Innovative Educator and Chalkboard Champion Amos Bronson Alcott

Amos Bronson Alcott was born in 1799 in Wolcott, Connecticutt. A prominent member of the Transcendentalist movement, Amos was a self-educated man. Often called the American Socrates, he is known for his progressive and innovative approach to education. He disliked the rote memorization, lecture, and drill so prevalent in the schools of his day. Instead, he focused on the students' personal experiences, advocated a more conversational style of interaction with pupils, and avoided traditional corporal punishments. Amos first taught in Cheshire, Connecticut, and later at the famous Temple School in Boston. He was one of the very first teachers to introduce art, music, nature study, and physical education into his curriculum. He was also an abolitionist and an advocate for women's rights. This remarkable educator is probably best known, however, for being the father of Louisa May Alcott, the author of the classic American novel Little Women. This amazing chalkboard champion passed away from natural causes in 1888.

Chalkboard Politician Daniel Kahikina Akaka of Hawaii

Throughout history there have been a number of educators who have gone on to serve in political office. One such educator is Daniel Kahikina Akaka, a Native Hawaiian born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1924.

Daniel Akaka is also a veteran, having served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. When the war ended, he used his GI bill to enroll at the University of Hawaii, where he earned his bachelor's degree in education in 1952 and his master's degree in 1966. After earning his teaching credential, Daniel was employed as a high school teacher in Honolulu from 1953 to 1960;. In 1960 he was promoted to a position as a vice principal, and in 1969 he became a high school principal. In 1969, Daniel went to work in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as a chief program planner.

A multi-talented individual, Daniel Akaka was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1976, serving seven terms. In 1990, Daniel was appointed to fill a vacant seat in the US Senate that occurred upon the untimely death of Senator Spark Matsunaga. Subsequently Daniel was elected to that position in his own right, and he served there until 2013 when he retired.

Daniel Akaka, an outstanding chalkboard champion who was also an outstanding politician.

Chalkboard Champions Added to Another Prestigious University Library Collection

I'm very excited to learn that my book, Chalkboard Champions: Twelve Remarkable Teachers who Educated America's Disenfranchised Students, has been added to the collection of another prestigious university library. The book can now be found at Hunter College, located in New York on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Hunter College was established by Irish immigrant Thomas Hunter in 1870. The school functioned as the first teacher training institution in New York City. Julia Richman and Sandra Adickes, both distinguished educators, graduated from Hunter, and both are featured in my book. Julia Richman (1855-1912) was the first woman to be appointed superintendent of schools in New York City. She committed her entire professional life to helping Eastern European Jewish immigrants assimilate to American life. Sandra Adickes (1933-present), is a professor emerita from Winona State University in Minnesota and is known for her valiant work in 1964 in a Mississippi Freedom School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. You can read more about both of these remarkable teachers in Chalkboard Champions, available from amazon.

 

Hunter joins the University of the Pacific, the University of Southern Mississippi, Rutgers University, and Salem State in including my book in their collections. What an honor!

Dorothy C. Stratton: The Chalkboard Champion Who Served Her Country During WWII

Many chalkboard champions throughout history have served heroically in our nation's military and reserves. High school teacher Dorothy C. Stratton is a notable example of this tradition.

Dorothy was born the daughter of a minister in Brookfield, Missouri, on March 24, 1899. She graduated from Ottawa University in Kansas in 1920, earned her master's degree from the University of Chicago, and was awarded her Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Dorothy taught in public high schools in her home town of Brookfield, in Renton, Washington, and then in San Bernardino, California. From there she joined the faculty of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, serving as the Dean of Women and an assistant professor of psychology.

When World War II broke out, Dorothy served her country as a member of the selection board for the WAC (Women's Army Corps), and she also served as a lieutenant in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). In 1942 she went to Washington, DC, to organize the Women's Reserve of the US Coast Guard. She served in this capacity until 1946, rising to the rank of captain. She was awarded a Legion of Merit award for her wartime service.

In her later years, Dorothy served from 1947 to 1950 as the director of personnel for the International Monetary Fund, and from 1950 to 1960, she was employed as the national executive director of the Girls Scouts of America.

Dorothy C. Stratton passed away in Lafayette, Indiana, in 2006 at the age of 107. In 2008, the US Coast Guard named a national security cutter, the third of its kind, the USCGC Stratton in her honor.

Chalkboard Champion Pro Baseball Pitcher Steven Delabar: The Remarkable Substitute Teacher and Coach

When we think about chalkboard champions, let's not forget our nation's cadre of amazing substitute teachers. Here's an uplifting story of one such sub. His name is Steven Delabar, and he just happens to be a major league relief pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Steven, a native of Kentucky, attended Central Hardin High School and Volunteer State Community College. He was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in 2002, and was signed by the San Diego Padres in 2003, making his professional debut in 2004. He spent several years in the minor leagues.

Unfortunately, before he could work his way into big league play, Steven suffered a severe elbow injury in 2009 that appeared to end his career. Undaunted, he rolled up his shirtsleeves and started working on his teaching credential. He became a substitute teacher in the same school district where his wife was an educator, and accepted a position as an assistant baseball coach at John Hardin High School in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. While there, Steven helped implement a recently-developed velocity-improvement program for his student athletes. To test the program's efficiency, he completed the exercises himself, and before long, Steven discovered that he could pitch as well or better than before his injury. When a scout from the Seattle Mariners watched the twenty-eight-year-old coach pitch in 2011, Steven found himself back in professional baseball as a minor league player. His potential was quickly realized, though, and that same season saw his major league debut. The next year, Steven became a Toronto Blue Jay. Steven Delabar is one of the few major league baseball players who have struck out four opponents in a single inning, and he also went to the 2013 All-Star game, striking out Buster Posey in only five pitches, an impressive feat.

Hopefully, Steven Delabar will enjoy a long and successful career as a professional baseball player, but it would not be a surprise if some day he takes his considerable talents and dedication to students back to the classroom as a full-fledged teacher and coach!

Fannie Smith Motley: A Chalkboard Champion of the Civil Rights Movement

Many distinguished educators, both black and white, made important contributions to the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960's. One such educator was Fannie Smith Motley.

Fannie Ernestine Smith was born in 1927 in Perdue Hill, Alabama, a small town near Monroeville. As a young woman, she attended all-black Selma Baptist University from 1944-1946, where she met her future husband, D.L. Motley, a ministerial student. Fannie disrupted her education in 1949 when the couple married and had two children. Shortly after the 1954 Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, Fannie overcame her strong fear of reprisals from the Ku Klux Klan and enrolled in previously all-white Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. She graduated from Spring Hill with honors in 1956, the first African American to do so. This was her contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.

Fannie first taught second grade at A.F. Owens School in Mobile, Alabama, but then relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1963 when her husband was given a job as the pastor of Peace Baptist Church there. In the Cincinnati public school system Fannie taught for twenty-four years, returning to school to complete the requirements for her master's degree in guidance education from Xavier University in 1969.

Fannie's alma mater, Spring Hill College, established a scholarship in her name to be awarded to an individual who advances diversity on campus. On May 9, 2004, Spring Hill conferred an honorary doctorate on Fannie Smith Motley in recognition of her efforts to promote diversity. She is truly a chalkboard champion.

Chalkboard Champion and Actor John Cho: His Course Is Laid In

Many wonderful educators throughout history have been multi-talented, achieving professional successes in addition to their accomplishments as teachers, and Hollywood actor John Cho is no exception.

John is probably best known for his portrayal as a young Hikari Sulu in the 2009 and 2013 Star Trek movies, but he has also earned recognition for his roles in the Harold and Kumar films, the American Pie movies, and various television appearances. He's set to star as part of the main cast in the upcoming TV show Sleepy Hollow.

John was born in 1972 in Seoul, South Korea. The Cho family emigrated to the United States in 1978 settled in Los Angeles, California. John graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale, California in 1990. He enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English in 1996. John then went on to teach English at Pacific Hills High School in West Hollywood, California, while simultaneously pursuing his acting career. In addition to teaching and acting, John has enjoyed some success as a musician with his band Viva La Union.

The teaching profession is fortunate to have had such a multi-talented individual as a member of its ranks. John Cho is truly a chalkboard champion.