the position of principal of Woodlawn School in the same district. She remained in that position for 23 years until her retirement in 1980. In recognition for her many years of distinguished service, the district renamed her school Tidy A. Pickett School.

This amazing chalkboard champion passed away on November 17, 1986, at the age of 72.

Alice Bag: The Punk Rock Rebel Who Taught Elementary Bilingual Education

Throughout American history, there are numerous examples of exceptional educators who also exhibit talents in artistic endeavors. One such educator is Alice Bag, an elementary school bilingual education teacher who has also made a name for herself on the punk rock scene, author, and up-and-coming painter.

Alice Bag was born Alicia Armendariz on November 7, 1958, in the barrio of East Los Angeles. Her parents were impoverished immigrants from Mexico. As a youngster, Alice had few friends in school, and was often the target of bullies. She experienced the hardship of starting school without knowing how to speak English. This experience led her to become passionate about education, and especially about bilingual programs.

When just eight years old, Alice began her professional singing career. She recorded theme songs for cartoons in both English and Spanish. As an adult, she became the co-founder and lead singer of The Bags, one of the first girls punk rock groups to emerge from the Los Angeles area. The band, which was formed in the mid-70's, was most active during the years 1977-1981, during which time they released their best-known singles, "Survive" and "Babylonian Gorgon."

"Rock 'n' roll stands for rebellion," Alice once explained. "and if you're feeling disenfranchised, it gives you a voice." Alice had much to rebel against. An abusive father, for one thing; a Chicano culture that favored males, for another; and on top of that, racial discrimination against the Latino community. Music gave her the opportunity to channel that rebellion. For her pioneering work as a Latina punk rock performer, Alice has been featured in the Penelope Spheeris documentary The Decline of Western Civilization, and a traveling Smithsonian exhibition entitled "American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music."

After the break-up of The Bags, Alice studied how to bake pastries with a French patissier, studied painting at a community college, started a daily blog and website devoted to the history of the LA punk scene, and authored two books. In 2011, Alice published her memoir, Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage: A Chicana Punk Story, which describes her childhood of domestic violence. The coming-of-age volume launched a reading and performance tour across the United States, and is also taught in university courses in the departments of literature, gender studies, and Chicano studies. Her second book, Pipe Bomb for the Soul, was released in 2015.

After Alice earned her bachelor's degree in philosophy from California State University at Los Angeles, she began teaching in inner-city schools in LA using the name Alice Velazquez, her married name. Now aged 57, she has retired after twenty years in the classroom. Alice says her years as a teacher has brought a sense of clarity to the lyrics of her current songs. "I was quick to get in arguments and often get in fights," she remembers of her pre-teaching years. "Working with children, I found that I couldn't ever be angry at a child. If there was a problem communicating or reaching the child, I felt like it was my responsibility to figure out how to communicate what I was trying to say," she explains. "I think I became a more effective communicator. I learned how to clarify my thoughts," she concludes.

Alice Bag currently lives in San Diego with her husband and three children.

Montana's Casey Shreiner: The middle school science teacher elected to the state House of Representatives

Throughout American history, there are many examples of successful schoolteachers entering the field of politics. One such example is Casey Shreiner, a middle school science teacher who is currently serving as a member of the Montana State House of Representatives.

Casey was born in Great Falls, Montana, on July 10, 1982. He earned his college diploma from Montana State University located in the city of Bozeman. Upon graduation, Casey accepted a position as a science educator at Butte Central Catholic Schools, where he was employed from August, 2008, to August, 2010. Next, the talented teacher accepted a position with Great Falls Public Schools, where he worked from August, 2010, until June, 2013.

Casey was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Montana State House of Representatives representing the 22nd District. Upon his election, the former educator sponsored eleven bills, including legislation to revise truancy laws, to establish a pilot project for Native American and rural youth suicide prevention, to protect voting rights for disabled citizens, and to appropriate money for a state-run mental health group home. He has also served as the director of the governor's State Workforce Innovation Board within the Montana State Department of Labor and Industry.

Casey is married and has two sons.

Chalkboard Champion Mary McLeod Bethune: Among the Best Teaching Has to Offer

Mary McLeod Bethune was born in 1875, the last of seventeen children born to former slaves in a log cabin on a plantation in Marysville, South Carolina. She was the only one of the McLeod children to be born into freedom.

As a young child, Mary showed an unusual interest in books and reading, but in those days it was, unfortunately, not the custom to educate African Americans. Nevertheless, a charitable organization interested in providing educational opportunities for children established a school near Mary's home. Her parents could scrape together only enough money to pay the tuition for one of their children, and Mary was chosen. 

When she grew up, Mary retained her strong desire to extend educational opportunities to other African Americans. In 1904 she founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls in Daytona Beach, Florida. This school is now known as Bethune Cookman University.

In her later years, Mary became a close friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and also a trusted advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt, who appointed her the head of the National Youth Administration in 1936. In 1945, she was appointed by President Harry Truman to be the only woman of color present at the founding meeting of the United Nations. This celebrated educator passed away peacefully in 1955.

For all her accomplishments, Mary McLeod Bethune is truly a chalkboard champion.